Symbolic Struggles Surrounding the (Re) naming of Urban Public Space: The Case Study of Šabana Bajramovića Street in Niš (Serbia)

Jelena Petković

doi:10.18535/sshj.v9i07.1896

Abstract

The paper analyzes the symbolic struggles surrounding the (re)naming and the "appropriation" of urban public space from below (from the citizens), which take place simultaneously and outside the official policy of (re)naming from above (by the local government and the state). This is empirically analyzed in a case study of Šabana Bajramovića Street (a world-renowned Roma jazz singer) in Niš (Serbia). The official decision to name this street in the city where the mentioned artist was born, lived, and died as a member of a minority ethnic community brought about opposition from certain citizens and a public debate on the odonymic commemoration and participation of the Roma. The research data were compiled using content analysis of various official documents and media reports, as well as semi-structured interviews with citizens, representatives of the government and various NGOs. The findings indicate a contradiction between strategies and tactics implemented by the government and the citizens, as well as the role of ethnic boundaries as resources of symbolic struggles for and within public space. Connecting the basic arguments and conclusions with the appropriate theory, the paper provides a broad contribution to understanding hierarchical social relations which can be read from street signs.

Keywords

Addressing Climate Change in IndiaPublic PoliciesChallenges

References

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Варади, Т., Ђорђевић, Д. & Тодоровић, Д. (eds. 2022). Допринос Рома култури народа у Србији [The Contribution of Roma to the Cultures of People in Serbia]. Београд: САНУ.Google Scholar ↗
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Здравић Михаиловић, Д. (2019). Mузичка пракса Рома у Нишу на почетку 21. века [The Musical Practice of the Roma in Niš at the Beginning of the 21st Century]. Ниш: Факултет уметности у Нишу.Google Scholar ↗
Тодоровић, Д. (2014). „Културни идентитет Рома“ [Roma Cultural Identity]. Друштвени и културни потенцијали Рома у Србији, eds. B. Соколовска, 57–77. Нови Сад: Филозофски факултет у Новом Саду.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-1] Alderman, D. (2002). “Street Names as Memorial Arenas: The Reputational Politics of Commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. in a Georgia County“. Historical Geography, 30: 99-120.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-2] Alderman, D., J. Inwood (2013). “Street Naming and the Politics of Belonging: Spatial Injustices in the Toponymic Commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.“. Social and Cultural Geography, 14(2): 211–233.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-3] Anselmi, M., M. Diletti, and M. Mongiardo (2024). “New Ideological Conflicts. Trends, Actors and New Networks“. PArtecipazione e COnflitto, 17(3): 593-600. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v17i3p593DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-4] Augustins, G. (2004). “Naming, Dedicating: Street Names and Tradition“. History and Anthropology 15: 289-299. https://doi.org/10.1080/0275720042000257421DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-5] Azaryahu, M. (1990). “Renaming the Past: Changes in “City Text” in Germany and Austria, 1945-1947“. History and Memory, 2(2): 32-53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25618598Google Scholar ↗

[refR-6] Azaryahu, M. (2012). “Hebrew, Arabic, English: The Politics of Multilingual Street Signs in Israeli Cities“. Social and Cultural Geography, 13(5), 461-479.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-7] Barnett, C. (2014). “What Do Cities Have to Do with Democracy?“. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(5): 1625–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12148DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-8] Bašić, G., & Stjelja, I. (2021). „Diskriminacija i identitet Roma u Srbiji” [Discrimination and Roma Identity in Serbia]. Pravni zapisi, 12(1): 234-260. https://doi.org/10.5937/pravzap0-31983DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-9] Bourdieu P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of Judgement of Taste. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-10] Bourdieu P. (2019). Classification Struggles: General Sociology, Volume 1 (1981-1982), [1 ed.]. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-11] Božilović, J. & Petković, J. (2023). Sociološko čitanje gradskog teksta [Sociological reading of the city text]. Niš: Univerztet u Nišu: Filozofski fakulltet. https://doi.org/10,46630/sct.2023.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-12] Foley, M. W. & Edwards, B. (1996). “The Paradox of Civil Society“. Journal of Democracy, 7(3): 38-52. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1996.0048DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-13] Gnatiuk, O. & Glybovets, V. (2020). “Do Street Status and Centrality Matter for Post-socialist Memory Policy? The Experience of Ukrainian Cities.“. Geographia Polonica, 93(2): 139-161. https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0167DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-14] Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spiled Identity. Touchstone: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-15] Lamont M. & Fournier, M. (eds.1992). Cultivating Differences – Symbolic Boundaries and the Making of Inequality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-16] Lamont M. & Molnár, V. (2002). “The Study of Boundaries in the Social Sciences”. Annual Review of Sociology, 28: 267–95. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3069239Google Scholar ↗

