Balkan Studies

The Past if Past: The Use of Memories and Self-Healing Narratives in Refugees from the Former Yugoslavia

by Marco Gemignani

International Organizations in post-conflict settings: the lessons of the ICMP in Bosnia and Herzegovina

by Donovan Kavish

Serbian/Albanian Bilingualism in Kosova: Reversal or Entrenchment of the Curse of Babel?

by Sarah Jansen

Undergraduate Research. Completed in partial fulfillment of SIT Study Abroad: Peace and Conflict Studies in the Balkans, Spring 2012. Advised by Yll Buleshkaj.

Dynamics of power between multiple languages in one space are indicative of and inform the relationship between the... more Dynamics of power between multiple languages in one space are indicative of and inform the relationship between the speakers of those languages. In post-conflict Kosova, two ethno-linguistic groups, Kosovar Serbians and Kosovar Albanians, live in a context where language has become politicized and long-standing linguistic, political, and social hierarchies of power have been radically disturbed. This paper describes the myriad of images of the Serbian language in the country, focusing particularly on those that come from the Serbian/Albanian bilingual Kosovar Albanian community. It then discusses how these inform language as a political tool and what the consequences of this are for peaceful intercommunity relations. A total of eight bilingual respondents from Prishtina and Prizren were interviewed about their perceptions, feelings, and use of the Serbian language, including how these may have changed over time. Three sets of images or narratives are identified, then this paper explores how each set relates to theories of bilingualism and potential for progressive social change.

Western residents in the Aegean Sea: the case of Tinos’island

by Pierre Sintès

Méditerranée, n°113, 2009, pp.79-89

Since the early 1990s, Greece has become a country of mass immigration as have other countries of southern Europe. The... more Since the early 1990s, Greece has become a country of mass immigration as have other countries of southern Europe. The upsurge of large migrant groups from Albania, Bulgaria and Romania has thus been one of the major issues regarding the social development of Greece since 1922 and the exchanges of population with Turkey. In this new context, the migration of Western residents, often retired, has also increased significantly. Although more discrete as regards media attention, its impact on some of the modern Greek territories are yet numerous. The study of the island of Tinos, in the very heart of the Aegean Sea, gives us an opportunity to understand certain aspects of contemporary migrations in the Mediterranean.

Naef. P. (In press). 1991-2011: Traces iconographiques des «Guerres Balkaniques». Essais en anthropologie visuelle. TSANTSA – Revue de la Société Suisse d’Ethnologie, Vol. 17

by Patrick Naef

La région des Balkans a connu des conflits armés violents dans les années quatre-vingt-dix et près de vingt ans après,... more La région des Balkans a connu des conflits armés violents dans les années quatre-vingt-dix et près de vingt ans après, les traces de la guerre sont encore visibles. Si les immeubles en ruines, les mines antipersonnelles, les impacts de balles et de mortiers disparaissent progressivement suivant un processus de reconstruction, certaines traces sont encore présentes, conservées volontairement ou laissées à l’abandon. De plus, certaines pratiques - muséales, artistiques, ou commerciales - participent à la mise en mémoire de ces guerres, par la production de graffitis, la vente de souvenirs ou encore la réalisation de divers projets artistiques. Cette contribution vise à exposer certaines représentations iconographiques de ces conflits, par l’exploration d’objets contemporains à ces guerres ou par la présentation d’éléments produits a posteriori. Les «roses de Sarajevo» (photo 1) - des impacts de mortiers remplis de peinture rouge et repérables dans différents endroits de la capitale bosnienne – peuvent déjà illustrer une forme de patrimonialisation et de mise en mémoire de la guerre.

