The ’Holy’ Territories of the European South-East: The Kosovo Case

Author(s): Blagovest Zlatanov / Language(s): English

It has already become a truism among some cultural historians that the crucial and foundational identificational symbols and narratives of the South- East Slavic nations – the Serbian and Bulgarian1 nations, for example – function as recent-time, compensating imaginary constructs. Yet, they have been conceived in the last two centuries and are still postulated as ancient “natural” attributes of the “real” ethnic past, which could be or should be used as an ultimate ground of personal and group self-identification. Such is the case with some recent historical studies, centered on the foundational ethyological myth of the Serbian nation – the myth of the Kosovo plain (Kosovo polje) – which dare to oppose the predominant Serbian historical narratives. I would not claim that some new or intentionally concealed data-discoveries prove that the existing Serbian story about Kosovo is not “scientifically true”. In fact, in the last 20 years, when the “Kosovo problem” has turned out to be again a focal point of Balkan and European historical development, there have been no new findings concerning it. Moreover, different researchers are digging into roughly the same compendium of textual and ethnographic sources while building their conclusions. Apparently, the reasons for the completely contradictory resulting statements about and assessments of the historical role of Kosovo could be sought anywhere but in the so-called “sources” and “proofs”. In this sense, I would not share the opinion that at the onset of the 21st century we are still able to believe in and disclose some solid and autonomous “reality” lying beyond the “Kosovo myth”, whereby we could defend our stories and self-projections as reasonable and well-grounded. The main objective of my paper is rather different. I am not going to discuss the relation between the “Kosovo myth” and “historical reality”, or the discrepancy between the fi ctionality of the former and the truthfulness of the latter. I am not going to demystify the deceptiveness of the national phantasm “Kosovo”, and thus argue for the impeccability of some reality over there. In the last years so many people have indulged in confronting the shamefulness and anachronicity of the “Kosovo myth” that it seems as if the contemporary world is saturated by the self-evidence and predominance of advanced and civilized rationality, which brings us to the invincible principles of happiness and justice. On the contrary, I believe in the mytho-genesis of most of the contemporary political and historical establishment. Yet, it is not my goal to prove this here. What I am rather interested in are such simple questions as how people are attached to space, what is their relation to the territory, what it is that they call “Kosovo” for example, why they are so eager to envisage some strip of land as their own “possession”, “homeland”, “source of identifi cation” and so on. [...]

Space, Memory and Identity: The Memory of the Asia Minor Space in Greek Novels of the 1960s

Author(s): Maria Nikoloupoulou / Language(s): English

One of the milestones of 20th century Greek national narrative is the Asia Minor Catastrophe, i.e. the defeat of the Greek Army in the Greek-Turkish war (1919-1922) and the resulting wave of refugees of Greeks from Asia Minor (Rum in Ottoman terms) to the Greek state. The object of this study is to analyse why and how during the forty-year anniversary of this event certain novels appear to commemorate the Asia Minor space and identity: Ματωμένα Χώματα [Bloodied Earth, transl. as Farewell Anatolia] by Dido Soteriou (1909-2004); Στου Χατζηφράγκου [Stou Hatzifrangou, In the Hatzifrangou Quarter] by Kosmas Politis (1888-1974); To Αϊβαλί, η πατρίδα μου [Aivali, My Homeland] by Fotis Kondoglou, all published in 1962; and Λωξάνδρα [Loxandra] by Maria Iordanidou (1897-1989), published in 1963. While literature, the novel and especially the novel with historical subject matter, has traditionally been connected to the discourse of nationalism (Brennan 48-49, 52), these texts challenge offi cial nationalistic discourses by commemorating a pre-modern space, which was destroyed by nationalism, and by exploring refugee identity. [...]

Kriterion: The Institutionalized Ethnic Identity

Author(s): András Kányádi / Language(s): English

There is a fashionable motto: “unity in diversity”. On the level of a sheer linguistic abstraction, the “signifier” stands for the integrity of an entity, but also for its specificity, meaning at the same time cohesion and variety. Our study makes an attempt to present the institutional application of the concept of «unity» and that of the «division», promoted and performed by communist institutions, and focuses on a specific case of minority culture in Romania, showing the complex interplay between professional roles and ethnic identity, there the actors, in order to reach their objectives, adopt tricky strategies and various masks. Being a cultural study, it intends also to analyze phenomena of the cultural life of the communist period, attempting to bring together discourse analysis and institutional practice.

