Emigration and return in the zajecar region

Abstract

Emigration is one response in Yugoslavia to uneven economic development, and it has important economic and cultural consequences. This is conditioned, in Zajecar region, by the dominance of Vlachs in the emigration streams. Salient features include a reluctance to return to agricultural jobs, avoidance of the private sector, a preference for investing in the public sector, and demographic devastation in Vlach villages. A study of Vlachs and Macedonians in Scandinavia shows that ethnicity is the expression of a complex relation between the cultures of certain groups and the economic and political structures of society as a whole. Each group has developed its own defense and social mobility strategy in adapting to the circumstances of living in Sweden and Denmark. This affects their integration into these societies as well as their reintegration into Zajecar region.

Keywords:

• emigration
• integration
• social mobility
• ethnicity
• Yugoslavia