Abstract Croatia is the most heavily mined country in the European Union, while neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina remains among the ten most heavily mined countries in the world, presenting a major roadblock to recovery from war destruction in both countries. Despite the heavy presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance from the Wars of Yugoslav Succession (1991–1995), the issue has not received a significant amount of scholarly attention, and landmine pollution is lacking in conversations about environmental effects of warfare. This article seeks to address the question of how the lingering issue of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Croatia and Bosnia represent both social and environmental transformations. Answering this question contributes to the theme of more-than-human-sociality in an Anthropogenic Earth by examining how these weapons have led to deeper interconnections and interdependencies between natural and social processes and how they have created new and violent entanglements between various actors, including humans, technology, and natural resources.

Abstract Drawing on ethnographic study of childhood memories related to animal husbandry in Southeast Slovenia, the article explores how more-than-human sociality unfolded in the everyday encounters of working and living together through children’s taking care of cows, oxen, and land. The article contributes to the discussion on multispecies assemblages and more-than-human sociality in the context of rural childhoods. Highlighting the shared agency of animals and children, cows and oxen are situated as subjects co-constituting the rural landscape and everyday lives of young people. By extending sociality to the more-than-human world, the article proposes that work related to animal husbandry in a domestic agricultural economy was embedded not only in social relationships but also in multispecies assemblages. Furthermore, by troubling the notions of children’s socialization alongside animal domestication, the authors suggest reconceptualizing children’s socialization as a relational multispecies process of coming into being and reframing social relations as more-than-human sociality.

Abstract The article analyzes the projects of radical, excessive, and extravagant visual artists from Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia, whose works, created from the 2000s to the present, operate at the intersection of art, science, technology, and the body, incorporating living non-human beings as integral components of their artistic practice. It provides a concise overview of selected key artworks, interpreting their conceptual foundations within the framework of more-than-human sociality. The study examines these works through biopolitical, functional, antispeciesist, and posthumanist perspectives, linking regional artistic practices with global theoretical frameworks while addressing the critical issues and shifts of contemporary times. Examples include Zoran Todorović’s and Maja Smrekar’s works involving canines, Siniša Labrović’s interactions with sheep, Betina Habjanič’s projects featuring pigs, Antonio Kutleša’s engagement with insects and plants, Špela Petrič’s collaboration with plants, and Saša Spačal’s work with mycelium and soil bacteria.

Abstract This special issue foregrounds Balkan perspectives as vital yet underrepresented contributions to the study of more-than-human sociality. Drawing on the region’s striking ecological diversity—ranging from mountainous terrains and karst landscapes to river systems and post-industrial ecologies—alongside its layered histories of empire, socialism, postsocialist and neoliberal transitions, conflict, and periods of stability, the articles examine how multispecies entanglements unfold within these complex environments. Across these contributions, care emerges as a central leitmotif, revealing the ethical and affective dimensions of human and non-human relations. The Introduction to the issue frames care as a multifaceted, relational force, situated within reciprocal engagements between humans and their geo-social environments. This approach challenges universalist narratives of the Anthropocene and emphasizes the importance of context-sensitive, place-based perspectives. By grounding theoretical insight in the Balkans, the volume offers new ways of understanding how care and more-than-human socialities are shaped by historical, ecological, and political entanglements.

Abstract This article analyzes regime change in hybrid regimes, focusing on post-communist Southeast Europe, including the former Yugoslav republics and Albania after 1990. It examines the conditions under which these regimes evolve from hybrid forms (electoral authoritarianism) toward weak democracies. The authors identify competitive elections, opposition organization, and mass protest as key variables in this process. However, the authors argue that their effects are multiplicative rather than additive: regime change depends on the interaction among these factors, not their individual strength. The effectiveness of mass protest and opposition mobilization is mutually contingent and shaped by the degree of electoral openness. It is this interplay—between protest intensity, oppositional capacity, and electoral fairness—that critically shapes the prospects for democratic breakthroughs in the region.

Abstract The importance of measuring youth’s subjective well-being has been increasingly recognized in contemporary social sciences with a focus on researching the crucial determinants that lead to living a satisfying life. In this article, the author compares life evaluations of young people living in two different types of settlements – rural and urban areas – in Croatia. Additionally, he investigates the relationship between the social cohesion and youth’s life evaluations. This research was conducted on the fes Youth Studies Southeast Europe 2018/2019 database on a sample of Croatian young people aged 18 to 29 with a total of 1218 participants. Contrary to previous research, no statistically significant difference in life evaluation was found between young rural and urban residents. Furthermore, regardless of their settlement type, Croatian youth with a higher trust in people, stronger identity, lower trust in institutions, and higher perception of social justice, show higher life evaluation.