Youth’s perspectives on the concept of home
«No matter what kind of home I have got,
I cherish it and love it a lot.
It is simple and modest, but it’s mine,
Here I am free, and I like it just fine.»
Branko Ćopić, The Hedgehog’s Home
Just like previous generations, the children’s story called Ježeva kućica (The Hedgehog’s Home) by Branko Ćopić is well known to young people today in Croatia, as well as in other countries of the former Yugoslavia. The story concerns Ježurka’s deep attachment and pride in his modest but cosy home. Throughout the tale, forest animals – a wolf, a wild boar and a bear mock Ježurka for his modest house and question why he cherishes it so much. Ježurka always returns to and stands in protection of his humble home, explaining that his happiness and contentment come from having a place he can call his own and where he feels free, safe and comfortable. The story’s moral is that any and every home should be protected and taken care of because it provides a sense of safety and freedom. First published in 1949, this children’s story represents the archetype of a home adopted for generations, often more unconsciously than consciously. This story forms a cultural backdrop because, for many of us in the post-Yugoslav region, Ježurka Ježić was and probably still is the first meaningful encounter with the concept and sense of home.
The goal of this text is not to convey an analysis of Ćopić’s widely known children’s story but to sketch a contemporary understanding of home amongst young people in Croatia. Modern Croatian society has become more complex than when Branko Ćopić wrote The Hedgehog’s Home. In this sense, how do young people today understand, experience, think and speak of home? How do they define it, what constitutes a home in their everyday lives and what determines it? Under the framework of the Moj Dom project, we sought to answer these questions through qualitative research conducted in four focus groups across Zagreb, Vukovar, and Osijek. A total of 30 young people participated in the study in December 2023. Two focus groups included students from the University of Zagreb, while the other two included students in the final grades of secondary schools in Vukovar and Osijek. The latter focus groups were organized in collaboration with the Nansen Dialogue Center Osijek, Udruga žena Vukovar /Women’s Association Vukovar, and two teachers, Đurđica and Mirjana, who have been a part of the Nansen Dialogue Centre’s teachers community.
We started from the assumption that home is a concept, construct and an affection not limited to a house, space, and place. It appears in its various and fluid meanings. The variety of meanings of home implies that it comprises geographical, residential and sensory features as well as those that we cannot see, hear, feel, smell or touch. Home is also an undefined feeling of authenticity and emancipation, belonging and an act of choice. The fluid meaning of home implies a changeable life perspective and adaptation to new life situations that come naturally with one’s upbringing and the experience of growing up but are also shaped by significant events that are usually beyond our control, such as forcible uprooting.
One of the prominent themes that emerged during focus group discussion, which is individualistic in nature, was the perception of home as a place of authenticity, or as some authors describe it—a place where our existence does not need justification (Boccagni and Kusenbach 2020). Indeed, the very strong meaning our participants attached to the home is the feeling of (personal) freedom (just like Ježurka Ježić!). A participant said that home is, first, a sense of freedom, a prerequisite for achieving togetherness and solidarity in a community or society. Before connecting with other people, one should be independent and emancipated, and one’s home enables that. Home, as some participants said, allows one to have the autonomy to fulfil his needs and desires, e.g. purchasing and using items that cater to his preferences. This ability to create and control one’s environment enables a sense of personal freedom and self-sufficiency that home embodies. Home is not just a physical space but also an emotional and psychological haven in one’s control. In this sense, this primarily individualistic perspective of understanding home sees home as belonging to oneself and preserving one’s privacy, from which strength is drawn to connect with others outside one’s home. A space where you are “your true self” and where all the “social masks that we put on for the public are removed when we leave home”, as one participant said. Home, paraphrasing the famous sociologist Goffman, is the backstage of life (Boccagni and Kusenbach, 2020) in which there is no need to act or perform.
As one participant aptly put it, «Home is where I am on autopilot.» The same participant continued by saying that home makes her sensory blades dull, and all the inner antennas for being alert are unconsciously turned off. This unconscious ease suggests that the home operates as a background or “power supply system”, maintaining our existence much like our breath sustains us without conscious thought. Within the home, there is an inherent unawareness of space, an effortless sense of surrender, and a profound feeling of normality – a space where the surroundings blend into the background, allowing one to exist without heightened awareness or vigilance. One participant interestingly drew a parallel with travelling abroad, saying how the contrast between familiar and unfamiliar environments can bring our cultural norms and comforts into sharper focus. We often remain oblivious to the nuances of our own culture until we are exposed to the unfamiliar, which forces us to reflect on what we take for granted. In a similar way, the meaning of home becomes most apparent when we are distanced from it.
The concept of home often evokes images of comfort, safety, and warmth, and these positive and neutral associations are commonly discussed. However, it is important to acknowledge that home can also hold and embody negative feelings and experiences such as insecurity, instability, fear, and oppression. In group discussions, people tend to focus on the home’s positive attributes, possibly due to the inclination to provide socially acceptable answers and the reluctance to share negative experiences. Despite this, it is crucial to recognize that for some, home is far from being a safe haven. Instead, it represents a place of constraint, where freedom and authenticity are compromised due to various factors such as domestic violence, socio-economic challenges, etc.
Secondly, participants expressed meanings and experiences of home that can be called collectivistic. Meanings of the home were mostly found in family and friendship ties that were seen as a refuge from the hostile and unsupportive outer world, family rituals and socializing, as well as in rootedness and belonging to a place and community. In addition, the idea was that location becomes a home when people with whom one shares a deep connection inhabit it. It is the presence and bond with these people, significant others, which transform a mere place into a meaningful home. In this sense, the physical surroundings become secondary to the relationships that define the experience of home. For many, the emotional and psychological aspects of home—feelings of warmth, acceptance, and love—are more significant than the actual physical space. Thus, the perspective that a person can become a home to someone else was discussed. The idea was that one could provide a sense of stability and comfort that transcends place boundaries. In addition, there was a step beyond conventional framework when talking about home: a home was understood as a choice in terms of finding one’s own “tribe” or “a chosen family” usually, but not exclusively, through digital technology. Technology today allows young people to reach out to many people they personally do not know but with whom they share values that are important to them, values that may not be recognized or supported by people in their immediate surroundings. In this way, a home is created virtually in the digital world, and it can feel very real. Having their own “tribe,” whether virtual or in real life, allows young people to experience a sense of belonging. Belonging as a feeling is often associated with family, relatives, friends, like-minded individuals, and community and is considered a crucial aspect of the meaning of home. From the perspective of young people, belonging is the feeling of being accepted and respected for who they truly are. According to some participants, they experience a sense of belonging when they feel that their authentic self is valued and acknowledged by significant others. Belonging is not complete if the acceptance is one-sided. For example, it is not enough for a person to be declaratively part of a group; true belonging requires that the group fully accept that person as they are. In this sense, the meaning of home is essentially relational, characterized by mutually accepting feelings, appreciation, and support.
Our participants engaged in lively talks, exploring numerous issues. We appreciate their valuable time and contribution to the research. Our small-scale qualitative research consistently indicated that one of the fundamental essences of a home is a sense of freedom to express one’s authentic identity and to be free from judgement, much as Ježurka cherishes his freedom and safety in his home.
Anja Gvozdanović, PhD, is a sociologist and youth researcher who works at the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb on topics of youth political culture and social capital.
Emina Bužinkić, PhD, is a researcher, activist, and writer at the intersections of migration, refuge, education, transnational solidarities, and feminist praxis.
