"Macedonism" as Nationalism - Between the National Identity and Political Reality

Abstract

The subject of analyses of this paper are the attitudes, perceptions and the feelings of high educated young Macedonians regarding their Macedonian national identity. We will be presenting the answers of generation born in 1980s, in the Republic of Macedonia, young people with university degrees and higher, mostly well situated and having successful professional careers. The main subject of research are their perceptions and feelings regarding their Macedonian National Identity and their ethno-cultural belonging. The theme is recently redebated especially after the signing of the good neighborly relations agreement between Macedonia and Bulgaria and the ‘Prespa Agreement’ with Greece and the eventual attempts for ‘final resolution’ of the ‘Macedonian Question’. We will argue that the attitudes, perceptions and the feelings for their own national identity are filled with strong affections, that the Macedonian identity is equally powerful and active as the other Balkan national identities, that probably the ‘Makedonism’ as nationalism did not succeed to achieve more significant development prior the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries and that is why the Macedonian state project was late. The Macedonian national/state identity, even after 75 years of existence, is still in process of stabilization. In the analyses we use the data from the original research, which is conducted by qualitative approach, through organizing four focus groups in Skopje, with 28 participants.