Civic and Uncivic Values in Kosovo. History, Politics and Value Transformation

Civic and Uncivic Values in Kosovo, the sixth volume in the series of books collectively entitled ‘Civic and Uncivic Values in the Yugoslav Successor States’ and edited by Sabrina P. Ramet, Albert Simkus, and Ola Listhaug, provides an extensive overview of the historical context of the conflict between the Serbs and the Albanians over the territory of Kosovo, and the means that have led to reconciliation and cohabitation.

Kosovo’s history, and especially the interethnic relations among Kosovo’s citizens, have been the focus of numerous researchers since the end of the war there in 1999. The war’s aftermath created a myriad of processes that have served as leitmotifs for young and senior scholars alike to analyse the escalation and de-escalation of the conflict, its beginnings and ending, along a spectrum of different contexts. This edited volume represents one of the most comprehensive examinations of the interlinked sociological and historical contexts of statebuilding in Kosovo. Critically examining the role of the national and international actors not only in the reconciliation process but also before and during the war, the book provides insightful information about the history of the antagonisms between Kosovo’s Serb and Albanian populations, the international intervention, the period prior to independence, and the era of independent statehood.

Reconciliation has not yet been achieved in Kosovo despite the efforts of the United Nations and the European Union, which have been trying for years to effect it through policies encouraging coexistence, mutual tolerance, multiculturalism, and societal inclusion. The elusiveness of reconciliation is proving to be a burden for Kosovo on its way to international integration. We can now see that the strategy employed to effect reconciliation was wrong. The international community confined itself to financial support of the non-governmental sector, which was seen as the best tool to transform societal values. However, even at present, the Serbs—especially those living the North, but generally as well—hold on to the idea that Kosovo is Serbian territory.

The majority of the book is dedicated to various aspects of Kosovo’s social context as well as to its history and interethnic relations. The book examines the roots of the problems that led to societal divisions and violent events, as well as the period of international administration and the postindependence era (independence was declared in 2008).

The first part provides a historical overview of Kosovo and its struggle for independence based mainly on the research and narratives of Noel Malcolm and Tim Judah, but also numerous other sources. This background helps bring a balanced approach to the book and offers an objective survey of the period from 1878 all the way up to 2008, without overlooking the impact of international community in shaping Kosovo’s political landscape, beginning with the UN/UNMIK mission there. Several other books and research papers have neglected considering the effects of the international administration on Kosovo and its political and social development. The international community’s often neutral and reactive rather than proactive strategies have further broadened the gap between the Kosovo Serbs and the Kosovo Albanians living in the country. That the facts and arguments are presented in a very balanced and nuanced fashion in the contributing chapters will surely make this book a valuable resource for future researchers and historians. One should also note the contributions on the international presence in Kosovo and the comprehensive description of the interactions between the international and the national actors.

In Kosovo there were many misperceptions on the ground as well as inconsistencies on the part of the UN and the EU, which both tried to impose a ‘made to fit’ standard without considering national, historical, sociological, and cultural contexts. In hindsight the errors in this approach are evident. Noteworthy in this regard is Johanna Deimel’s contribution, ‘The international presence in Kosovo, 1999-2008’ (119-141), where she comprehensively describes the relations between the international community and the national stakeholders as well as the ambiguity of the international presence in Kosovo.

The second part, ‘Politics’, concentrates on the development of the political system towards a stable, long-standing solution to the Serb—Albanian antagonism. The anemic approach of the international community, opting for political stability over development, has been more divisive than helpful to the integration process, and has been accompanied by incompetence and a lack of administrative and political experience on the part of national actors. Civic values, such as those represented by the inclusion of women in politics and reparations for past transgressions, have failed massively in the postwar period, as extensively described in the contributions of this section.

The volume brings the reader to the core of the political and sociological debate about Kosovo: Can these two ethnic groups cohabitate and, if so, how are the stumbling blocks on the way there be smoothed over? Bringing back myths from the past and transmitting them to the new generations will only broaden the gap between Serbs and Albanians in the Republic of Kosovo.

Authors and researchers from Europe and beyond have come together in this edited volume to try to answer whether Kosovo has reached its full potential in terms of civic values, especially mutual tolerance among its diverse peoples, and whether this shows them to be close to having European values, such as they are. One of the major problems may well lie in the dramatic change from an era of oppression to one of pluralist democracy—to some this transition may be quite a heavy burden to bear. The subjects of the research in this book encompass historical facts based on empirical evidence, statistical data, myths, and the comparison of history books: all studied so that authors can ultimately conclude whether Kosovo is ready to embrace truly the values of tolerance, coexistence, and democracy that European Union countries promote and attempt to instill in others.

This volume provides insights and relevant material for practitioners of European studies, sociology, and political science. Researchers and other students of politics, sociology, the Balkans and specifically Kosovo will find this book very useful and helpful in order to better understand the relationship between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo and the historical context of statebuilding in the country. This volume makes a contribution to the extensive literature for scholars who are focusing their research on state-building in Kosovo and the path to reconciliation.