Abstract
My paper explores competing national and cosmopolitan identities of Croats in the late 20th and 21st centuries. Using interviews, surveys, and literature on the expansion of the EU and competing identities, I argue that the cosmopolitanism encouraged by the elites of the European Union failed to make significant inroads into Croatian society as expressions of national identity still predominate, even in urban settings. Until Brussels can articulate a palatable and tangible cosmopolitan/European identity to citizens of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, international identities will fail to take root among the populations who still see national identities as lived experience and tangible, as opposed to esoteric and vague expressions of cosmopolitanism.
Presenters
John AshbrookProfessor of European History, Midwestern State University, Texas, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Vectors of Society and Culture
KEYWORDS
IDENTITY, NATIONALISM, COSMOPOLITANISM, EUROPEAN UNION
