University of Bath PHD Identity in a post-communist Balkan state: A study in north Albania
Saltmarshe, Douglas
Award date:
1999
Awarding institution:
University of Bath
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IDENTITY IN A POST-COMMUNIST BALKAN STATE:
A STUDY IN NORTH ALBANIA
Submitted by Douglas Saltmarshe for the degree of PhD of the University of Bath
1999
COPYRIGHT
Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with its author. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that everyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the prior consent of its author.
This thesis may not be consulted, photocopied or lent to other libraries without the permission ofthe author for 3 years from the date ofthe acceptance of the thesis.
UMI Number: U60185B
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UNIVERSITY OF BATH
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents..................................................................................................................
i
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................. iii
Synopsis................................................................................................................................
v
Glossary & List ofAbbreviations......................................................................................vi
Maps................................................................................................................................... vii
Chapter 1 - Introduction......................................................................................................
11237
1.1 Background.............................................................................................
1.2 The Thesis.....................................
1.3 Literature Review...,......
:.........................................................
1.4 Transition or Transformation?.................................................................
1.5 Content and Structure...........................................................................15
Chapter 2 - Albania - Background................................................................................... 18
2.1 The Country........................................................................................... 18
2.2 History....................................................................................................18
2.3 Independence........................................................................................22
2.4 Communism..........................................................................................25
2.5 Post-Communism.................................................................................. 28
Chapter 3 - The Villages and their Administrative Context............................................32
3.1 Introduction...........................................................................................32
3.2Gura...................................................................................................... 33
3.3 Malaj......................................................................................................43
3.4 Local Government.............................
53
Chapter 4 - The Theoretical Setting................................................................................. 61
4.1 Introduction...........................................................................................61
4.2 Identity...................................................................................................62
4.3 Tradition, Modernisation and Modernity...............................................69
4.4 Civil Society..........................................................................................77
4.5 The Local..............................................................................................83
4.6 Structuration..........................
94
4.7 Summary................................................................................................98
Chapter 5 - Methodological Considerations.....................................................................99
5.1 Introduction........................................................................................... 99
5.2 Structure and Agency.....................................................
99
5.3 The Actor Orientated Approach...........................................................101
5.4 Research Techniques...........................................................................104
5.5 Analytical Framework..........................................................................112
5.6 Summary..............................................................................................116
Chapter 6 - Community....................................................................................................117
6.1 Introduction......................................................................................... 117
6.2 Social Structures and Relationships.....................................................117
6.3 Women and Marriage...........................................................................133
6.4 Belief................................................................................................... 140
6.5 Belonging............................................................................................146
6.6 Matrix.................................................................................................. 150
6.7 Community and Identity......................................................................150
Chapter 7 - Economy.......................................................................................................155
7.1 Introduction........................................................................................155
7.2 Background........................................................................................156
7.3 Migration............................................................................................162
7.4 Labour Markets.................................................................................. 165
7.5 Small Businesses................................................................................ 169
7.6 Illegal and Extralegal Activity............................................................177
7.7 Credit................................................................................................. 180
7.8 Income from State and Community....................................................182
7.9 Corruption..........................................................................................184
7.10 The Household.................................................................................. 186
7.11 Losers............................................................................................... 188
7.12 Matrix................................................................................................191
7.13 Economy and Identity........................................................................193
Chapter 8 - State..............................................................................................................197
8.1 Introduction.........................................................................................197
8.2 Communism........................................................................................198
8.3 The Experience of Communism in the Villages..................................202
8.4 The State as Provider........................................................................... 204
8.5 The State as Organiser......................................................................... 209
8.6 The State as Protector.......................................................................... 221
8.7 Politics and the State........................................................................... 233
8.8 Matrix..................................................................................................238
8.9 Identity and the State........................................................................... 239
Chapter 9 - In Conclusion............................................................................................... 242
9.1 Introduction.........................................................................................242
9.2 Identity................................................................................................242
9.3 Structures............................................................................................ 246
9.4 Civil Society........................................................................................252
9.5 Transformation....................................................................................256
Appendices:
Appendix 1 - Malaj socio-economic questionnaire.............................................. 259
Appendix 2 - Gura village history......................................................................... 260
Appendix 3 - Duties ofthe kryeplak..................................................................... 264
Appendix 4 - Shkoder population statistics...........................................................265
Appendix 5 - Shkoder Bashkia budget for 1996.................................................... 266
Appendix 6 - Julian Amery's analysis ofthe Albanian resistance movement.........268
269
Bibliography
TABLES
Table 1: Basic Data from Gura...........................................................................................37
Table 2: Basic Data from Malaj..........................................................................................48
FIGURES
Figure 1: The Structures of Albanian Local Government Showing Lines ofResponsibility...............54
Figure 2: Structural Interrelationships in an Ideal-type Civil Society................................................. 97
Figure 3:
Government Structures under the APL.............................................................................199
Figure 4:
- Structural Interrelationships Associated with Tradtional Society.............................
