Contesting Ethnicity: Emerging Regional Identity in Vojvodina

Mila Dragojević

Volume 8, Issue 2, pages 290-316, September 2008

Abstract

This case study of the northern Serbian Province of Vojvodina explores the basis of regional shared group understandings in the absence of ethnic difference between the majority in the region and the center. It addresses the question of whether there is an emerging regional identity in Vojvodina within the political elite discourse at the time of the passage of the Omnibus Law in 2002, which devolved part of autonomy that the Province had lost following the 1991 Constitution. The method of content analysis was employed to uncover the collective sense of social purpose (i.e. desire for greater autonomy) and the shared views toward groups perceived as ‘others’. The findings show that the principal supporters of autonomy are the center-based civic-oriented parties, as well as the regional parties. On the other hand, the opposition to autonomy comes from the center-based nationalist parties.

Read the full article here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1754-9469.2008.00016.x/abstract.