Shadow genealogies: Memory and identity among urban Muslims in Macedonia

This study is an exploration of the encounters between everyday life and intense sociopolitical transformations that lead to an emotional re-ordering of identities. Building on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in six different towns in Macedonia, this dissertation chronicles the life histories of the Sehirli, the urban Muslims of Macedonia, as they crafted themselves into Turks and Albanians throughout the establishment years of former Yugoslavia. As these Muslim communities struggled between the options of permanent migration to Turkey or uneasy adaptation into new identity categories, their previously shared social culture transformed into shadow genealogies, which continue to influence urban Muslims' identity choices and survival strategies in contemporary Macedonia. This study explores "way of life" as an emotionally significant source of collective identity and discusses the implications of political and social downfall on identity formation among urban Muslims, whose lives were embedded in the culture of an empire that did not fit easily within the limited discourses of national identity.