THE PROJECT “SKOPJE 2014”: BETWEEN SOCIAL COHESION AND SOCIAL DISINTEGRATION

Abstract

In this paper we shall posit that the "Skopje 2014" Project, proposed and realized by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, is one form of reaction to the efforts made to dispute the Macedonian identity and as such has direct effect on Macedonia's strategic goal to join EU and NATO as an equal member. In a situation of “threatened identityâ€, the Project aims, through “collecti-on of memory†and its spatial integration, to recreate Macedonian identity through the construction of a nar-rative about its continuity from antiquity to the present day. The strategies for “a top downâ€implementation of the“politics of memory†is to promote the idea of the “glorious and heroic past†of the Macedonian nation. Ha-ving in mind that the Project is being implemented in the very centre of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Ma-cedonia, its realisation concerns not only the local popu-lation but the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia in general. Havin in mind that the Project very controver-sial reception goal of research is to define the issues that make this so provocative and, by that, atttempt to answer the question if the “Skopje 2014†Project contributes to social cohesion or social disintegration.