Ana Gavrilovic is a second-year PhD student at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of History of Art. Her academic background spans archaeology, cultural heritage studies, and digital media, with a particular focus on the role of video games in shaping contemporary social and cultural narratives. Over the past decade, through her work and studies in the Department of Archaeology, she has gained extensive experience in research related to digital heritage, game-based interpretation, and youth engagement with the past.

Her interest in the political dimensions of gaming grew out of recent global and regional examples of youth activism unfolding within digital worlds. Events such as in-game protests on Roblox, Minecraft, and other open-world platforms revealed to her how young people increasingly use games as accessible, imaginative, and often safer spaces for expressing civic concerns and experimenting with resistance. These developments motivated her to investigate how video games function not only as cultural artifacts but also as emerging arenas of political agency in Southeast Europe.

Ana’s current research explores video games as “free” digital spaces where young people negotiate identity, critique social systems, and form new democratic imaginaries. She aims to connect game studies with broader discussions on youth politics, digital citizenship, and participatory culture, emphasizing the creative and symbolic ways in which new generations shape their political worlds. Through her interdisciplinary work, she seeks to highlight the growing importance of digital play in understanding contemporary democratic futures.

Video Games as Places of Youth Political Resistance: Exploring Youth Political Imaginaries in Southeast Europe’s Digital Playgrounds

This project explores how young people across Southeast Europe use video games as emerging spaces for political expression, collective imagination, and democratic resistance. In a context marked by widespread disillusionment with formal political institutions, stalled EU integration, and growing social inequalities, youth increasingly turn to digital environments to articulate concerns and experiment with alternative political futures. Video games—particularly open-world, moddable, and community-driven platforms—have become vital arenas where these imaginaries take shape.
Foucsed on video games such as Minecraft, Roblox, and locally developed indie titles are repurposed for activism, symbolic protest, community organizing, and identity formation. By examining practices such as in-game protests, modding, livestream commentary, and the use of gaming communication tools for civic coordination, the project positions video games as “free” digital spaces where youth negotiate power, resistance, and belonging. These activities challenge the stereotype of young players as disengaged or apolitical, revealing instead a dynamic landscape of creative civic participation.
Using digital ethnography, semi-structured interviews, and game analysis, the project aims to uncover how young people generate new political meanings within these interactive worlds—and how these meanings translate into broader social and democratic imaginaries. In doing so, it contributes to rethinking youth agency, highlighting the role of digital play in shaping democratic futures in Southeast Europe.