A “Barrel of Laughs” Brings Down a Dictator in Serbia

After Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic held power for nearly a decade, a group of students formed the movement Otpor! (“Resistance”) to drive him out of office using civil resistance. By 1998, Milosevic’s power was heavily entrenched which left the students little space to dissent within the system. Instead, they redirected their energy towards the tool they understood was most important for lowering fear and increasing participation from their fellow citizens: humor.