Culture as a resource in nation-building: the case of Macedonia

Abstract

Together with history, culture represents one of the most basic aspects of the fabric of everyday life. It gives us a sense of identity and tells us who we are, where we come from and where we are going. Cultural policy broadly defines the meaning of social practice, and deals with subjectivity and identity, thereby playing a central role in the building of a sense of self. In the era of globalization, culture transcends borders between countries and can play the role of the connective tissue of the "imagined nation". It is used in the voluntary and organic approach to defining the nation. While the organic approach emphasizes the role of culture in highlighting the specificity of the nation, voluntary discourse focuses on the culture's universal value. This paper will analyze how culture is being used as a resource in the construction of the contemporary Macedonian nation. (author's abstract)