HISTORY AND CHARACTER Visions of National Peculiarity in the Romanian Political Discourse of the 19th century

Author(s): Balázs Trencsényi / Language(s): English

As in most European cases, some aspects of the Romanian discourse of national peculiarity can be traced back to the humanist genre of "Descripţia" of the land, narrating the origins and political history of the respective people, a genre which in the Danubian Principalities reached its climax in the works of the erudite Moldavian prince-scholar Dimitrie Cantemir (1673–1723).1 The works rooted in the humanist chorographical paradigm of course had a very different discursive function and referential basis than the characterological constructions underpinning the projects of modern nationhood and statebuilding, emerging from the late 18th century onwards, making "national individuality" a key argument of political self-legitimization. Some references to this national individuality can be identified in the political and cultural works of the Transylvanian Greek Catholic elite, which sought to anchor the historical-institutional identity of Transylvanian Romanians in a genealogical construction. They were stressing customs and behavior as the proof of continuity with the Roman colonists of Dacia and accidentally, even the concept of "character" surfaced in some of their writings. Simultaneously, the culturalgeographical literature stemming from the Danubian Principalities (often by travelers or cosmopolitan intellectuals, whose work can be related to more than one national tradition, such as the Greek Daniil Philippide or Dionisie Fotino, both of whom authored geographical descriptions of these lands, or the French Encyclopédiste, J. L. Carra) sought to put these polities on the map of Europe, making references to the customs of the inhabitants. Significantly, the concept of character was already able to become politicized in the late 18th century, as was the case with the reformist discourse of the Moldavian boyar Ionică Tăutul, who deplored the loss of patriotic identification and the growth of egoism on the part of the ruling elite.

DPC POLICY NOTE 03: The 2013 Census in Bosnia and Herzegovina – A Basic Review.

Author(s): Valery Perry / Language(s): English

Following a delay of several years and much heated debate, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) conducted a long-overdue census between 1 - 15 October 2013, the first in 22 years. This census is of crucial importance to both BiH and the international community, as many of the Dayton-era power-sharing arrangements between the three constituent peoples (Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs) are based on the 1991 census. The new census results will reflect the significant demographic changes caused by wartime ethnic cleansing and displacement. Given the continuing downward spiral of BiH’s current political dynamic, there should be little doubt that census results will be extremely controversial. On 3 February 2012, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) Parliamentary Assembly adopted a law for a census to be conducted in April 2013. The delay in adopting the law meant that BiH did not hold a census in 2011, the year that all European Union (EU) member states (as well as other former Yugoslav countries) held theirs. Additional political haggling delayed the census from April to October 2013. Even though the process of knocking on doors has finished and many are already exhausted from the politicization of the process, the issue is far from over. The aggregation, analysis, and most importantly, the use of the data will remain open questions during 2014 – a general election year. This brief provides an overview of the key issues surrounding the census in BiH and identifies a number of potential policy and political implications that will continue to both shape and reflect the politics of numbers.

DPC BOSNIA DAILY: Some Census Findings that Caught my Eye

Author(s): Valery Perry / Language(s): English

Bosnia Daily: July 8, 2016 – Some Census Findings that Caught my Eye

Your Face Sounds Familiar

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

On November 1, 2013, the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies published a new report "YOUR FACE SOUNDS FAMILIAR - On the occasion of the use of public resources in the "cleansing" of northern Kosovo campaign materials for the upcoming local elections in Kosovo and other security challenges and threats in relation to the upcoming local elections in Kosovo.

Tvoje lice zvuči poznato

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Serbian

Centar za evroatlantske studije je 1. novembra 2013. godine objavio novi izveštaj "TVOJE LICE ZVUČI POZNATO - Povodom upotrebe javnih dobara u akciji "čišćenja" Severa Kosova od izbornog materijala za predstojeće lokalne izbore na Kosovu i drugim bezbednosnim izazovima i pretnjama u vezi sa predstojećim lokalnim izborima na Kosovu.

