National Identity in Serbia: The Vojvodina and a Multi-Ethnic Community in the Balkans

Description

The autonomous province of Vojvodina in Serbia is little-known in the English-speaking world, even though it is a territory of high significance for the development of Serbian national identity. Vojvodina’s multi-ethnic composition and historical experience has also encouraged the formation of a distinct regional identity. This book analyses the evolution of Vojvodina’s identity over time and the unique pattern of ethnic relations in the province. Although approximately 25 ethnic communities live in Vojvodina, it is by no means a divided society. Intercultural cohabitation has been a living reality in the province for centuries and this largely accounts for the lack of ethnic conflict. Vassilis Petsinis explores Vojvodina’s intercultural society and shows how this has facilitated the introduction of flexible and regionalized legal models for the management of ethnic relations in Serbia since the 2000s. He also discusses recent developments in the region, most notably the arrival of refugees from Syria and Iraq, and measures the impact that these changes have had on social stability and inter-group relations in the province. Cover Contents List of Data-Tables and Figures Acknowledgements Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms 1 Introduction: Setting the Conceptual and the Theoretical Frames 2 Vojvodina through Time: From the Habsburg Era to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 3 Vojvodina in the 1990s: From the Termination of Autonomy to the Fall of Slobodan Milošević 4 Vojvodina Going through Transition (the 2000s) 5 Vojvodina Today: Between New Challenges and Opportunities Bibliography and Other Sources Index