GenLab

GenLab brings together researchers from various fields such as sociology, philosophy, anthropology, political science, and literature who theoretically and empirically engage with questions of gender. The research program of the Gender Research Laboratory focuses on several research areas. One research line concerns the analysis of feminist theory and its further development with a special focus on the specificity of the context in which it emerges. Furthermore, GenLab monitors global and local events related to anti-gender policies and actively collaborates with university centres, especially in Southeastern Europe, in this field. In the previous period, this topic has been the main focus of many lab members, resulting in various theoretical and empirical research projects. In addition, lab members, recognizing that various forms of gender-based violence represent an important social and political issue, are dedicated to researching this phenomenon in order to combat it in the academic community and the wider context that determines the manifestation of violence. Finally, within the lab, gender perspectives are explored in culture, society, and science. This broadly conceived thematic area includes research on gender-sensitive language, discursive construction of gender identities in public, artistic, educational, and scientific discourse, social practices and discourses related to gender, including legal, educational, and scientific fields. In this regard, it should be emphasized that GenLab’s particular interest lies in improving the position of women in academia. To enable the networking of academic women at the University of Belgrade, Gender Lab established UdruŽene za znanje.

The Gender Research Laboratory is aimed at:

• Conducting applied and theoretical multidisciplinary research in order to improve and disseminate corpus of knowledge on gender, anti-gender politics and gender-based violence in different socio-political, cultural and historical contexts;
• Developing international cooperation in the field of gender studies and gender research;
• Improving exchange and cooperation between academic community and other social spheres in order to support gender equality practices;
• Supporting local professional associations and experts in their application of gender-related knowledge. For this purpose, we implement the training “All our identities” for employees in secondary schools, which has been accredited by the Institute for the Advancement of Education of the Republic of Serbia since 2014.

• Organizing round tables and lectures by colleagues from Serbia and abroad on the topics of gender
• Organization and realization of internal trainings for employees at the Institute on raising awareness and preventing gender-based violence
• Organization of the winter school on gender and violence (together with the University of Novi Sad), as well as proposing lecturers and participants for other winter schools of the project University and gender mainstreaming Univerzitet i urodnjavanje (UNIGEM)

Coordinator:

Secretare:

Members:

External associates:

Biljana Đorđević (Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade) Biljana Stanković (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade) Đurđa Trajković (Reconstruction Women’s Fund)
Jelena Lončar (Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade)
Katarina Lončarević (Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade)
Mišo Kapetanović (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Roman Kuhar (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana)
Stanislava Barać (Institute for Literature and Arts, Belgrade)
Vida Knežević (Kontekst collective)
Zsofia Lorand (Department of Contemporary History, University of Vienna)

• Kuhar, Roman and Adriana Zaharijević (Eds.). (2026). Anti-Gender Mobilizations in the Post-Yugoslav Space: Hidden Connections. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Matijević, Tijana (2025), “How to Fit Partisan Struggle into Literature? Mitra Mitrović’s War Journey”. In Women and Partisan Art: Aesthetics and Practices of Resistance in Yugoslavia and Carinthia, ed. Elena Messner, Cristina Beretta, Goran Lazičić, and Markus Gönitzer, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. 349–360.
• Matijević, Tijana i Milica Resanović (ur.). (2025), Svi se plaše roda: aktualna osporavanja i upotrebe pojma u Srbiji. Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju
• Zaharijević, Adriana (2025), “Philosophy of Menstruation: The Body that is not Bodiless”, Pravni zapisi 16(1): 212–231
• Zaharijević, Adriana (2025), “Postsocialist Feminism. The Tools of Our Own”, Social Politics 32(1): 152–173
• Matijević, Tijana i Stanislava Barać (2024), „O estetskoj revoluciji i političkoj subjektivizaciji: jugoslovenska ženska književnost 30-ih godina 20. veka”, 257-274 u Kniževnost i revolucije: zbornik radova, uredile Zrinka Božić, Marina Protrka Štimec i Ana Tomljenović (ur.) Zagreb: Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
• Zaharijević, Adriana (2024), “Butler Travelling East. On Practices of Reading and Translating”, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 49(3), 511-533.
• Zaharijević, Adriana and Zorana Antonijević (2024), “Gender Equality for Show: Serbian Performative Europeanisation”, Pp 88-105 in Gender, Religion and Populismin the Mediterranean, edited by Alberta Giorgi, Júlia Garraio, and Teresa Toldy. New York and London: Routledge.
• Zarić, Zona (2024), “The Rapeability and Takeability of Bodies and Lands”. Pp. 176-189 in Contours of Change: A Decade of Transformative Inquiry at CAS SEE, edited by  Sanja Bojanić and Valeria Graziano. University of Rijeka: CAS SEE Editions.