Federalizam i konsocijacija u ustavnom sistemu BiH

Author(s): Goran Marković / Language(s): Bosnian

Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the few complete consociational federal states. Under the „complete“consociational federation I deem the one which contains all or almost all features of the federation and consociational democracy. The ethnic federalism can't be considered as the equivalent of the consociational federation. Other ethnic federations, with the exception of Belgium, could be at best understood as semi-consociational federations. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the federalism is complemented with consociational principles, not only regarding the composition of the institutions, but also, which is particularly important, regarding the methods of decision-making. It is hard to achieve consequent realization of all principles of the federation and consociation. This was the problem which the constitution-maker in Bosnia and Herzegovina had to face with. The general conclusion, drawn after the analysis of the composition, method of election, and method of decision-making of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is that the principles of consociation dominate over the principles of federation, although this conclusion is not without exceptions.

Ustavna (a)simetrija naspram legitimiteta i stabilnosti u bosanskohercegovačkom ustavnom dizajnu

Author(s): Maja Sahadžić / Language(s): Bosnian

Unlike traditional federal studies, contemporary studies in federalism recognize that asymmetrical constitutional solutions are not an anomaly but rather necessity, especially in multi-tiered multinational constitutional systems. Nevertheless, federalism studies also recognize that constitutional asymmetries may reflect on legitimacy and stability of the system. Although lacking a structured and comprehensive analysis, academics in Bosnia and Herzegovina often describe the constitutional design of the country as highly asymmetrical. The aim of this paper is then to provide answers to two questions. Firstly, whether, indeed, the constitutional system of Bosnia and Herzegovina is (highly) asymmetrical. And secondly, whether this produces specific effects on the legitimacy and stability of the system.

Ustavna aksiologija republikanizma i aktivitet parlamentarnih stranaka u Bosni i Hercegovini: kontradikcije, apologije i preporuke

Author(s): Elvis Fejzić / Language(s): Bosnian

Political axiology of Republicans has been continuously depreciated in post-Dayton political process. This process has been created and regulated by ethnocratic political representatives in accordance with their absolutist and monocratic ideology. The flawed Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is an outcome of the extorted peace agreement, that allows ethnocratic elites to achieve a hegemonic position and obtain incontrovertible political power. Thus, it is almost impossible to speak about democratic or legitimate nature of the Constitution, since it has not been created, proposed and adopted in accordance with normative rules of democratic procedure. Considering that several institutional opportunities for constitutional changes – that evidently were not a priority for ethnocratic political actors - have been exhausted, noninstitutional political activities and referendum democracy seem a rational choice and solution for designing, proposing and implementing constitutional changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bilježnica Robija K.: Narodi i navodnosti

Author(s): Viktor Ivančić / Language(s): Croatian

Ja i moj dida smo sidili na muliću i bacili smo tunje u more. Moja tunja je bila malo manja od didine. Plus sam ja za ešku nadijo komadić salama i speštanog kruva. Dida je za ešku nadijo meso iz pizdice i lupara. Moj dida misli da on će sa tom eškom uvatit veću ribu od mene. Na muliću prikoputa je neka ekipa itala se u more i prskala i skričala. Dida je gledao u njih krvoločki i rekao je: „Ovih Čeha ima ka žutih mrava! Svu će mi ribu rastirat!“ Ja sam rekao: „Bljak!“ Dida se okrenijo prema meni i rekao je: „Šta bljak?“ Ja sam rekao: „Pa ništa…“ Dida je pitao: „Jesil ti to, unukiću, iša nešto srat protiv Čeha?“

Report of civil society organizations on the implementation by the Republic of Belarus of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Belarusian

This report sets out the position of civil society organizations on certain provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter the Convention) which are of primary concern and does not claim to cover all aspects of the country's obligations to eliminate racial discrimination. The report presents both positive aspects of the measures taken by the Republic of Belarus to implement the Convention and negative practices. The report also contains recommendations to the State, which should be taken into account by the Committee in its concluding observations following the consideration of the report of the Republic of Belarus.

