Serbia's social policy through the epochs: Institutional development and identity patterns

The paper analyzes the historical development of Serbia's social policy through the institutional phases and identity dimensions of its formation. Starting from the assumption that social policy reflects broader social, political, and value-based transformations, the paper identifies the key epochs of its development: the premodern period, the charitable-humanitarian epoch, the state-institutional phase, the socialist-universalist model, the crisis-transition epoch, and the reform-European period. Special attention is devoted to the institutional development of social policy, as well as to the changes in the value-based and identity patterns that shaped the relationship between society and the state toward social risks, poverty, and vulnerable social groups. The paper proceeds from the thesis that Serbia's social policy developed through a dynamic relationship between continuity and discontinuity, whereby traditional values of solidarity, charity, and family responsibility were gradually transformed into contemporary principles of social justice, human rights, and social inclusion. The methodological approach is based on historical and comparative analysis. The results of the analysis indicate that the contemporary model of Serbia's social policy represents a mixed system in which the state, local communities, and civil society have complementary roles. The paper concludes that the further development of Serbia's social policy implies linking identity-based traditions of solidarity with institutionally sustainable responses to contemporary social challenges.