Podrška procesu kreiranja razvojne strategije BiH: Inicijativa ACIPS-a za razvoj BiH

by Nedim Muhedinović

Researcher / researc team member

Publikacija koju vam predstavljamo pod nazivom “Podrška procesu kreiranja
Državne razvojne stategije BiH”... more Publikacija koju vam predstavljamo pod nazivom “Podrška procesu kreiranja
Državne razvojne stategije BiH” rezultat je rada ACIPS – NDF tima (National
Development Forum – Državni razvojni forum) i obuhvata tri istraživanja:
“Prijedlog metodologije za izradu Državnog razvojnog plana”; “Komparativna
analiza razvojnih dokumenata europskih država za potrebe izrade Razvojne
strategije BiH 2008-2013” i “Nacionalni razvojni plan za BiH: izgradnja blokova za
novi okvir ekonomskog upravljanja”.
Publikacija je logičan slijed našeg prethodnog istraživanja „Model za razvoj
apsorpcionih kapaciteta za pretpristupne fondove EUu BiH” gdje je, između ostalog,
utvrđeno da visina apsorpcije fondova ovisi o sposobnosti strateškog
planiranja uporabe fondova. Utvrđeno je da je pravovremeno planiranje
razvoja od suštinskog značaja, a prvi korak u izgradnji apsorpcionih kapaciteta je
priprema za izradu Državne razvojne strategije u kontekstu pretpristupne pomoći.
Zemlje koje su osmislile realne razvojne strategije fokusirane na manji broj
utvrđenih prioriteta, sa jasnom političkom podrškom i planiranim sredstvima za
njihovu implementaciju, ostvarile su bolju apsorpciju EU fondova i dinamičniji
gospodarski rast. Drugim riječima, kvalitet državne razvojne strategije direktno
je povezan sa visinom apsorpcije pomoći u budućnosti.
Tri istraživanja koja promoviramo u okviru ove publikacije, kvalitetna su osnova
za predstojeće napore bh. vlasti na izradi Državne razvojne strategije, te u tom
smislu i svojevrstan doprinos ACIPS-a, kao stručnog eksponenta civilnog društva
u BiH.
ACIPS – NDF tim eksperata koji je radio na ovoj publikaciji predstavlja okvirni
koncept razvoja otvoren za sve političke i društvene snage, pojedince i interesne
grupe koje su relevantne za proces planiranja i implementacije bh. razvojnih
politika. Objedinjavanjem razvojnih kapaciteta pod okriljem ACIPS – NDF, isti se
kvalificira da bude jedan od korektiva i mehanizama nadzora nad planiranjem i
provođenjem razvojnih politika u BiH. U međuvremenu ACIPS – NDF tim će
ciljanim analizama nastaviti dopunjavati i pratiti kreiranje i implementaciju
razvojnih politika u BiH.

Opening the Black Box: Oral Histories of How Soldiers and Civilians Learned to Translate and Interpret During Peace Support Operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina

by Catherine Baker

This paper uses 51 oral history interviews with former military personnel, language trainers and locally-recruited... more This paper uses 51 oral history interviews with former military personnel, language trainers and locally-recruited interpreters to explore how soldiers and civilians were educated into becoming translators and interpreters who worked in support of the multi-national military force that first deployed into Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992. The peace operations took various forms as the nature of the Bosnia-Herzegovina mission changed but had a constant need for language support, which it met by combining a small number of soldiers trained in the local language(s) and a much larger number of local people with formal or informal education in English. The paper shows how different groups of people on whom the need for translation and interpreting had an impact (military linguists; military non-linguists; professional translators and interpreters; local interpreters who began work without professional training in interpreting) formed norms about the role of translators/interpreters through their education. Though each milieu led to a different translating and/or interpreting subjectivity, all language intermediaries recognised their work as a contingent and difficult activity while non-linguists were less able to conceive of language learning and translation/interpreting as more than a “black box” activity of finding equivalence. Using these findings as an illustration, the paper argues for the greater use of oral history in researching adult education and training on the grounds that an interview-based biographical approach provides insights into the long-term impact of learning.

