Life-paths of serbs in the context of conflicts in former Yugoslavia

Anotace: Ethnic and religious differentiation greatly contributed to the collapse of former Yugoslavia. The national and religious structure of the country's population was formed by unusually complex historical developments. This process has been influenced by many external and internal factors, varying in intensity over time. Under the influence of historical development, religion and ethnicity manifest themselves as a complex socio-cultural phenomenon, reflected in the identity of the population. Nationalism was the accompanying phenomenon of ethnic and confessional differences and reached the extreme positions. Serbian citizens, like other nationalities of the former Yugoslavia, were strongly influenced by a wave of nationalism in the early 1990s, resulting in an extremely complicated and long-term military conflict and high territorial and state instability. The aim of this paper is to briefly analyse the development of former Yugoslavia and to study the perception and impact of pre-war, war and post-war situations on behaviour of 24 individuals of Serbian nationality who were affected by conflicts in several areas of former Yugoslavia over period of last three decades. The purpose of this article is also to illustrate how the conditions surrounding individuals who were affected by war limit or enhance his/her range of activities in the conflict and post-conflict space have manifested in their time-space behavioural patterns. In this paper a process of individual behaviour is emphasized because each situation is unique and requires special investigation and understanding.