Building the Capital City of the Peoples of Yugoslavia: Representations of Socialist Yugoslavism in Belgrade’s Public Space 1944-1961
Building the Capital City of the Peoples of Yugoslavia: Representations of Socialist Yugoslavism in Belgrade’s Public Space 1944-1961

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates Yugoslavism in the first two decades of socialist Yugoslavia by focusing on a specific case study: the capital city of the federal State. The research takes into consideration a period of greater centralization of the Federation during which new important representative functions were envisaged for Belgrade; at the same time, this was a phase of a more intensive promotion of “socialist Yugoslavism”. Based on both archival material and published sources, it focuses on the identity politics implemented to transform Belgrade’s image, paying particular attention to identity vectors such as monuments, street and place names, museum exhibitions, public celebrations, and their role in the urban public space. The main goal is the analysis of some aspects of the Yugoslav identity discourse emerging in this particular context, trying to recognize the forms of representation of Socialist Yugoslavism promoted in the political practice and to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between Yugoslavism and socialism.

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