The organisation of youth camps financed by the government has emerged as one of the most visible and best publicised elements of present youth policies in Russia. This paper refers in particular to Mašuk 2010, a camp supported by the Russian government and dedicated entirely to young people from territories of the federal district of the northern Caucasus and from territories of the de facto independent republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, internationally recognised as part of Georgia. The research is based on participated observation at the Mašuk camp in the summer of 2010 and on interviews with those responsible for youth policies in Russia and the Caucasus.
The research found that youth policies currently supported by the Russian government take their example explicitly from the Soviet experience. In the Caucasus, youth policy and camps such as Mašuk have the aim of promoting entrepreneurship and the importance of individual success, improving inter-ethnic relations among young people of the region, creating a positive image of the State (frequently identified with corruption, bad government, and repressive measures), strengthening policies of patriotic education in order to reinforce the sense of belonging to the “great motherland” - the Russian Federation - and also to “small motherlands”, like the region of origin and, for the first time, the northern Caucasus in its entirety.
Author: Giorgio Comai
Language: Italian
A partire dal 1999 la comunità albanese del Kosovo ha attraversato un processo di radicale trasformazione, affrontando per la prima volta la pluralizzazione della vita pubblica. Il paper esplora queste dinamiche che sono state trascurate, sia a livello locale sia internazionale, a causa della questione dello status politico del Paese che ha monopolizzato la sfera pubblica.
Prestando particolare attenzione alle conseguenze del decennio di segregazione etnica degli anni Novanta, il paper analizza lo sviluppo della società civile, dei media, dei partiti politici così come il fenomeno di rapida urbanizzazione e i cambiamenti nelle relazioni familiari. L'analisi sottolinea quanto la comunità albanese sia ostaggio di aspettative irrealistiche rispetto allo sviluppo politico, economico e sociale che dovrebbe seguire all'ottenimento dell'indipendenza. In questo contesto, il processo di democratizzazione è indebolito dall'appello all'unità di fronte a 'nemici' esterni e in particolare alla minoranza serba e all'amministrazione internazionale.
Autori: Luisa Chiodi - Francesco Martino - Francesca Vanoni
Lingua: inglese
Questo paper esplora le trasformazioni delle memorie collettive circale politiche coloniali italiane in Albania durante la prima parte del XX secolo. Lo fa guardando alla relazione tra le memorie collettive e le rappresentazioni reciproche che si sono formate prima e dopo la Guerra fredda. L'analisi intende illustrare come, con la fine dell'imperialismo italiano, le rappresentazioni pubbliche del coinvolgimento italiano in Albania nei due paesi per la gran parte convergano e argomenta perché ciò sia rilevante. La ricerca muove dalla letteratura esistente e da fonti primarie, inclusi libri di testo per le scuole e mass media.
Autori: Luisa Chiodi - Rando Devole
Lingua: inglese
From the second half of the 1980s, as the rumblings of the disintegration of Tito's Yugoslavia could be heard, the media took on an increasingly influential role in preparing the terrain for the imminent war. In this respect, the Serbian media reflect the evolution and escalation of events in those years and even more so does the oldest Balkan newspaper, the daily Politika. From being an independent daily newspaper, it went under the control of the socialists, then became the liberticidal drum of Slobodan Milošević. Despite this, between the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, Serbia could be distinguished for having some of the first independent media. Daily papers, weeklies, radio and TV produced quality information during the war and continue to do so today. The Serbian hopes for a real change in the political and social situation, starting with Milošević's exit in October 2000, were shattered with the killing of Prime Minister Zoran Ðinđić on March 12th 2003. The state of emergency, proclaimed in order to deal with this assassination - which shook an already socially fragile country - had serious repercussions on the work of the Serbian media. The temporary change of power after the death of Ðinđić, and the elections which handed over the government to Vojislav Koštunica have not yet allowed the media a change of outlook. Political control remains constant, as does the absence of suitable legislation to regulate the behaviour of the country's media, penalising the professionalism of media outlets, at times determining whether they survive.
Author: Luka Zanoni
Language: Italian
Organic agriculture in the Balkans is still in its early stages though it already acts as a fundamental stimulus to sustainable rural development in the region. Through a comparative analysis of organic farming in the countries of South East Europe the book provides original insights into the process of European Union integration
A collection of papers presented at the conference "Bad memories. Sites, symbols and narrations of wars in the Balkans", organised by Osservatorio Balcani in Rovereto, Trento, on 9 November 2007. The conference was part of a project devoted to Second World War memorial sites in former Yugoslavia, co-sponsored by the European Union and the Autonomous Province of Trento.
Twenty years after the end of the cold war, cinema offers an original perspective highlighting the political-social, economic and cultural transformations in South East Europe. Telling the stories of the inhabitants of the Balkan cinema microcosm, this volume analyses the cultural segment which has primarily shaped the collective imagination of society in the region, from the boom of the 1970s to the globalisation of recent years.
