The formation of Croatian national identity

This volume assesses the formation of Croatian national identity in the 1990s. It develops a novel framework that calls both primordialist and modernist approaches to nationalism and national identity into question before applying that framework to Croatia. In doing so it not only provides a new way of thinking about how national identity is formed and why it is so important, it also closely examines 1990s Croatia in a unique way.

Introduction, 1

National identity and the ‘great divide’, 7

Re-imagining the nation, 20

The Croatian historical statehood narrative, 32

Contemporary accounts of Croatian national identity, 65

The nation in social practice I: economy, football and Istria, 104

The nation in social practice II: language, education and the Catholic Church 137 Conclusion: competing claims to national identity, 171

Bibliography, 185

Index, 207