WHERE EAST MEETS WEST - ETHNIC INTERMARRIAGE IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, 1962 TO 1989

I examine ethnic intermarriage in the former Yugoslavia to determine the prevalence of exogamy there and if exogamy has increased since World War II. A better understanding of this problem may offer important insights into the current events in the former Yugoslavia. Using marriage registration data, I apply log-linear models to distinguish the effects of changes in the marginal distribution of spouses' traits from patterns that reflect the association between these traits. The results show that the widespread perception that intermarriage occurred frequently is an exaggeration-over the last three decades there has been no clear increase in the rates of intermarriage. Further social barriers have hindered interactions (and intermarriage) among three cultural traditions present in the former Yugoslavia-a Western tradition among Slovenes and Croats, who have been under Austro-Hungarian rule and are predominantly Catholic; an endemic Balkan cultural tradition among Serbs, Montenegrins, and Macedonians, who have been part of the Ottoman Empire and are predominantly Eastern Orthodox; and a Middle-Eastern cultural tradition among most of the Islamic populations.