The Aromanian ethnolinguistic and cultural community in the Republic of Macedonia: Anthropology of a small community losing its struggle in society

Abstract

Aromanians represent an ethnic community that today lives in several Balkan countries, including the Republic of Macedonia, as a result of the social and historical context in which it developed. After a brief overview of the circumstances that led to this present state, in our work, we mainly refer to the question of the survival of the Aromanians and their language. Although in the past, the socialist authorities did pay attention to and cared for the smaller ethnicities in SFRY, they did not do enough. Thus, as a result of their small numbers and the intensive communication with the dominant Macedonian population, this small ethnic community in the post-socialist period started to lose the battle within the Macedonian society despite the existing national programs for its survival. In this paper, we look at the elements that enable the maintenance of the Aromanian language and culture, starting with the legal regulations, the forms of political organization of Aromanians, the possibility of television and radio broadcast, the nurturing of folklore through many cultural-artistic associations and especially the possibility of learning the language within primary education and university level.