[refR-17] Lamont, M., Pendergrass, S. & Pachucki, M. (2015). “Symbolic Boundaries”. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, edited by J. D. Wright. Elsevier, 850–855. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/lamont/files/symbolic_boundaries_2015.pdfGoogle Scholar ↗

[refR-18] Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space. London: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-19] Mijić, A. & Parzer, M. (2024). “Symbolic Boundaries and the Negative Classifications of the ‘Successful Other’ at the Intersection of Ethnicity, Religion, Gender, and Refugeeness“. European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, (11)4: 558-584. https://doi.org/10.1080/23254823.2024.2335164DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-20] New Orleans Jazz Museum, From a Slumdog to the King of Romani Music. Revised June 13, 2024, Retrieved February 10, 2025 (https://nolajazzmuseum.org/events/2024/6/13/new-orleans-jazz-museum-amp-nisville-jazz-festival)Google Scholar ↗

[refR-21] Petković, J. (2019). „European Cultural Policy: Priorities and Practices in the Field of Cultural Heritage“. FACTA UNIVERSITATIS, Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History, Vol. 18, No. 3. pp. 115–130. DOI: 10.22190/FUPSPH1903115P.DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-22] Radovanović, T. (2024). Reakcije na ukidanje Bulevara Šabana Bajramovića – rasizam i poruka da mu je mesto među njegovim Romima, Južne vesti. Revised April 22, 2024, Retrieved December 15, 2024 (https://www.juznevesti.com/drustvo/reakcije-na-ukidanje-bulevara-sabana-bajramovica-rasizam-i-poruka-da-mu-je-mesto-medju-njegovim-romima/)Google Scholar ↗

[refR-23] RTS (2009). Nišlije protiv promene imena ulica. Revised April 8, 2009, Retrieved December 15, 2024 (https://www.rts.rs/lat/vesti/drustvo/54622/nislije-protiv-promene-imena-ulica.html)Google Scholar ↗

[refR-24] Statistical Office of the RS (2023). Општине и региони у Републици Србији [Municipalities and regions of the Republic of Serbia]. Београд: Републички завод за статистику. https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2023/Pdf/G202313050.pdfGoogle Scholar ↗

[refR-25] Soja, E. (2010). “Writing the City Spatially“. City, 7(3): 269–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360481032000157478DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-26] Wimmer, A. (2013). Ethnic Boundary Making: Institutions, Power, Networks. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-27] Варади, Т., Ђорђевић, Д. & Тодоровић, Д. (eds. 2022). Допринос Рома култури народа у Србији [The Contribution of Roma to the Cultures of People in Serbia]. Београд: САНУ.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-28] Ђорђевић, Д. (2018). Питао сам малог пужа: моја социолошка прича о Шабану [I Asked a Little Snail: My Sociological Story about Šaban]. Београд: Службени гласник.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-29] Здравић Михаиловић, Д. (2019). Mузичка пракса Рома у Нишу на почетку 21. века [The Musical Practice of the Roma in Niš at the Beginning of the 21st Century]. Ниш: Факултет уметности у Нишу.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-30] Тодоровић, Д. (2014). „Културни идентитет Рома“ [Roma Cultural Identity]. Друштвени и културни потенцијали Рома у Србији, eds. B. Соколовска, 57–77. Нови Сад: Филозофски факултет у Новом Саду.Google Scholar ↗