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https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2025.499 Poligrafi, no. 117/118, vol. 30, 2025, pp. 1–5
I N T R O D U C T I O N : 
B E T W E E N  R E V I V A L  A N D 
A T H E I Z A T I O N :  S T A T E C R A F T , 
I D E N T I T Y ,  A N D  R E L I G I O U S 
T R A N S F O R M A T I O N  I N 
F O R M E R  Y U G O S L A V I A
This interdisciplinary special issue explores the complexities of reli-
gious transformation in societies, particularly the revival of both domi-
nant and non-dominant religions – often intertwined with ethnicity 
and migration – and the attempts of atheization, within the geographi-
cal framework of former Yugoslavia throughout the long 20th century. 
Through historical archival research, social science analysis, and ethno-
graphic fieldwork, the articles offer a comprehensive examination and 
contextualization of religious change, shedding light on the controver-
sies surrounding freedom of religion and freedom from religion from a 
comparative and transnational perspective.
The studies address various forms of religious agency that transcend 
established norms, legal frameworks, and cultural expectations, con-
tributing to a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms driv-
ing religious change. These processes have led to the redefinition and 
reshaping of religious boundaries through interreligious interactions, 
political disputes, and national religious policies. State structures, re-
gardless of regime type, have historically sought to control religious 
diversity and mitigate underlying tensions – a dynamic particularly evi-
dent in the formation and reformation of religious minorities.
The multifaceted nature of religious relations in Yugoslavia is exam-
ined from different perspectives, highlighting both divisions and shared 
features among various manifestations of Christianity and Islam across 
and within borders. Internal migration further influences these dynam-
ics, which are examined within a broader state framework and, especially, 
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in regional contexts. a focus on these sociopolitical specificities is crucial 
for understanding religious identification – or the lack thereof – through 
dimensions of individual and collective choices to change religious or 
meaning systems, which may be voluntary or coerced, individual or 
collective, reflecting the fundamental distinction between the percep-
tion of religious identity as “born into” or “made.”
The multi-ethnic and multi-confessional context of Yugoslavia, the 
only country in Europe with significant orthodox Christian, Catholic, 
and Muslim communities, serves as an ideal setting to critically ana-
lyze religious change, the heterogeneity of atheism, and the complex 
interplay between state and religion. This includes the politicization of 
religion and the religionization of politics. Tensions between national 
groups, rooted in centuries of conflict, become increasingly difficult to 
resolve when religious and ethnic boundaries overlap, thereby compli-
cating and reinforcing particular identities. Yet, these seemingly fixed 
religious boundaries have consistently been reshaped and renegotiated 
through interactions and political interventions.
During the major shifts and social transformations in the 20th cen-
tury, Yugoslav state structures sought to address a diverse range of dif-
ferences – ethnic, political, cultural, economic, and religious – aiming 
to foster an enduring understanding between constitutive nations and 
ethnicities. The examination of interreligious relations and transforma-
tions during the Yugoslav period (1918–1991) and in the post-Yugoslav 
context reveals new dimensions of freedom of conscience and the con-
ditions necessary for preserving religious identities, which often come 
into conflict. These inquiries engage with the persistent problem of rep-
resenting “otherness” and the ongoing challenges related to religious 
equity that continue to emerge in the region.
The authors examine how state policies and shifting political con-
texts in the former Yugoslav space have shaped religious landscapes, 
identities, and practices. In the article “religious Identity as the State’s 
Tool in Modification of public Space and Its Identity: The Yugoslavian 
Concept of the Two Squares in Maribor,” Sara Hajdinac argues that 
the state actively reconfigured public space in the city on the Slovenian 
frontier to assert a unified Yugoslav identity. The study details how, in 
1934, the renaming of general Maister Square to Yugoslavia Square 
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and the construction of the Serbian orthodox Church of St. lazarus on 
a site of rich symbolic history served as deliberate instruments to merge 
imposed religious symbols with a broader (supra)national ideology. 
In “State of governance of religious Communities in former 
Yugoslavia and the Developments of the Bahá’í Community and 
Jehovah’s Witnesses,” aleksandra Zibelnik Badii, on the other hand, 
analyzes the experiences of smaller, unrecognized religious communi-
ties such as the Bahá’í community and Jehovah’s Witnesses over a longer 
time frame. although the Yugoslav legal framework ostensibly guar-
anteed religious freedom and the separation of church and state, these 
communities faced considerable challenges. The study examines how 
national identity, legal compliance, and ideological alignment with the 
state influenced the treatment of smaller religious communities within 
Yugoslavia’s broader framework of religious freedom.
