ABSTRACT
The chapter analyses the development of informal clientelist networks in Serbia, particularly emphasising the relationship between the government and radical and far-right groups. In the first part, it covers three phases of the relations between the state, orthodox church, and Serbian nationalistic far-right organisations: (I) the 1990 wars, a phase of the establishment of far-right groups and their instrumentalisation of war efforts; (II) the early 2000s, a phase of conflict between the state and far-right groups; (III) since 2012, a phase of the reintegration of far-right groups into the clientelist network of the current political regime in Serbia. In the second part, the chapter examines the role of minority Bosniak parties in this clientelist network, including the associated Islamic communities and Islamist groups. We aim to show that all these groups have been an essential part of the clientelist parastatal system in Serbia, and although they can be determined as factors of vulnerability, their activity is primarily normalised through the mainstreaming of extremist narratives in the public discourse. Finally, we argue that clientelism and informal practices can also serve as factors of community resilience.
