Burdensome past: Challenging the socialist heritage in Macedonia

Janev, Goran

doi:10.17234/sec.29.8

Cited by 25 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The level of destruction depended on various socio-political factors, and greatly varied between states from the almost complete and systematic erasure of monuments and memorials in some parts of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Kosovo, to their abandonment and invisibility in some parts of Serbia, or the full preservation or partial modification for the purpose of aligning with new national paradigms, as has been the case in Slovenia or Montenegro [62]. Based on field research conducted in five different locations in North Macedonia (Skopje, Kavadarci, Veles, Kumanovo, Prilep, and Kruševo), it is clear that the memorial heritage in these locations is largely unprotected and forgotten, with few exceptions [67]. In the case of the Skopje 2014 project, this issue is even more evident since the city underwent "a total reconstruction of the symbolic landscape of the capital beyond recognition", which removed monuments of the socialist era or dwarfed them by new nationalist monuments.…”

Section: Thoughts On Preservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of Cultural Memory: Youth Perspectives on Yugoslav World War Two Memorials

et al. 2022

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The noticeable urgent need for the preservation of collective and cultural memory in Europe, coupled with a fear of loss of important aspects of heritage, indicates the importance of educating the youth who will become future policymakers in the field. Analyses of the survey conducted through this research show the current perspective of youth on the typology of World War II memorials on the territories of the former republics, now independent states, of SFR Yugoslavia in Southeast Europe. Targeting architecture and civil engineering students as a specific youth group who are directly involved in learning about the built memorial structures, as well as the phenomenological background of space, creation of place and memories, resulted in a qualitative observation of the group’s understanding and judgement of the topic. This article investigates the level of knowledge and emotional response to memorial heritage within the target group. It addresses relevant issues of age, gender, level of study, and respondents’ backgrounds, demonstrating the existence of an initial interest in memorial heritage among the architecture-oriented youth. With an additional focus on a possible active role in heritage preservation and future placement, the research indicates a segment in the youth’s comprehension of valuable memorial heritage that needs to be improved.

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Section: Thoughts On Preservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of Cultural Memory: Youth Perspectives on Yugoslav World War Two Memorials

et al. 2022

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“…Furthermore, Gruevski’s powerful cousin Sašo Mijalkov – a head of the Agency for Security and Counterintelligence – wiretapped over 20,000 citizens, including members of his government, journalists, and political opponents (Montague 2015). Labels such as hybrid regime, Gruevism, illiberal politics (Gjuzelov and Hadijevska 2020), competitive authoritarianism (Bieber 2018), authoritarian populism (Petkovski 2016), and ethnocratic regime (Janev 2017) were used to capture the nature of the political dominance and the rise of authoritarianism and ethnic nationalism in the country. Gruevski, who established himself as a strongman (Bieber 2020), played a pivotal role in micromanaging the reconstruction of Skopje’s city center.…”

Section: Contextualizing the Research: Urban Space And Politics In Sk...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Academic analyses of Skopje 2014 have highlighted the attempt to link the emergence of the project with geopolitical tensions over the name issue with Greece (Kolozova et al 2013; Dimova 2013). Other works approached the project from different academic angles, such as social movements (Mattioli 2014; Véron 2016; Staletović and Pollozhani 2022), neoliberalism and nation-branding (Graan 2013, 2016; Véron 2021), political mobilization and the role of the socialist heritage (Stefoska and Stojanov 2017; Janev 2017; Koteska 2011), as well as from the urban planning perspective and ethnic nationalism (Grcheva 2018; Mojanchevska 2020; Čamprag 2019). The nondemocratic background and its relations to the financial aspect of Skopje 2014 were examined by Mattioli (2018; 2020), while other scholars focused on the arbitrary urban planning processes (Blazhevski 2021; Čamprag 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Captured City: Authoritarianism, Urban Space and Project Skopje 2014

Staletović

2022

Nationalities Papers

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This article looks at different strategies in which authoritarianism operated in relation to the redesign of Skopje during the rule of the conservative party VMRO-DPMNE and its leader Nikola Gruevski. It argues that the promoters of the urban project called “Skopje 2014” relied on a set of nondemocratic mechanisms and involvement and coordination of various individuals and institutions on all levels to implement and legitimize the project and expand its political dominance. These ranged from state-driven mechanisms and urban design strategies to contributions of non-state groups, thus demonstrating a systematic effort behind the makeover of Skopje. Examining the project through the concept of authoritarianism, the article goes beyond (methodological) nationalism to understand the complexity of the revamp of North Macedonia’s capital. It also demonstrates how the party used its ideological principles to leave its enduring mark on Skopje’s urban environment. Additionally, the article points out the need to study urban space politics in the context of hybrid and competitive authoritarian regimes.

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“…On the other hand, the initial scholarly reactions highlighted "project's" tendency to fragment the inter-ethnic core and aggravate North Macedonia's international relations (Koteska 2011;Janev 2011;McEvoy 2011;Vangeli 2011;Pajaziti 2012;Dimova 2013;Majewski 2013;Sadiku and Kolozova 2013;Angelovska‚ D. 2014;Mattioli 2014a, b;Koziura 2014). Most recently, the expert discourses shifted to "Skopje 2014" latent functions, such as the backlash of the nation-building process (Popovska 2015;Graan 2016;Janev 2016;Majewski 2016;Risteski 2017;Véron 2017), its ongoing mobilising potentials (Clapp 2016;Milevska 2016;Takovski 2016;Stefoska and Stojanov 2017;Grcheva 2018;Trajanovski 2018) and its position within the Skopje's urbanscape (Spaskovska 2014;Cvitković and Kline 2017;Janev 2017;Pojani 2017;Dimova 2018;Čamprag 2018). 2 2 The rediscovery of Skopje's post-earthquake (1963) modernism also signals certain exasperation from "Skopje 2014" within the foreign discourse.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Skopje 2014” Reappraised: Debating a Memory Project in North Macedonia

Trajanovski

2020

Europeanisation and Memory Politics in the Western Balkans

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The "Skopje 2014 project", an umbrella term covering the 137 memorial objects erected in North Macedonia's capital city of Skopje in the course of the last decade, has provoked a massive debate within the domestic public. While envisioned to mirror the country's Euro-Atlantic integrational agenda, the "project" was predominantly recognised as a fragmentation manifesto in inter-and intra-ethnic terms. This chapter examines the Macedonian public debate over the "project", mapping three particular phases of the discursive development : (1) before, (2) after the 2016-2017 governmental change and (3) in the wake of the recent Greco-Macedonian and Bulgarian-Macedonian bilateral agreements. The chapter reviews the corpus of written materials on "Skopje 2014", tracing the scopes of the public debates, the major discursive agents, as well as the critical loci of contestations and politicisation.

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Burdensome past: Challenging the socialist heritage in Macedonia

Cited by 25 publications

References 9 publications

Sustainability of Cultural Memory: Youth Perspectives on Yugoslav World War Two Memorials

Sustainability of Cultural Memory: Youth Perspectives on Yugoslav World War Two Memorials

Captured City: Authoritarianism, Urban Space and Project Skopje 2014

“Skopje 2014” Reappraised: Debating a Memory Project in North Macedonia

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