Civil Associations and Urban Modernity in the Late Austro-Hungarian Periphery

The paper presents an overview of civil associations present in the Austro-Hungarian cities of Rijeka, Zagreb and Pula between 1890 and 1910. Following political and social transformations after the establishment of the Dual Monarchy, citizenship acquired new meaning and defined new boundaries between the state and its citizens both in terms of status and practice. By analysing the types and aims of the associations, the paper argues that these newly established social and cultural practices became places of socialisation and social interaction, as well as means of construction of a distinct bourgeois identity. In addition, the public life of this vast scenario of associative experiences enabled a vibrant urban landscape in the fin de siecle modernity.