MINORITIES UNDER THE RULE OF NATIONALISM: THE CASE OF YUGOSLAVIA
MINORITIES UNDER THE RULE OF NATIONALISM: THE CASE OF YUGOSLAVIA

Author(s): Dušan Janjić
Subject(s): Constitutional Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Nationalism Studies, Inter-Ethnic Relations, Ethnic Minorities Studies
Published by: Foruma za etničke odnose
Keywords: nationalism; minority rights; territorial autonomy
Summary/Abstract: The former Yugoslavia initially offered a relatively progressive model for minority protection, with strong constitutional guarantees and cultural autonomy, but this system masked deeper tensions rooted in ethnic rivalry and suppressed national identities. With the rise of nationalism and the weakening of the federal center in the 1980s and 1990s, these tensions exploded, leading to discrimination, exclusionary state-building, and violent conflicts, as elites in both majority and minority groups pursued power through ethnically based nationalism. This culminated in the disintegration of the state, ethnic wars, and the creation of new national entities that institutionalized inequality and deepened inter-ethnic divisions, particularly evident in cases like Albanian-Serbian relations in Kosovo.

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