KCSS RESEARCHER, DONIKA EMINI HELD A PRESENTATION WITH THE TOPIC “KOSOVO BETWEEN CIVIC AND ETHNIC NATION-BUILDING”

KCSS researcher, Donika Emini held a presentation with the topic “Kosovo between Civic and Ethnic Nation-building” organized by the University of Rijeka - Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. This conference in Rijeka represented the final event of a three year research project in Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. The whole project is funded by the Research Council of Norway.

The conference hosted many interesting theorists, who held lectures on various subjects. In two day conference time many lectures on most interesting subjects regarding nation-building strategies within Balkan culture were held. It was discussed on sport, monuments, ethnic identities, transition, food, war, language, NATO, and many more.

While speaking about the nation-building as a concept used in the case of Kosovo, Donika pointed out the term “Kosovar” which turned out to be a useful reference for international agencies and organizations who wanted to refer to the people of Kosovo without referring to any specific ethnicity.

Historically, Kosovars have been subjects to different forms of citizenship strongly influencing their identity, starting from the Ottoman and ending with the Yugoslav regime. After the conflict of 1999, Kosovo along with the state-building process was also exposed to the nation-building process. Finding a new identity within a multi-ethnic state highly influenced by international and national elements despite the fact that has been considered as a successful story it presented one of the longest and challenging processes.