Paper short abstract:

Despite the fact that Montenegro is constitutionally regulated as an ecological state, Pljevlja still remains one of the most polluted towns in Europe. The focus of research will be on the interweaving of historical and environmental narratives about the social and cultural exclusion of Pljevlja.

Paper long abstract:

Historically generated specifics and the contemporary environmental problems of Pljevlja, an industrial town in Montenegro, have created a fruitful terrain for analysing the correlation between environmental issues and attitudes toward nation, identity and international integration. Notably, in 1991 Montenegro officially declared the first ecological state in the world and this small Balkan state regulated itself as "a civil, democratic, ecological and state of social justice, based on the rule of law" (The Constitution of Montenegro, Article 1). However, despite the fact that Montenegro is constitutionally regulated as an ecological state, Pljevlja still remains one of the most polluted towns in Europe. Owing to its specific historical legacy and contemporary environmental pollution, the case of Pljevlja is an interesting example about how environmental issues affects identity problems. The main focus of ethnographic research will be on the interweaving of historical and environmental narratives about the social and cultural exclusion of Pljevlja from the rest of Montenegro. The hypothesis is that the carelessness of the state authorities and agencies regarding pollution in Pljevlja will be the central point in the environmental narratives. An additional hypothesis is that the carelessness as the central point in narratives will be closely associated with different historically generated specifics of Pljevlja. Culture plays an important role in human-environment relations and an anthropological approach to the above mentioned particularities can contribute to the analysis of environmentalism itself as well as to the broader understanding of the correlation between environmental problems and identity controversies.