Dokuchaev D.S., Dokuchaeva N.A. Formation of ethno-regional identity within the post-Yugoslavian space (Montenegro case)

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the analysis of the means of constructing ethno-regional identity on the post-Yugoslavian space. The object of the research is the socio-political reality of the post-Yugoslavian space. The subject is the mechanisms, methods, and practices of legitimization of the political and social identity in the modern Montenegro. The authors note that after the collapse of Yugoslavia the policy of construction of a new sociality was taking place in the newly independent Balkan states in a similar way. Political and intellectual elites strived to break the ties with the past, rewrite history, and change the public consciousness. Similar processes also took place in Montenegro. The main vectors of structuring the ethno-regional identities became the underlining of the ethnic differences between the Serbs and Montenegrins, and creation of the “image of the enemy”. The article examines the ethnic, linguistic, religious and historical aspects of the socio-constructive activity of the political elites of the Montenegro. The social differentiation into Montenegrins and Serbs is only one of the aspects of the complicated ethnic composition of the country. The authors note that the role of the minorities in the construction of the ethno-regional identity of the modern Montenegro is not as evident as it is in the Serb-Montenegrin dichotomy, but the place in the formation of the modern political field of Montenegro is fairly weighty.

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