ATTITUDES AND VALUES OF INTERCULTURALITY IN THE ROMANIAN YOUTH

Author(s): Ana Bălaşa / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING IN ETHNICALLY MIXED SCHOOL

Author(s): Anca Tomescu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

THE FORCE OF PREJUDICE IN BALKAN HISTORIOGRAPHY A hypothesis on the Greek-Turkish mental entanglement

Author(s): Stephanos Pesmazoglou / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

DISCRIMINATORY ATTITUDES

Author(s): Petar-Emil Mitev / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

YOUTH, CRISIS AND XENOPHOBIC ATTITUDES

Author(s): Lydia Yordanova / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

GRAĐANSKI PROTESTI U SRBIJI I KSENOFOBIJA

Author(s): Zagorka Golubović / Language(s): Serbian Publication Year: 0

During civil end ethnic war in the former multinational Yugoslavia one of the main feelings amongst the population was xenophobia, because all the nations became contaminated by the conviction that „they could no longer live together". What brought into existence such a xenophobia was the nationalistic euphoria in Serbia in the 1990's, but in the other republics of former Yugoslavia as well. The proof can be found in the comparison of the latest results with those ten years earlier, when ethnic distance was rather small, as well as the expression of xenophobia towards the other people living together in the same state. However, a significant turn happened in the autumn 1996, when massive civil protests took place in Belgrade and the other large cities in Serbia: people began to liberate themselves from fear and mutual distrust forming new groupings based on mutual interests and goals (fighting for their civil rights concerning the fair treatment of the results of the local elections), behaving as free persons as well, opposite to the well-known meetings of the amorphous depersonalized masses. All of a sudden a critical public opinion was constituted enabling the population in protest to withstand sharp winter cold and police repression being in the streets for three months and demanding the confirmation of the opposition’s victory on local election. But what was mostly effective was a joy people expressed; so far somber and aggressive they became enthusiastic and gay, more communicative and ready to become a part of new communities. They expressed such feelings in a peaceful protest performing clever activities, turning thus attention of the world to themselves and their enduring energy. One may say that a citizen as a free personality was born during these protests, although by no means all the problems of nationalism, xenophobia and authoritarianism have been yet completely solved.

KSENOFOBIJA I IRONIJA

Author(s): Vojin Dimitrijević / Language(s): Serbian Publication Year: 0

Since 1987 xenophobia has been predominant in Serbia and Yugoslavia. It has been encouraged and promoted from above, through official media and with the energetic support of nationalist intelligentsia. This has not been surprising in an atmosphere of conflict and war among the nations in Yugoslavia. The author maintains that the predominant xenophobia has little resemblance with traditional suspicions and aversions in regard to other nations and states. Xenophobia, expressed in negative national stereotypes, is irrational but it has some links with historical experience. This experience would point toward the traditional enemies of Serbia in wars and memories of their armies as occupiers. In fact, among the negative stereotypes has figured prominently the United States, a state with which the Serbs had no conflicts or major misunderstandings. The explanation can be found that the management of propaganda and xenophobic indoctrination has been in the hands of communist professionals, who have continued their previous line of „anticapitalistic" propaganda, expressed in xenophobia towards the West in general and the United States as the principal „capitalist" nation. When the demonstrations in Serbian cities started after the electoral fraud of November 1996 the regime was in an awkward position. It had just started to adapt, after the signing of the Dayton Agreements on Bosnia and Herzegovina, to its new peace-making collaborative image. The demonstrators were initially labelled by state propaganda as chauvinists, conservatives, even fascists. Their reaction was swift and resulted in the removal of all Serb symbols and insignia and their replacement by Hags of foreign states. Official propagandists now found themselves in familiar waters and directed their efforts against „foreign hirelings and traitors". The reaction of the crowd was again very inventive: symbols of foreign countries gave now place to well designed and attractive banners with logos of successful international and foreign companies. The demonstrators thus indicated that they had opted for transition and capitalism and proved that the best weapon against xenophobia and stubborn official dumbness was irony. Irony and humor are also the best prevention against fear, fear being the major bastion of totalitarianism.