Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.15176/vol63no113
Between Everyday Life in the Balkans and Central European Aspirations
Karlo Mak
orcid.org/0000-0001-7058-0299
; Senior high school Antun Gustav Matoš, Samobor, Croatia
Tvrtko Pleić
; Independent scholar, Croatia
Abstract
Drawing on the theoretical framework of perceptual regions, this paper examines how young people in Croatia perceive the Balkans and Central Europe and the extent to which they identify with these regions. The empirical part of the study is based on a survey conducted between December 2021 and January 2022 with 576 final-year grammar school students across 11 Croatian counties, aged 17 to 19, with females comprising 60.9 % of the sample. Factor analysis was applied to examine the associations reported by respondents. The results provide grounds for reconsidering Croatia’s geographic positioning beyond the conventional Central European-Mediterranean matrix. Our findings indicate that young people in most Croatian counties identify more strongly with the Balkans than with Central Europe. Contrary to much previous research, the Balkans in these representations are not solely a negative symbol but function as an accepted designation for the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The Balkans thus occupy a prominent place in youths’ everyday life through language, popular culture and cultural practices, shaping personal experiences and collective belonging. Central Europe, by contrast, is predominantly reduced in perception to German-speaking countries and is associated with desirable economic and social values but lacks pronounced emotional attachment. These results also suggest institutional failure of policy strategies aimed at decoupling Croatia from Balkan frames and anchoring it within a Central European identity.
Keywords
perceptual regions, Balkans, Central Europe, youth
Hrčak ID:
348041
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2026.
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