Grounding civic nationhood: the rise and fall of Yugoslav nationalism, 1918–91

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the development and transformation of Yugoslav nationalism with the spotlight on its two main incarnations – the Yugoslav idea as articulated in the centralized and monarchic state of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (1918–41) and the development of the Yugoslav project during the state socialist period (1945–91). Using the analytical tools of historical sociology and particularly the grounded nationalism approach, the author aims to explore the social dynamics of Yugoslav nationalism as it changed its form during the twentieth century. The paper zooms in on the key historical processes that have shaped the organizational, ideological, and micro-interactional grounding of Yugoslav nationalism. The author argues that, despite the relatively strong nominal commitment towards building civic nationhood, the Yugoslav project has paradoxically provided organizational, ideological, and micro-interactional mechanisms for the relatively continuous rise of ethnic nationalisms. The failure of Yugoslav nationalism stems in part from its uneven, underdeveloped, or misdirected grounding. It is this structural unevenness that also contributed to the relatively continuous proliferation of much better-grounded ethnic nationalisms.