Notes on German loan words in an areal Carpathian context

by Marek Stachowski

Les Albanais en Grèce : le rôle des réseaux préexistants

by Pierre Sintès

Depuis le début des années 1990, la migration des travailleurs albanais vers la Grèce est un des phénomènes... more Depuis le début des années 1990, la migration des travailleurs albanais vers la Grèce est un des phénomènes démographiques majeurs du Sud de la péninsule balkanique. Ce flux concernerait en effet un groupe de 600 à 800 000 personnes. Les Albanais constituent l'immense majorité des étrangers sur le sol grec et sont à l'origine de la transformation de ce pays en une des premières terres d'accueil de l'Union européenne proportionnellement à sa population. Les Albanais sont ainsi présents sur l'ensemble de territoire grec et occupent, pour la plupart, les segments les plus précaires du marché du travail. Les logiques qui président à leur répartition semblent bien être dictées par la géographie de l'emploi, la grande majorité se concentrant dans la ville d'Athènes et dans les campagnes offrant de nombreux emplois agricoles tant saisonniers que permanents. Cependant, à l'échelle plus fine du récit de vie, on est en mesure de remettre en question la vision simpliste qui ferait de la géographie migratoire un simple calque de celle de l'économie grecque. En effet, pour des individus ou des groupes plus restreints, la logique de l'implantation a été largement conditionnée par l'existence de réseaux familiaux transfrontaliers qui, après être restés en veille durant toute la période hoxhiste, ont été réactivés à partir des années 1990. La mise en avant d'un tel phénomène permet de mesurer l'importance des liens entre les deux pays dans la structure de la migration pour redonner, dans certains cas, l'importance qu'ils méritent à des facteurs particuliers dans le système de choix que constitue la migration.

The road: An ethnography of the Albanian-Greek cross-border motorway. In American Ethnologist vol 37

by Dimitris Dalakoglou

This article is an ethnographic study of a 29-kilometer stretch of cross-border highway located in South Albania and... more This article is an ethnographic study of a 29-kilometer stretch of cross-border highway located in South Albania and linking the city of Gjirokaster with the main checkpoint on the Albanian–Greek border. The road, its politics, and its poetics
constitute an ideal point of entry for an anthropological analysis of contemporary South Albania. The physical and social construction, uses, and perceptions of this road uniquely encapsulate three phenomena that dominate social life in postsocialist South Albania: the transition to a market economy, new nationalisms, and massive emigration (mainly to Greece). Taking this cross-border road section as my main ethnographic
point of reference, I suggest the fruitfulness of further discussion of the relationship between roads, narratives, and anthropology.

[roads, globalization, transnationalism, development, postsocialism, materiality, Albania]

Migrating - Remitting -‘Building’- Dwelling: House-making as proxy presence in postsocialist Albania. in JRAI vol.16

by Dimitris Dalakoglou

This article examines the material culture of migration, focusing on migrants’ house-making projects in their... more This article examines the material culture of migration, focusing on migrants’ house-making projects in their countries of birth. In particular, it examines the houses built or refurbished by Albanians in their home-country, which is no longer their place of permanent residence. This is a widespread phenomenon in Albania, but it is also a frequently appearing practice amongst other international migrants. Why do migrants living outside their home-countries build houses there even though they do not plan to return? I seek to answer this question in the case of Albania by focusing empirically on the process of constructing these houses, rather than merely on the material entity of the house
as such. I propose that such ‘house-making’ by Albanian migrants is not only a simple house-building process; it also ensures a constant dwelling and dynamic ‘proxy’ presence for
migrants in their community of origin. These ethnographic observations have further significance for the anthropological study of both houses and international migration.

Life in the Quarter: Glass Finds

by Margherita Ferri

FERRI M. (2008). Life in the Quarter: Glass Finds. In: GELICHI S.. A Town through the Ages: the 2006-2007 Archaeological Project in Stari Bar. p. 59-66, FIRENZE: All'Insegna del Giglio, ISBN/ISSN: 978-88-7814-384-5

Impacts of Transition from an Official Greek Viewpoint: The Case of the Turkish Muslim Minority in Western Thrace-Greece (1923-1933)

by Ali Huseyinoglu

METU Studies in Development, 39 (1), 2012, 87-110

In the beginning of the 20th century, the dissolution of great empires in Europe resulted in formation of new nation... more In the beginning of the 20th century, the dissolution of great empires in Europe resulted in formation of new nation states. Millions of people were forced to move from one place to another while others remained on their own historic lands. As the Ottoman Millet system collapsed together with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, ethnic and religious differentiation among communities throughout the former Ottoman lands started to be promoted by new nation states of the post-World War. In this respect, those belonging to the core nation were given an advantaged position compared to the ‘minorities’ living in the same nation state who used to enjoy being members of the Müslim Millet under the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the Muslims across the Balkan Peninsula, regardless of their ethnic origins, became one of the main groups who suffered from the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.


