This paper reviews Yugoslav studies of marriage and the family with particular focus on the contributions of ethnology/anthropology and sociology. Two major historical periods are identified: 1866 to the end of the Second World War, and 1945 to the present. The first of these was characterized by attempts to reconstruct earlier forms of family life and empirical efforts to document and preserve disappearing aspects of folk culture among the South Slavs. In contrast, research since that time has focused largely on social change in both rural and urban settings. In postwar Yugoslavia sociology was the only discipline to identify the family as a specific domain of scientific research. During the late 1970s and 1980s new and innovative tendencies can be observed among Yugoslav sociologists. These include the application of an historical approach to family studies as well as the sociological interpretation of history. This period also saw the first appearance of feminist influences. Although there has also been considerable interest in family issues in other disciplines, so far, there has been very little interdisciplinary research on this topic in Yugoslavia.
