Symbolic Nation-Building in Croatia from the Homeland War to EU Membership
Drawing on a recently published larger volume - Strategies of Symbolic Nation-Building in Southeast Europe – Vjeran Pavlakovic will analyze the nation and state building strategies of the Croatian elite since the country attained independence, following the Homeland War, 1991-1995. In his presentation, Pavlakovic will focus on the role of contested narratives and commemorative practices related to the wars of the 20th century in the political arena. The discussion will also address current attitudes and sentiments in Croatia towards the EU, following the country’s accession to the European Union in July, 2013.
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Overview
Drawing on a recently published larger volume - Strategies of Symbolic Nation-Building in Southeast Europe – Vjeran Pavlakovic will analyze the nation and state building strategies of the Croatian elite since the country attained independence, following the Homeland War, 1991-1995. In his presentation, Pavlakovic will focus on the role of contested narratives and commemorative practices related to the wars of the 20th century in the political arena. The discussion will also address current attitudes and sentiments in Croatia towards the EU, following the country’s accession to the European Union in July, 2013.
Vjeran Pavlakovic is an assistant professor and Chair of the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Rijeka, Croatia. He received his Ph.D. in History in 2005 from the University of Washington, and has published articles on Yugoslavs in the Spanish Civil War, the politics of memory and transitional justice in the former Yugoslavia. Recent publications include “Croatia, the ICTY, and General Gotovina as a Political Symbol,” Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 62, No. 10 (December 2010), “Symbols and the Culture of Memory in Republika Srpska Krajina,” Nationalities Papers, Vol. 41, No. 6 (2013), and “Fulfilling the Thousand-Year-Old Dream: Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in Croatia”, in Pal Kolsto, ed., Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014). He is also a co-editor of the book Confronting the Past: European Experiences (2012) and is a lead researcher of the project Strategies of Symbolic Nation Building in the Western Balkans.
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Global Europe Program
The Global Europe Program is focused on Europe’s capabilities, and how it engages on critical global issues. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues. We examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our initiatives include “Ukraine in Europe” – an examination of what it will take to make Ukraine’s European future a reality. But we also examine the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE, Europe’s energy security, transatlantic trade disputes, and challenges to democracy. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media. Read more
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