Carna Brkovic from University of Goettingen gave a talk on Friday the 17th of January 2020 titled “Bios, Zoe, Psyche? Forms of Life in a Refugee Camp in Montenegro”
Abstract:
Life in a refugee camp Konik in Podgorica, Montenegro, included efforts of the Red Cross humanitarians to “change the consciousness” of the displaced Roma and Balkan Egyptians. However, they were not the only one. Montenegrin citizens told themselves that they also had to “change their consciousness” about all sorts of issues if they ever wanted to join the European Union. Discussing how the fall of Yugoslav socialism has reshaped emic ideas on what it means to “change consciousness”, this talk explores how a “will to improve” emerged in the context of widespread indeterminacy and legal ambiguity of the asylum as a form of life.