The case of the Muslim Turkish minority of Western Thrace in Greece seems to be one of the significant case studies that would help to understand how reflections of the transition process from Ottoman to the Republic of Turkey affected the gradual transformation of a conservative Islamic community into a minority members of whom identify themselves with ethnic Turkish identity and Islam promoted by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, Diyanet.


In this framework, this paper seeks to shed light on the first decade of transition after 1923 analyzing issues of religious, educational, administrative autonomy of the Minority enshrined in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. In particular, it aims to show how this process was interpreted by Konstantinos Stilianopoulos, the Inspector of Minorities - the highest Greek authority responsible for minorities in the Interwar Greece. By analyzing the two comprehensive official reports prepared by Stilianopoulos after paying two visits to the region in late 1920s in order to observe continuities and changes in lives of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace, this study provides an official Greek viewpoint for the establishment of the minority regime in the north-eastern periphery of Greece after 1923.

Key words: Greeee, Western Thrace, Muslim Turkish Minority, Stilianopoulos Reports, Tradinionalists vs. Modernists.

Un fragile tesoro: i recipienti in vetro dalle discariche dell’isolato 140.

by Margherita Ferri

FERRI M. (2011). Un fragile tesoro: i recipienti in vetro dalle discariche dell’isolato 140. In: GELICHI SAURO. Analizzare lo spazio, analizzare il tempo. La storia di un isolato di Stari Bar. p. 86-93, FIRENZE: All’insegna del Giglio, ISBN/ISSN: 978-88-7814-525-2

From resurrection to insurrection:'sacred'myths, motifs, and symbols in the Greek War of Independence

by Marios Hatzopoulos

In Search of Meaning: Foreign Volunteers in the Croatian Armed Forces, 1991–95

by Nir Arielli

Foreign war volunteers are a recurring phenomenon in modern warfare. The Yugoslav Wars (1991–95) saw the participation... more Foreign war volunteers are a recurring phenomenon in modern warfare. The Yugoslav Wars (1991–95) saw the participation of foreign fighters on all sides. The article focuses on foreigners who joined the Croatian armed forces (excluding returning Croatian émigrés). It examines where the volunteers came from, what brought them to the Balkans and how they represent and commemorate their wartime experiences. It argues that their participation in the conflict can be understood as part of an individual search for meaning, comradeship and empowerment.

Who are the 'NGO People' in Mostar and Novi Sad?

by Piotr Goldstein

presented at the Balkan Connections Conference, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, June 2011

Political Manoeuvre and Discourse of Emergency, the Boundary of the aegean Greece in the Heart of national and European Issues

by Pierre Sintès

in N. RIBAS-MATEOS, El Rio Bravo Mediterráneo. Las Regiones Fronterizas en la época de la Globalización, Bellaterra, pp. 375-390

Greece is now a country of mass immigration with the proportion of foreign residents by reaching 10 % of the total... more Greece is now a country of mass immigration with the proportion of foreign residents by reaching 10 % of the total population. The country is also on many migration routes from Asia and Africa to Western Europe. Today, the coexistence of these two statutes of destination and transit country, gives to the Greek eastern border a dual role: as the south-eastern Europe border of the Schengen region but as a national border, it also represents a challenge in the representations and discourses of migration in the country.

Back to macedonian problem : a psychosocial approach

by Nikos Kalampalikis

Kalampalikis, N. (2000). Retour sur l’affaire macédonienne : une approche psychosociale, Balkanologie, IV(1), 5-27.

Political ruptures, identitary ruptures : a case into the Balkans

by Nikos Kalampalikis

Kalampalikis, N. (2003). Ruptures politiques, ruptures identitaires : un cas dans les Balkans. In L. Baugnet (Ed.), Constructions identitaires et dynamiques politiques, collection « Europe plurielle », Bruxelles, Editions PIE-Peter Lang, pp. 119-138.