hrvatski

Shaping boundaries on the European periphery: Croatian experiences

The authors deal with selected aspects of past and present border shaping processes in Croatia, regarding primarily its historical and sociological perspective. They tempt to contextualize the circumstances under which the boundaries between countries are established, maintained and changed. As socially constructed phenomena, the boundaries change their meaning over time, aiming to exclude the Others / Strangers and to determine the belonging. They are under ambivalent pressure of limitations, divisions, conflicts and exclusions on ethnic or national level on one hand and under impact of the enlarging processes, inclusions and political interests on local, regional, national and supranational levels, on the other hand. Such an interdisciplinary approach reveals liminal character and importance of Croatian borders, which were in the Early Modern Period perceived as the civilization edge (e.g. Antemurale Christianitatis) and confessional barrier towards the Other. Contemporary role of Croatian borders is apparently to „strengthen the defence“ of the Fortress Europe (Schengen area) from the irregular migrants and migrants as the Others. The paper examines how do political elites manage to shape the borders and make it (non) permeable for the movement of goods, services, people and ideas, depending on their interests. While the certain policies were imposed from above, everyday practices of local population usually happen to oppose proclaimed limitation, turning the boundary from the barrier to the places of exchange.

boundary shaping, Croatia, history, sociology, recent experiences

nije evidentirano

engleski

Oblikovanje granica na europskoj periferiji: iskustva Hrvatske

The authors deal with selected aspects of past and present border shaping processes in Croatia, regarding primarily its historical and sociological perspective. They tempt to contextualize the circumstances under which the boundaries between countries are established, maintained and changed. As socially constructed phenomena, the boundaries change their meaning over time, aiming to exclude the Others / Strangers and to determine the belonging. They are under ambivalent pressure of limitations, divisions, conflicts and exclusions on ethnic or national level on one hand and under impact of the enlarging processes, inclusions and political interests on local, regional, national and supranational levels, on the other hand. Such an interdisciplinary approach reveals liminal character and importance of Croatian borders, which were in the Early Modern Period perceived as the civilization edge (e.g. Antemurale Christianitatis) and confessional barrier towards the Other. Contemporary role of Croatian borders is apparently to „strengthen the defence“ of the Fortress Europe (Schengen area) from the irregular migrants and migrants as the Others. The paper examines how do political elites manage to shape the borders and make it (non) permeable for the movement of goods, services, people and ideas, depending on their interests. While the certain policies were imposed from above, everyday practices of local population usually happen to oppose proclaimed limitation, turning the boundary from the barrier to the places of exchange.

boundary shaping, Croatia, history, sociology, recent experiences

nije evidentirano