Cultural mobilisation in Serbia’s anti‑lithium movement: Examining protest music, environmental democracy and public sentiments

Abstract

This paper examines how Serbia’s anti-lithium environmental protests, centred on opposition to Rio Tinto’s Jadar lithium mine, are situated within the country’s broader history of civic mobilisation and democratic struggle for change. As part of the methodology, this study draws upon social movement theory (particularly the concepts of political opportunity structures and cultural framing) alongside cultural resistance scholarship, which explores the relationship between protest music and contemporary socio-political events. It also engages with environmental democracy frameworks, focusing on public participation rights. Together, these theoretical perspectives are useful in demonstrating how protest music operates as both a cultural and political resource in processes of social and political transformation.

Furthermore, drawing on qualitative discourse analysis of news reports, non-governmental organisations’ (NGO) statements, activist interviews, and two popular protest songs, “Fire in Darkness” and “March Out of My Yard” (Vatra u mraku and Marš iz moje avlije), the study investigates the role of cultural expression, such as music, in sustaining activism. It also considers the fusing impact of the November 2024 Novi Sad railway station tragedy, which catalysed a broader pro-democracy coalition by linking environmental grievances to systemic governance failures. The paper argues that the Serbian case illustrates how environmental movements in post-socialist contexts can evolve into multi-issue campaigns for democratic accountability, with protest music and popular cultural production acting as a unifying force across social divides.