Public Debates:

• Jelena Ćeriman and Marija Mandić: Participation in the Social Dialogues “How to Achieve Gender-Sensitive Language?” (orig. „Kako do rodno senzitivnog jezika?”)organized by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue of the Republic of Serbia.
• Jelena Ćeriman and Marija Mandić: Participation in the Round Table on the topic “Consequences of the Adoption of the Bill on gender equality“ (orig. „Posledice usvajanja Zakona o rodnoj ravnopravnosti “) organized by the parliamentary group Serbian Movement Dveri – Patriotic Block, held in the building of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
• Jelena Ćeriman: Preparation of a practical policy proposal created during a study stay at the Institute for Minority Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, published in 2022: Entan-Policy-Paper-No.-7_final.pdf

Academic Debates:

• Jelene Ćeriman and Adriane Zaharijević: participation in the Gender Equality Committee of the University of Belgrade and presentation of the Draft Plan for Gender Equality (https://www.bg.ac.rs/rodna-ravnopravnost/ ). Within the Committee, involvement in the preparation and implementation of training for equality commissioners at the University of Belgrade.
• Adriana Zaharijević: BASSES: Roundtable: Wither Internationalism? Decolonisation narratives and the (im)possibility of supranational feminist, socialist, and pacifist solidarities. w/ Kristen Ghodsee, Agnieszka Mrozik and Chiara Bonfiglioli
• Adriana Zaharijević: Christina Research Seminar: Adriana Zaharijević Ontology and Politics in Judith Butler (9.4.2024)
• Adriana Zaharijević: SKY Masterclass Judith Butler and Politics, University of Helsinki
• Adriana Zaharijević: Lecture: Why read Judith Butler if you are a sociologist? Fakultet za družbene vede, Univerza u Ljubljani, Slovensko sociološko društvo,
• Adriana Zaharijević: razgovor o knjizi Judith Butler and Politics, with Nina Perger

Media:

• Andrej Ševo: Ćao Nevena: ANDREJ ŠEVO, Kako je Čarli Kirk generaciju Z skrenuo desno?, 23.09.2025.
• Marija Mandić: Vodi li sufiks do ravnopravnosti?, Ekspres, nedeljnik, 422, 31.05.2024.
• Marija Mandić: Sodoma i Gomora latinice i rodno osetljivog jezika. Peščanik, 22.04.2023.
• Marija Mandić: Rodno osetljivi jezik u duhu epike. Peščanik, 28.06.2023.
• Ljiljana Pantović: gostovanje u | Tampon zona podkast 04
• Zona Zarić: gostovanje povodom unošenja prava na abortus u Francuski ustav 8. mart 2024. i medijskog informisanja kao da se radi o prvoj zemlji na svetu, a u ustavu YU iz 1974. je ovo pravo već postojalo
• Zona Zarić: Rodno senzitivni jezik u Francuskoj
• Marija Mandić: gostovanje u emisiji Radio Beograda 2 „Sporovi u kulturi“, Melihe Pravdić