The Youngest Yugoslavs: An Oral History of Post-Socialist Memory

Reflecting on the final decades of socialism, eight individuals born in former Yugoslavia between 1971 and 1991 recount their memories of childhood and early adulthood, and how that time period has made a lasting impact on their lives.

The Youngest Yugoslavs is an oral history collection that gives its readers in-depth, varied perspectives on why Yugoslavia continues to resonate among its former citizens more than 30 years since the state collapsed amid war, genocide, and dislocation. Their interviews with author Jovana Babovic’ showcase how these individuals remember their childhoods during the final decades of socialism and how they conceptualize the lasting impact Yugoslavia has had on their lives.

The Youngest Yugoslavs offers insight on how this generation of Yugoslav individuals have reconciled the loss of their homeland and how they have continued to find meaning in the Yugoslav past as both a lived experience and as a set of ideals.

Jovana Babovic is Associate Professor of History at SUNY Geneseo. She is author of Metropolitan Belgrade: Class and Culture in Interwar Yugoslavia and Sleater-Kinney’s Dig Me Out.