Macedonia

Macedonia

The New Balkan Revolts: From Protests to Plenums, and Beyond

Igor Štiks and Srećko Horvat
Balkan revolts

The current wave of protests and plenums in Bosnia and Herzegovina may thus represent the birth of true activist citizenship, and the profound politisation of a society over the most fundamental questions for any country, namely social justice and equality for all its citizens. What happens in Bosnia, will not stay only in Bosnia.

Over the last couple of years we have regularly witnessed popular protests and uprisings in the post-socialist Balkans. The well-known mobilisations, struggles and street violence in the southern part of the peninsula, in Greece and Turkey, have a constant and yet under-reported echo in other Balkan states.

‘Perceived Co-Ethnics’ and Kin-State Citizenship in Southeastern Europe

Dejan Stjepanović
perceived co-ethnics

In my terms, ‘perceived co-ethnics’ are defined as people who are recognised by the citizenship (or ethnizenship) conferring state as belonging to its main ethnic group although they themselves not only do not embrace that definition but have a distinct national project of their own. In other words, this imagined political community is seeking recognition in its own right under a different name and with different claims from that of the self-fashioned kin-state. However, the self-fashioned kin-state offers citizenship to them.

This is an extended summary of a longer paper that was originally published in the CITSEE working paper series and is available for download here.

CITSEE: 8 new working papers on various aspects of citizenship in Southeast Europe

CITSEE Working Papers

This brings the number of working papers produced so far by CITSEE researchers and associated scholars to 33, and shows our increased focus on thematic and comparative studies

The CITSEE team is pleased to announce the publication of eight new papers in its Working Paper Series on citizenship regimes in post-Yugoslav states.

Being an Activist: Feminist citizenship in Yugoslavia and post-Yugoslav spaces

Adriana Zaharijević
Activist citizenship

If feminist citizenship in SFRY has to be seen in the context of dissidence, while feminist citizenship in the context of nation-building needs to be assessed by its relationship to belonging and borders, then the post-Yugoslav feminist citizenship has to be understood in terms of political re-appropriation and re-politicization of Yugoslav socialist heritage. This re-politicization needs to be seen in the context of rigorous critique of socio-economic relations brought by neoliberal capitalism, but within the specific post-conflict and post-socialist circumstances. 

This is an extended summary of a longer paper that was originally published in the CITSEE Working Papers Series and is available for download here.

The Politics of Return, Inequality and Citizenship in the Post-Yugoslav Space

Biljana Đorđević
Politics of return

This study shows how particular politics of return are often a result of negotiations among political actors within citizenship constellations – a term first used by Rainer Bauböck to denote structures in which individuals’ statuses are dependent on individuals’ being concurrently connected to several political entities. For instance, host states are interested in reducing economic burdens that displaced populations put on their shoulders and, if they are powerful enough, they can impose return to countries of origin by way of conditioning it with state recognition, financial assistance, accession to international organizations, visa free regime etc.

This is an extended summary of a longer paper that was originally published in the CITSEE Working Papers Series and is available for download here.

CITSEE discussion: Varieties of Citizenship in a wider Europe

citizenship in Europe

‘Varieties of citizenship in a wider and more territorially differentiated Europe’ was a panel discussion organised as part of the CITSEE symposium ‘Varieties of Citizenship in Southeast Europe’ (6-7 June, 2013) in Edinburgh. 

Varieties of citizenship in a wider and more territorially differentiated Europe’ was a panel discussion organised as part of the CITSEE symposium ‘Varieties of Citizenship in Southeast Europe&rs

Gendering Social Citizenship: Textile Workers in post-Yugoslav States

Chiara Bonfiglioli
Textile industry

In post-Yugoslav states, intergenerational solidarity networks based on family ties have become a safety net for many citizens, and particularly for women, who are traditionally in charge of child caring and social reproduction, while at the same time being often the main breadwinners in the household. The devaluation of women’s labour and the precarity of women on the labour market in the post-Yugoslav space reinforce women’s dependency on extended family networks. While the importance of family networks in informal economic practices was common during socialism as well, in post-socialist times, however, when job security in the public sphere has largely faded, the family – as well as informal economic practices - have an even stronger significance for everyday survival.

This is an extended summary of a longer paper that was originally published in the CITSEE Working Papers Series and is available for download here.

Romani subaltern in the context of transforming post-Yugoslav citizenship regimes

Julija Sardelić
Romani flag

Romani minorities in the post-Yugoslav space had uneven access to citizenship, which was specific to their socio-economic and also culturally stigmatised condition as the Subaltern, who was not able to voice its plight or it was ignored. Romani individuals who were positioned as non-citizens at their place of residence were in the most unfavourable position. However, even those minority individuals, who were able to access citizenship at their place of residence, found themselves in uneven position in comparison to other citizens. All post-Yugoslav states, also due to the dialogue with international organisations and EU integration processes, introduced legislation for minority protection, which included also Romani minorities. However, in most cases (excluding Slovenia), Romani minorities were included into the generic legal acts on minority protection, which did not recognise the fact that they are culturally stigmatised as well as have a different socioeconomic position than most other minorities. 

This is an extended summary of a longer paper that was originally  published in the CITSEE working paper series and is available for download here.

Albania to grant citizenship to ethnic Albanians in the neighbourhood and diaspora

Gezim Krasniqi
Albanian passport

While it is still too early to speculate about the practical implications of this decree, its adoption together with recent plans to grant citizenship to foreign investors will without doubt transform the conception and configuration of Albanian citizenship and can potentially impact upon the already complex citizenship constellations in the region.  

(Also available at www.eudo-citizenship.eu)

Urban struggles: Activist citizenship in South-East Europe I

Ljubica Spaskovska
Skopje 2014

Regardless of the context-specific background of Skopje’s urban battles, there is a trans-national story of urban activism to be told, from Istanbul to London, in particular targeting undemocratic practices of usurpation of public/green spaces either by authoritarian leaders or private investors. A wave of neo-conservative politics, tendencies of desecularization, corruption, control over media and growing social and economic gaps actually form the background of public discontent, creative activism and urban sociality and cross-ethnic solidarity. Mapping a new historical narrative onto the capital’s face has come at the cost of hundreds of millions of Euros of public money (official figures are at 208 million) and without a wider public debate and transparent decision-making. Political elites seem to willingly overlook the fact that “the past cannot give us what the future has failed to deliver”.

The Battle for Skopje – urban citizenship and the legacy of the past

People make cities, but cities make citizens.

Richard Rogers

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