Paths of Glory. How Marginal People Force the Nation’s Attention on Themselves

Abstract

A time of political crises and wars can offer people from the margins an opportunity to surface and attract public attention. Such examples of promotion were numerous in Yugoslavia during the 1990s, when war raged in the former country and marginalised individuals rose to fame. One way was by participating in the war. Many criminals took this path and became war heroes or, if nothing more, at least known among the people. Another way open to ambitious individuals was politics, where they could serve political elites and their leaders. During the war it soon became evident that even the world of sport, especially the world of sports fans or supporters, can be well-suited for the promotion of people from the lowest social depths.

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Čas političnih kriz in vojn ljudem z družbenega dna nudi priložnost, da pridejo na površje in pritegnejo pozornost javnosti. V devetdesetih letih 20. stoletja je bilo v nekdanji Jugoslaviji veliko takšnih primerov samopromocije. Na območju je divjala vojna, med njo pa so prišli na dan mnogi dotlej marginalizirani posamezniki. Eden od načinov, da so zasloveli, je s sodelovanjem v bitkah. Mnogi kriminalci so izbrali to pot in postali prepoznani kot vojni junaki. Druga pot, ki je bila odprta za nekatere ambiciozne posameznike, je politika, v kateri so lahko služili političnim elitam in njihovim voditeljem. Med vojno na območju Jugoslavije pa je postalo jasno še, da sta tudi svetova kulture in športa lahko učinkovita za nagovarjanje ljudi iz najnižjih družbenih globin.