Recreation of personal activist identity in a post-war west Balkan city: Petrinja
Recreation of personal activist identity in a post-war west Balkan city: Petrinja

Summary/Abstract: Objectives. Civil Society is the most important instrument to obtain democratic transformation and get EU membership in post-Yugoslav countries. Activism in post-war West Balkan cities, especially in border cities like Petrinja, has communication difficulties with the local communities. The aim of this study was to determine the source of the difficulties by carrying out an analysis on the evolution of personal activist identity in Petrinja as an example. Material and methods. Between September 2016 - April 2017, data were obtained from 40 urban and rural respondents aged 17-55 in Petrinja. Speech analysis method was used on depth-interviews. The interviews focused on topics related to activism topics: active citizenship, multiculturalism, local development, ecology, LGBT rights, Activists’ and associations' daily practices. Results. These face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted on the question of property, veteran status, and unemployed (socio-economic) problems. At the time the interviews were carried out, 25 years after the war, nearly 50% of the real estates in the city were abandoned (vacant estate); a feeling of powerlessness is shared by the youth, in general, voting rates nearly attain 15%. Young people find local development perspective less popular than immigration tendency. The "strange"/ "foreign" image of activists limits their social integration capacity in the local community. Conclusions. A new activist policy of EU is needed regarding the integration of veterans and local communities, which would facilitate positive change and development for the area.

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