Building a Public sphere: a comParative case study of yugoslavia and the euroPean union

In Amsterdam Social Science, Volume 1, Issue 3.

This article looks at ways in which a public sphere was constructed in Yugoslavia – once a functioning multi-national country – and compares them to the current efforts behind the building of a European public sphere and fostering of a common European identity. Firstly, the article explores the means by which Yugoslavia created and upheld a common Yugoslav identity and public sphere among six individual states with different cultural traditions and languages. It then addresses similar questions in reference to the EU and its current efforts in constructing a European public sphere. While it becomes clear throughout the article that Europe as a public sphere is different to that which existed in Yugoslavia, due mainly to differing political systems and media structures, it is nevertheless an interesting comparison between two identity and public sphere building projects. For this reason, they are introduced on separate terms as two individual and highly unique supranational projects, and then analysed in the aspects they are most comparable. This article takes the approach that the existence of a public sphere relies in some part on the successful construction of a common identity. Thus, it addresses media as a tool for building such an identity, which can lead to the formation of a public sphere.

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