Being successful in Serbia: Interpretations of individual social-economic success in the post-socialist context of social transformations

Abstract

This research aimed to explore cultural constructions of individual socio-economic success in contemporary Serbia in the context of postsocialist transformation. This was achieved through qualitative content analysis of data obtained by semistructured interviews with 7 respondents (4 women and 3 men) in Belgrade in April 2012. The main criterion for selecting respondents was their birth year – all of them were adolescents, i.e. in their formative years, during the first phase of postsocialist transformation in Serbia. From the material, the dominant and alternative models of success were extracted, whereby the model of success is defined as a certain definition of success and a mode through which is achievable. The paper further discusses the connection between the interpretation of success held by the respondents and the broader context of social transformation in Serbia after the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia.