The Student's Two Bodies: Civic Engagement and Political Becoming in the Post-Socialist Space

Student activism in Montenegro has remained largely unaccounted for in the growing body of literature on civic engagement and popular politics in the post-Yugoslav space. When students took their discontent to the streets of the Montenegrin capital in November 2011, the dual nature of the student body was rendered visible and audible: while the official student organizations framed their activity as an apolitical expression of discontent over studying conditions, several independent student associations positioned themselves as an extra-parliamentary opposition to the ruling establishment and called for the creation of a wide anti-austerity/anti-corruption coalition. Drawing from critical theory, political sociology, and human geography, this article addresses the questions of why, how, when, and where a part of the student body became political. I argue that a social context that lacks a tradition of politically engaged student movements provides opportunities for a nuanced understanding of political becoming of a hitherto apolitical social group.