A Nation‐state without the nation? The trajectories of nation‐formation in Montenegro1

ABSTRACT. Following the successful referendum of May 2006, Montenegro became the last of the former Yugoslav republics to opt for an independent state. Only fifteen years earlier, when the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia collapsed, Montenegro was resolute to continue the Yugoslav state‐formation in a union with Serbia. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: Why did it take so much longer for the Montenegrin population to follow the experience of other republics in its decision on independence? How can one explain a staggering change in public opinion on questions of national self‐determination over such a short time‐span? And, finally, what are the dominant discourses of “Montenegrin‐ness”? The authors argue that the answers to these questions are to be found in the particularities of Montenegro's historical development, and especially in the structural legacies of state socialism. The consequence of these developments was the formation of two separate Montenegrin national ideologies: one which sees Montenegrins as ethnically Serb, and the other that defines Montenegrins in civic terms. The paper concludes that these two divergent trajectories of nation‐formation in Montenegro are largely the unintended consequence of intensive state‐building, cultural and political modernisation and, most of all, the gradual politicisation and institutionalisation of high culture.     

Detour to Europe: Enlargement,Southeast Europe,and the EU's External Dynamic

An American geographer with extensive field and research experience in Southeast Europe examines the implications of "enlargement fatigue" for Southeast European states aspiring to EU accession. He argues that progress toward EU enlargement into Southeast Europe and further integration through the EU Constitution is no longer restricted to internal (intra-EU) dynamics of widening and deepening, but rather must be complemented by an "external dynamic" involving a coherent EU foreign policy. This "external dynamic" would focus on promoting peace and stability on EU borders and quelling the external factors contributing to popular dissent within EU against expansion and integration. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F02, O15, O18, O19. 1 figure, 41 references.     

Madonna,Glamour and Politics: Nation Branding and Pop Concerts in the Promotion of Montenegro as an Elite Tourist Destination

Tourism is a strategically important industry for Montenegro, which especially since the restoration of its statehood in 2006, is utilized by the governing structures to enhance the country's economy and symbolic representation. Tourism also serves as a vehicle to depart from the socialist past, as a significant effort and money are invested in rebranding Montenegro as a Mediterranean tourist destination offering natural beauty, coastal folklore and “spectacular” entertainment and pop culture events. This article focuses on music events contributing to the development of “pop/rock tourism”. In the past few years, Montenegro has staged performances by some of today's biggest music stars and thus tries to boost Montenegro's image as an attractive and, above all, exclusive tourist destination in the Mediterranean. Their organization has been supported by the current political and economic elite with an aim to produce a prominent commercial effect but also to refurbish the state image on the international tourist market.     

The Student's Two Bodies: Civic Engagement and Political Becoming in the Post‐Socialist Space

Student activism in Montenegro has remained largely unaccounted for in the growing body of literature on civic engagement and popular politics in the post‐Yugoslav space. When students took their discontent to the streets of the Montenegrin capital in November 2011, the dual nature of the student body was rendered visible and audible: while the official student organizations framed their activity as an apolitical expression of discontent over studying conditions, several independent student associations positioned themselves as an extra‐parliamentary opposition to the ruling establishment and called for the creation of a wide anti‐austerity/anti‐corruption coalition. Drawing from critical theory, political sociology, and human geography, this article addresses the questions of why, how, when, and where a part of the student body became political. I argue that a social context that lacks a tradition of politically engaged student movements provides opportunities for a nuanced understanding of political becoming of a hitherto apolitical social group.     

Culture,resistance and violence: guarding the Habsburg Ostgrenze with Montenegro in 1914

Abstract

Between 1878 and 1918 the Eastern border (Ostgrenze) of the Habsburg Monarchy, and in particular the mountainous regions between Hercegovina and Montenegro, posed security challenges. The people of the region had strong local traditions and a reputation for resistance to outside authority (having fought against Ottoman power for centuries). In 1878, the village of Klobuk had tried to fight off the Habsburg invader and had only slowly been subdued. Thereafter the new authorities built up a formidable line of defence along their new border with Montenegro including the garrisons at Trebinje, Bile?a and Avtovac. After the annexation of Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1908, the security situation became tense, a situation exacerbated by fear of South Slav expansion after the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 (which went hand in hand with propaganda that depicted the Serbs and Montenegrins as violent by nature). Orthodox Serbs living along the Montenegrin border were increasingly viewed with suspicion. During the summer of 1914, when anti-Serb feeling reverberated around the Monarchy, men from the villages closest to the border were either hanged or deported. The implementation and interpretation of Habsburg military regulations (Dienstreglement) meant that the Orthodox population in the border areas suffered disproportionately in 1914.     

Socialist Intercessions: The Earliest Demands for a Separate Montenegrin Language (1967–1972)

The question of a separate Montenegrin language has been extensively debated in the last decades. Its roots, however, lie deeper, with the first demands for it appearing in the late 1960s. By analysing the contemporary sources, this paper seeks to establish how and by whom these demands were voiced, the argumentation of both sides of the debate and how were they received by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. The debate was started by a group of Montenegrin intellectuals in a climate favourable to the “political periphery” of socialist Yugoslavia and the smaller nationalisms. The group, supported by some of the high executives of the Communist Party, claimed that the rights of the Montenegrin nation were being negated by the government's refusal to allow the local language to be codified to a literary standard. The discussion sheds light on the process of nation-building in socialist-era Montenegro, revealing its actors and dynamics.