Mini Symposium 2025 Dec 11 - Maksić - Zubac - Kačarević
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Variety Dynamics: Because Systems Science Cannot Address Most Real-World Systems Problems
Abstract
Luka Maksić together with Ilija Zubac abd Uroš Kačarević, presented The application and analysis of the student movement in Serbia using Stafford Beer's Viable System Model in the Mini Symposia series.
This presentation applies Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) to analyse the contemporary student movement in Serbia and assess its capacity to function as a viable political and organisational actor within a turbulent socio-political environment. The study positions the student movement as a complex, adaptive system that must continuously balance internal coherence with responsiveness to external pressures, including state institutions, political parties, media ecosystems, and civil society networks. Using the VSM framework, the paper examines the five systemic functions—Operations, Coordination, Control, strategy, and Policy and evaluates how effectively the movement fulfils each of them in practice.
At the Operational level, the analysis explores how student groups organize protests, communicate demands, and mobilize membership across universities. The Coordination function is assessed through mechanisms for harmonizing activities across independent faculties, informal networks, and grassroots clusters, where variability often challenges unified action. System 3 (Control) is evaluated through resource allocation, internal accountability, and the capacity to enforce shared norms while avoiding fragmentation. System 4 (strategy) is analysed through the movement’s ability to interpret political dynamics, anticipate state responses, and integrate expert knowledge from academia and allied organisations. System 5 (Policy) is examined through the articulation of a long-term vision, such as the formulation of the “drustveni dogovor” platform and the emerging idea of a broader socio-political front.
By mapping strengths and structural deficits within each systemic layer, the paper identifies key bottlenecks that threaten long-term viability, including high turnover of activists, reliance on spontaneous mobilisation, vulnerability to co-optation, and limited institutional memory. Conversely, the movement demonstrates significant adaptive capacity, particularly in its decentralised structure, high legitimacy among the public, and the ability to rapidly integrate diverse social actors into a unified strategic narrative.
The application of VSM provides a diagnostic lens that reveals both the movement’s emergent patterns of self-organisation and the systemic conditions necessary for sustaining effectiveness over time. The paper concludes by proposing recommendations for enhancing viability, such as formalizing feedback loops, strengthening intelligence functions, and clarifying long-term policy direction which could enable the student movement not only to persist but to evolve into a stable agent of democratic transformation in Serbia.
Short Bio
Luka is a student at faculty of organizational sciences, 4th year of studies. Representative of Serbia in world university debating championship. Uroš is a student at faculty of organizational sciences, 3rd year of studies. Active member of the case study club that is contributing to multiple international projects including but not limited to route2launch.