Situational Nationalism: Nation-building in the Balkans, Subversive Institutions and the Montenegrin Paradox

Abstract

The history of Montenegrin nation-building goes against the expectations of many institutionalist theories of nationalism, which generally hold that national institutions increase collective sentiments of national identity. Although during the period of socialist Yugoslavia, Montenegro had an institutional endowment similar to that of other republics—including a constitution, parliament, government, flag, republican borders, and academy of arts and sciences—the proportion of self-identified Montenegrins actually declined from 91% at the start of the socialist period to 44.5% in the most recent census. This occurred despite the fact that Yugoslav elites built up Montenegro's national institutions over these decades; it also runs against the expectations of many institutionalist theories of nationalism that predict constant—or even heightened—national consciousness as a group's institutional endowment increases. Municipal-level census data in Montenegro are examined over time to show that neither national institutions nor elite efforts to mobilize upon them succeeded in generating a robust Montenegrin identity. The evidence here provides preliminary support for a theory of ‘situational nationalism’, according to which the fate of national projects depends on the wider identity environment. Despite elite efforts to build nations along certain lines, people choose their identities in the context of an ever-changing field of political and identity conflicts at the international and domestic levels in a fluctuating ‘marketplace of ideas’. It is concluded that identity conflicts in the wider neighborhood place significant constraints on the success of any given nation-building project. Video abstract Read the transcript Watch the video on Vimeo Video abstract Read the transcript Watch the video on Vimeo

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