Dealing with the Past2012

This project analyzes the influence of history and myths in the construction of ethnic identity narratives by intellectuals and elites, as well as the appropriation and negotiation of these identities among contemporary youth in Serbia and Croatia. By analyzing the multiple meanings assigned to identity at both the elite and individual level, I argue that none of the present theoretical models allows us to build a complete understanding of how ethnic identity actually works on the ground. This project moves away from treating ethnic identity as a given, instead examining how it is constructed and reconstructed at the "top" level, how it is lived and negotiated on the "bottom," and how these understandings change over time.