Conference Borders and Spaces in South East Europe – Historical and Contemporary Imaginations and Practices of B/ordering
The overall experience of the post-Yugoslav societies since now nearly three decades is dominated by delineations of every kind and mostly by the attempt to create through such delineations ethnic- homogenous communities. Thus, it can be said that b/ordering processes are a crucial feature of societal development within the post-Yugoslav context.
Before this background, the most important aim of this conference is to discuss, if it is possible to better understand the deep societal transformations, which in many cases were accompanied by violence, by focusing on the ways how borders were established and how the individuals, societal groups coped with such barriers, obstacles, how they adapted and internalized delineations. The aimis to examine, to which extent we can better grasp the ambiguous transformation, by looking onissues of territoriality and borders.
The conference examines such processes of bordering in a historical perspective, since the
emergence of the concept of nation-states in the Balkans in the 19th century. At the same time, contemporary case studies from the border regions shed light on the modern b/ordering realities and practices in the context of the EU external borders in this part of Europe, the formation of new international borders after the break-up of Yugoslavia, and population (migrant) flows in the mostrecent times.