Zoran Djindjić The Myth, a Legacy and Interpretations

• Published in: Südosteuropa-Mitteilungen no. 3; pp. 76 - 87
• Main Author: Vranić, Bojan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Southeast Europe Association 2018; Südosteuropa Gesellschaft e.V
• Subjects: Politics and society; assassination of Zoran Djindjic; Serbia
• ISSN: 0340-174X

After the assassination of Dr. Zoran Djindjić in March 2003 – Serbia’s first post-communist andpro-European Prime Minister – his legacy became a political myth. The true and demythologized meaning of his legacy has never been systematically discussed in academic circles in Serbia.This is puzzling since Zoran Djindjić was a political philosopher who wrote extensively on the nature and limits of state and democracy. The absence of an impartial analysis of Djindjić’s works and the mythological structure of his political legacy allowed and permit for divergent interpretations of his political vision to spread across the political spectrum, placing him intodifferent ideological frames. In order to understand the myth’s structure the article aims to analyze a part of Zoran Djindjić’swork on the nature and limits of the state. The paper argues that the development of Zoran Djindjić’s accounts on the state was directly determined by the changing political context in Serbia from the late 1980s right until his assassination in 2003. Therefore, the analysis of hiswork provides a useful insight into his evolution as a political and opposition leader. By emphasizing the philosophical arguments behind his political behavior, the paper offers anexplanation of the interpretation puzzle, i.e. how it is possible to perceive the political visionof Zoran Djindjić in today’s Serbia in divergent ways.