This dissertation examines how the Serbs as a nation deal with the past through the prism of the 1915 Serbian Army retreat across Montenegro and Albania in the wake of the invasion of Serbia in... Show moreThis dissertation examines how the Serbs as a nation deal with the past through the prism of the 1915 Serbian Army retreat across Montenegro and Albania in the wake of the invasion of Serbia in October 1915. We investigate the remembrance of this iconic event as a symptom of Serbian mythologized self-perception. The Retreat today is a canonised memory symbolising Serbian heroism and sacrifice. The First World War and the Retreat are experienced as specific and personal. Any attempted introduction of alternative views of the Serbian role in the First World War are rejected as hostile revisionism. The Serbian government has used the centenary commemorations to distract the Serbian public from the more recent unexamined past — Serbia’s role in the wars of the Yugoslav succession of the 1990s. This commemorative opportunism has been termed in the thesis as historical frame switching —framing current political events within arguably irrelevant historical contexts mostly in order to present an image of biased and unjust treatment of Serbs by the West. Further, politically loaded commemorations are analysed alongside grassroot events and ceremonies that memorialise the War and the Retreat. The latter are recognised as fictive kinships of remembrance, as previously characterised by Jay Winter. Show less
The purpose of the research presented in this thesis was to gain insight into social-psychological mechanisms that underlie negative attitudes towards the Roma, i.e. Romaphobia, among adolescents.... Show moreThe purpose of the research presented in this thesis was to gain insight into social-psychological mechanisms that underlie negative attitudes towards the Roma, i.e. Romaphobia, among adolescents. Drawing from the threat theory (Stephan & Stephan, 1996, 2000), we found evidence that the perception of economic and symbolic threat mediates relationships between national in-group attitudes and acculturation preferences, on the one hand, and Romaphobia on the other. Perceived threat to the continued transmission of and support for one’s heritage culture and economic welfare was the basis for nationalistic adolescents’ Romaphobia. Moreover, adolescents who endorsed ethnocentric acculturation strategies, characterized by a relative degree of rejection of Roma’s culture (assimilation), contact with Roma (segregation), or both (marginalization), perceived more threat and Romaphobia. In contrast, youth who favored Roma integration perceived lower levels of threat and more favorable attitudes toward the Roma. This model of relationships appeared to be structurally similar between the Netherlands and Serbia, two countries that clearly differ with respect to minority proportion and status. Explanations are discussed as well as implications for theory and prejudice reduction in diverse intercultural settings. Show less
