The conference aims to bring together scholars from the region and beyond to critically engage with the concept of the Balkans or topics related to the Balkan countries and region, through the philosophical framework of Deleuze and Guattari.

In the words of Maria Todorova, in the 20th century, the Balkans acquired the status of Europe’s “other”, a region portrayed as existing between savagery and civilization. Terms like “semideveloped”, “semicolonial” or “semicivilized”, have often been employed to describe it. The region has also contributed the term Balkanization to the global lexicon, a Schimpfwort typically signifying the fragmentation and collapse of state sovereignty, accompanied by a regression to tribalism. As Europe’s “other”, the Balkans have been cast as existing outside of time—a frozen symbol of civilizational breakdown. Yet, contrary to these stereotypes, the Balkans have always been a site of transformation, and these changes cannot be reduced to mere projections of Western anxieties. A contemporary example is Serbia, the host country of this year’s conference, which is currently witnessing one of the most sustained and widespread protest movements since 1968. This conference, dedicated to Deleuze and Guattari, could not be more timely. The protests—driven by a diverse coalition of students, high schoolers, farmers, workers, teachers, and ordinary citizens—powerfully illustrate many of Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts, unfolding in the streets and reverberating across institutions of society and the state.

Throughout the history of philosophy, numerous examples challenge Hegel’s metaphor of the “owl of Minerva”, which suggests that philosophical reflection always comes after the fact. But reflection does not merely follow events but often anticipates, inserts itself into, or runs parallel to them. As Deleuze and Guattari argue, concepts, along with other forms of expression, are deeply entangled with the unfolding of events. This dynamic is particularly evident in the current situation in Serbia, where micropolitics—of both concepts and actions—are being enacted in vivo.

The conference also seeks to create a platform for regional scholars to exchange their research and interpretations of Deleuze and Guattari’s work. A key objective is to make visible the lines and forces of thought within the region that have, until now, often remained unseen or disconnected. In keeping with the ethos of the Deleuze and Guattari Studies conference tradition, we will also feature presentations that, besides applying Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts to analyse events, explore how these their concepts as events expand and deepen our understanding of their work.