Locking Horns in the Istrian Political Arena: Politicized Identity, the Istrian Democratic Assembly, and the Croatian Democratic Alliance

Abstract

Most scholars of the recent history of Yugoslavia and its successor states tend to focus on nationalism and its hegemonic role in the region. However, it is prudent to examine the role of subnational regionalism on the politics of the region as well. This article analyzes Istrian regionalism in Croatian politics during the 1990s. It investigates the struggle between the Croatian ruling nationalist party, the Croatian Democratic Alliance (HDZ), and its primary regionalist opponent, the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS). While the HDZ generally maintained a hegemonic position in much of Croatia, the IDS resisted with a hegemonic hold on the region of Istria. Ultimately, both parties’ popularity fell in the late 1990s with the upswing in the Croatian economy. The article concludes that in specific regions and under particular circumstances, regionalism can be as hegemonic as nationalism and should be taken into consideration when studying modern politics and the politicization of identities.

Political Elites and Decentralization Reforms in the Post-Socialist Balkans

“…Prior to that it was closely associated with Italy, with which it shares a border. A particular trait that Istria shares with Vojvodina is the distinctively multi-national and multi-cultural character of the regional identity (Ashbrook 2006;Dragojević 2008;Hagan 2009). It is economically more developed than most other Croatian regions.…”

“…He wanted to withdraw his HDZ from running in regional elections in Istria, but regionalist IDS leader Ivan Jakovčić turned down these offers. 11 Failure to reach an agreement surely was partially the result of the stark ideological differences between the liberal and multi-cultural IDS and the nationalist conservative HDZ (Ashbrook 2006). But equally important was the little credibility of the HDZ and the fear that they would not truthfully uphold their commitment.…”

“…His government undermined efforts by international donors to measure regional inequalities and poverty across ethnic groups in the country. 17 Tuąman faced more persistent pressure from Istria where the regionalist party IDS dominated all local and regional elections (Ashbrook 2006). To summarize, this period of (semi-)authoritarian rule and civil war did not lead to more decentralization in Serbia and Croatia.…”

Ethnic groups and a dynamic of boundary making among co-ethnics: An experience from Croatian Istria

“…In this boundary-making process, the negative reference group were 'co-ethnics from East', especially those from Bosnia-Herzegovina. As Ashbrook pointed out, these compatriots were associated with everything Istrians tried not to be associated with, such as ethno-nationalism, armed conflict and ethnic intolerance (Ashbrook, 2005(Ashbrook, , 2006. Furthermore, as Ashbrook (2005) has also indicated, one common perception of Bosnians and Herzegovinians, at least in 1990s, was that they often were involved in corruption, smuggling and other forms of criminality.…”

Istrijanski regere fines: tradicijska kultura i Balkan u diskurzivnoj konstrukciji identiteta

“…Balkanizam je u diskursu IDS-a pragmatično diskurzivno sredstvo (Ashbrook, 2006.). Aktiviran u sučeljavanju s diskursom nacionalne uniformnosti, istovremeno 17 Sugovornica pod pseudonimom Viktorija, rođena 1964. godine, diplomirala politologiju, zaposlena kao novinarka na Radio Pazinu.…”