AZIBIJA MEMEDOVA

In the Line of Least Resistance ?!?

By some coincidence or faithful connection, last night I had an opportunity to see a documentary on the historical, pre-election events in Serbia in the turning point 2000. The citizens’, student organization, dedication, persistence, tenacity, risking their own life for the ideal, clearly defined objective and strategy, capability for quick adjustment, analyses – have been some of the resistance’s characteristics, a movement which has caused some changes in Serbia. A small group of students, mobilizing huge social potential under the motto “we love life”, in a non-violent way have overthrown a dictator regime and have taken part in creating the new system.

I recalled one not so much exploited (even by myself) sentence in our non-governmental sector: “do not be suspicious that a small group of people can cause changes.” In Serbia they have proved they can. The delight was quickly replaced with a dialogue I had with myself. Where have you been by now, I say to myself, now (2002) to put together the puzzles of that “resistant” story? Ignorance + non-informing - that is the basis of our problems – again, I do not know which time it is that it has imposed as an answer. Although it might not be appropriate, the comparison with our situation in the civic organization has imposed as inevitable. Ten years’ existence of the civic organizing in Macedonia, comprising ecological, youth, women, minority and similar elements, has developed in various political conditions in comparison with the Serb associations which grew with the Human Rights dimension as a political concept!

In spite of the fact we talk about this dimension every day, in spite of the fact that a great part of our programs and statutes include it as our program decision, the results show that the human rights fighters (man for man) are less and less. Why? Is it because of ignorance?!? The human rights concept does not reduce to minority’s rights as it is successfully placed and promoted in our country. It is about man’s rights as an individual and as long as we do not understand this, we are going to waste our time on short-term projects without some serious influence, not having an ideal, a clear objective and strategy as a society above all. The example with OTPOR clearly shows the essential importance – of the existence of a defined MUTUAL objective.

All DONORS, who in the past years invested a lot of money for education of the organization’s membership in all spheres of organizational working, including representing and lobbying as basic activities of greater number of organizations, certainly ask themselves: where are the results? My experience in the work with organizations has confirmed that the people’s personal beliefs, capacities and interests cannot easily advance, that is change. At the same time, the dilemma about the roots of so many misunderstandings and conflicts has confirmed, too. It is about one of the degrees of patriarchy paradigm according to which we have divided the equally-valuable realities in the world in opposed pairs: black-white, dark-light, unconscious-conscious, female-male. Regardless the equal value, we perceive the one side as less valuable than the other. All associations are also facing another problem, the discrepancy between the non-professionalism (which results from the circumstances in which the Macedonian civic movement functions, especially the minor objectives set within organizations) and the professionalism imposed as a request for producing some serious influence of the organizations on the society. When we add some other moments as conscious or unconscious leaving the primary vision and mission (as a result of orientation towards projects for which money are being given at the moment), the personal beliefs of the “eternal” leaders, the internal and external organizational conflicts, the organizations’ ethnical division (everyone for his own) which work together most often when the DONORS give money for “inter-ethnical” projects, we get a picture for the non-governmental sector in our country, its capacities and opportunities.

In a condition like this we do not have some big opportunities to present ourselves as a serious moving force in Macedonia. We have to admit we are not initiators of some serious political, legislative and social changes. What we do is only filling the economical and social gaps in the society. The authorities support us in this.
Viewed from a positivistic point of view, it is neither little at all, nor wrong. It is only – stagnating. And it is far from RESISTANCE. If we want to be treated as a more serious force, above all we need to show we really can. How? With own advancement, finding a mutual objective, but mutual values, too, coping with our own prejudices, but with the APATHY, too, less realizing the things through models prepared in advance, giving up the black-white interpreting, and finally, becoming more sensitive and assertive towards the other/s, in order to accept that the only SOLUTION is the establishing of a civic society which accepts and PROMOTES diversity, where black-white, male-female, light-dark and ALL nuances between them – cost fortune. It is not easy at all to be different from the others in the group to which you do not belong neither nationally, religiously, ethnically, nor socially. It is not easy at all to build own identity, completely cleaned from national-contamination, which is a characteristic of the world we live in and whose part are all of us. My privilege and choice is to work on its changing, at first realizing the obligation to constantly change myself.