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The last Yugoslavs: Ethnic diversity and national identity

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  • Kukić, Leonard

Abstract

Nation-building is often proposed as a device for integration in ethnically divided societies. The determinants of national sentiment, however, remain imperfectly understood. This paper analyses the role of interethnic contact in the process of nation formation within multiethnic Yugoslavia, just before its disintegration in 1991. Using a variety of data sources and empirical strategies, I find that interethnic contact stimulated the formation of the Yugoslav nation. I argue that ethnic intermarriage is the key mechanism through which ethnic diversity influenced the adoption of a shared Yugoslav identity. These results illustrate the powerful effect that interethnic contact can have in reducing ethnic division even in a tense ethnic environment on the verge of conflict, like that of Yugoslavia.

Suggested Citation

  • Kukić, Leonard, 2023. "The last Yugoslavs: Ethnic diversity and national identity," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:88:y:2023:i:c:s0014498322000754
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2022.101504
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    2. Antonio Di Paolo & Khalifany-Ash Shidiqi, 2024. "“Education and Ethnic Intermarriage: Evidence from Higher Education Expansion in Indonesia”," AQR Working Papers 202403, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised May 2024.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Yugoslavia; Nationalism; Ethnic diversity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N4 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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