Ethnopolitics and the Mobilisation of Collective Identities across Regimes and Generations

Abstract

Acknowledging the saliency ‘ethnonationality’ has acquired in the post-Yugoslav scenario, this article analyses the ‘evolution’ of the meanings and functions of the term ethnonational belonging in the context of Macedonia, and it does so from both macro-structural and micro-individual perspectives. Alongside providing an overview of how ethnonationality has evolved from a political-institutional perspective, empirical material collected in Skopje with members of a Yugoslav and a post-Yugoslav generation explores possible changes also from an individual and generational perspective. The article seeks to understand the micro-generational impact of macro-structural changes and the generational responses to the same, shedding light on the intertwine of individual and collective experiences, reasons, and interests sustaining and legitimising the current ethnic politics and divisions.