Contrasting the religious context, Todor lakić, Boris Vukićević, 
and Saša Knežević discuss secularization and atheization policies 
in Montenegro after World War II in the study “The Dynamics of 
atheization in postwar Communist Montenegro.” The authors high-
light the intense secularization efforts, particularly from the mid-1940s 
to the mid-1950s, and examine the state’s relations with religious com-
munities. Montenegro experienced the most intense secularization and 
atheization among the Yugoslav republics. The research also analyzes 
the impact of religious policies on Montenegro’s three largest religious 
communities.
Based on fieldwork, Jadranka Đorđević Crnobrnja, in “The 
prohibition of Women’s Veiling in the region of gora,” analyzes the 
ban on veiling women in the gora region in the autonomous region 
of Kosovo-Metohija, introduced by the people’s republic of Serbia in 
1951. This radical measure, intended to promote the emancipation of 
women and gender equality, disrupted long-established cultural prac-
tices of the gorani community. The ban on traditional clothing such 
as headscarves and terlik, not only undermined religious customs but 
also erased symbols of marital status. The article highlights the conflict 
between state-imposed secular ideologies, religious freedom and indig-
enous cultural identities. 
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presenting religious policy in late socialist Slovenia, Jure ramšak, 
in “The problem with Courtesy: Wooing the Catholic Church in late 
Socialist Slovenia,” examines the relatively calm and cooperative rela-
tions between the Catholic Church and state authorities. It highlights 
how Slovenian religious policy was seen as a model for integrating be-
lievers into modern socialist society and was positively presented to in-
ternational audiences. Up until 1990, communication between party 
officials and the Church was courteous, and local priests generally re-
ceived support for initiatives such as building new churches. However, 
independent intellectuals – Catholics and Marxists alike – who called 
for genuine dialogue on religion were marginalized, leaving an ambigu-
ous legacy for Slovenia’s late socialist religious policy. 
Exploring another dominant religion, “Serbian press and Eastern 
orthodoxy in Serbia in the 1980s,” by petar Dragišić, analyses Serbian 
press coverage of the resurgence of Eastern orthodoxy in Serbia during 
the 1980s, using influential newspapers and magazines. He reconstructs 
perceptions of the revival of religiosity and identify its root causes. The 
research found a close link between the revival of religiosity and the 
changing political environment in Serbia during the 1980s, suggesting 
that rising ethnic tensions, particularly in relation to Kosovo, catalyzed 
a renewed public religiosity, which in turn strengthened the influence 
of the Serbian orthodox Church in the late 1980s.
Depicting post-Yugoslav circumstances in the Slovenian religious 
field, Igor Jurekovič, in “Charismatic Christianity as primal Spirituality? 
Some observations from Slovenia,” considers the global emergence of 
Charismatic Christianity, noting that social scientists often focus on 
responses to social modernization, while theologians emphasize theo-
logical innovations inherent to Charismatic Christianity. Harvey Cox’s 
theory is highlighted, attributing the appeal of Charismatic Christianity 
to its embodiment of primal spirituality through fundamental speech, 
piety, and hope. The article aims to elucidate Cox’s argument, acknowl-
edging both the strengths and limitations of his approach and provid-
ing insights from fieldwork among Charismatics in Slovenia.
The special issue of Poligrafi is a result of the research project N6-
0173, Religious change in Slovenia and Yugoslavia: Religious conversions 
and processes of atheization; the research programme p6-0272, The 
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Mediterranean and Slovenia; and bilateral projects between Slovenia 
and Serbia, Religious Policies and Freedom of Conscience in Interwar and 
Socialist Yugoslavia: The Contexts of Change (BI-rS/23-25-054), and 
between Slovenia and Montenegro, Religious Plurality and Religious 
Policies of Socialist Yugoslavia: Historical and Legal Aspects in the Case 
of Slovenia and Montenegro (BI-ME/23-24-013), all funded by the 
Slovenian research and Innovation agency (arIS).
gašper Mithans and Urška Bratož