Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe

Relying on new quantitative research results, the contributors offer interdisciplinary analyses of symbolic nation-building in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia to show that whereas the citizens of some states have reached a consensus about the nation-building project other states remain fragmented and uncertain of when the process will end. A must-read not only for scholars of the region but policy makers and others interested in understanding the complex interplay of history, symbolic politics, and post-conflict transition.

PÃ¥l KolstÃ- is Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Oslo and has written extensively on nation-building and ethnic issues in Russia and Eastern Europe.

List of Figures, List of Tables, Notes on Contributors, Preface, 1. Introduction, 2. Fulfilling the Thousand-Year-Old Dream: Strategies of Symbolic Nation-Building in Croatia, 3. Jaws of the Nation and Weak Embraces of the State: The Lines of Division, Indifference and Loyalty in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 4. Serbia and the Symbolic (Re)Construction of the Nation, 5. When Two Hands Rock the Cradle: Symbolic Dimensions of the Divide Over Statehood and Identity in Montenegro, 6. Kosovo: Topography of the Construction of the Nation, 7. Strategies for Creating the Macedonian State and Nation and Rival Projects Between 1991 and 2012, 8. Status Report Albania 100 Years: Symbolic Nation-Building Completed?, 9. Conclusions: Success and Failure of Nation-building, Structural vs. Political Factors, Bibliography, Index