Economics, Nationalism and Politics in Central and South-Eastern Europe: Introduction to the Thematic Section

Abstract

Economic nationalism has long occupied a central place in the political, social and economic history of Central and South-Eastern Europe. In regions marked by late imperial rule, uneven industrialisation, multi-ethnic settlement and shifting state borders, the economy was rarely perceived as a neutral sphere governed solely by markets, contracts and prices. It was also a field in which communities imagined their future, defended their status, mobilised resources and measured the strength of national claims. Financial institutions, cooperatives, shops, factories, labour markets, credit relations and consumer choices could all acquire national meaning, helping define who belonged to a community, who could legitimately represent collective interests, and who was marked as foreign, dependent or suspect.