Towards “New” Perspectives in Croatian Ethnology: The Silent Villages
Towards “New” Perspectives in Croatian Ethnology: The Silent Villages

Summary/Abstract: In this article we refer to the importance of the ethnological and cultural anthropological perspective in researching the consequences of out-migration for depopulated, remote rural areas. Using the results from our preliminary field research in the Žumberak area in Croatia, we present some aspects of the daily lives of the sparse population that remains in this borderland region. We emphasise social issues related to ageing and social isolation because this area is dominated by an older, usually ailing and socially isolated population. Most of them are unable to improve their economic and social conditions and depend on outside support. The academic, but also the wider social relevance of such research is based, in our opinion, on the fact that old people, especially those living in depopulated rural areas, are one of the most vulnerable social groups in economic, social and health care terms, while also often being under-represented in ethnological and cultural anthropological research in Croatia, simultaneously.

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