FROM UNIVERSAL EMPIRES TO NATION STATES. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN SERBIA AND THE BALKANS

Immense political and social changes and the process of modernization represent the key features of the early modern and modern history of the Balkans and Serbia. The main goal of the project is to identify the most significant elements of these long-term processes in Serbia and its surrounding areas in the period from the 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century. Changes in political and social systems which began with the large-scale reforms introduced in the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires continued and gained substantial pace in the renewed Serbian state which regained its independence at the beginning of the 19th century. The imposition of modernizing values through government measures and political decision-making processes led to the uneven and limited development. Through specifically defined topics this project will address the wide range of research problems associated with nearly all aspects of accelerated modernization as an ambivalent phenomenon. Simultaneously with the study of political and social elite, the special attention will also be devoted to the problem of marginalized and underprivileged sections of a society. The expected results of our research, perceived as a whole, will offer innovative and more nuanced image of Serbian society and its wider Balkan environment.