- 248
Figure 5: Structural Interrelationships Associated with Communist Society....................................249
Figure 6: Structural Interrelationships Associated with Post-communist Albanian Society.............251
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The experience of producing this thesis has been one ofpersonal explorationjust as much as formal learning. The ideas I started out with have changed substantially as a result of the research. The work has not been undertaken alone. I have been helped and supported in many ways by a number of people to whom I wish to express my sincere thanks.
The heart of this study derives from time spent with the people of the two villages where I conducted my research. If this endeavour produces anything it is ultimately thanks to them. They put up with me and my intrusion into their lives during difficult times. I was treated by and large with great hospitality and kindness in the traditional manner of Albania. It has been my privilege to meet and learn so much from them. Such as it is, I dedicate this work to them.
An endeavour such as this is dependent on academic advice. My primary supervisor was Allister McGregor, without whose encouragement and support I would not have embarked upon this enterprise. I am grateful to Allister for a number ofideas and comments which have been relevant to the construction of the thesis. His advice regarding the fieldwork was also helpful, particularly in respect ofthe Malaj project.
ColinLawson was instrumental in obtaining the external grant mentioned below. This provided a much needed boost at a difficult stage in the research. In addition, I wish to thank him for the assistance he gave me in coming to grips with communist and post-communist economics.
In the area ofpolitical science I had the help ofRoger Eatwell who presented me with a range ofrelevant perspectives which constructively influenced my approach to the project. Always an asker of awkward questions, his timely guidance was much appreciated.
The University of Bath contributed £700 towards the costs of the fieldwork. The Nuffield Foundation provided a grant of £4,800 to cover a particular aspect of the research. I am grateful to both these institutions for their contributions.
Tony Vaux and Luli Gjekaj both assisted me in many ways. Without their support the practical aspects ofthis project would have been immeasurably more difficult to accomplish. Antony Hymanwas always available for a chat and supplied me with some useful material. I am most grateful to them all.
During my initial stay in Tirana I received Albanian lessons every evening for two months from ElidaMetaj who refiised all payment. I remain full ofthanks to her for having so unstintingly given her time to teach me at the end of an arduous day's work.
In Shkoder, Teresa and Gaspar Prendi made me welcome in their home where they looked after my every need and made my stays in Shkoder so pleasurable during times of great difficulty and considerable danger. Thanks to them.
Olsi Kabashi worked for me as a research assistant and interpreter. We went through some tough and tense situations together. I remain most grateful for his help, courage and level headedness. My thanks also to Anduena Druga who helped me with Albanian translation here in Bath.
Last but not least I would like to thank my family for their forbearance and support.
IDENTITY IN A POST-COMMUNIST BALKAN STATE:
A STUDY IN NORTH ALBANIA
SYNOPSIS
This study is concerned with further understanding the social, economic and political changes occuring in post-communist Albania. Questioning the view that what is taking place is a unilinear transition to a market economy, the research elucidates the socially embedded nature ofthe Albanian political economy by means of field work undertaken in two peri-urban communities in north Albania. This approach was used so as to better understand how identity was being renegotiated in post-communist Albania and the implications of this in the formation of a civil society.
After providing some historical background, the thesis describes the two villages in which the research took place and gives information about their administrative setting. This is followed by an analysis of village life from the perspectives of community, economy and state, concluding in each case with a summary of the effect on identity.
The research describes how the market, and the political institutions which control the economic environment, have been socially mediated and how, from a village perspective, existing institutional forms were being reconfigured.
It demonstrates that developments in post-communist Albania are part of a complex and ongoing process oftransformation ofwhich economic factors are just a part. Within this context the research describes how the negotiation of identity is an exploratory and adaptive process rather than a simple a transition to the identities associated with market democracies and are invoked by class, party and business.
In the absence of models ofsolidarity and cooperation appropriate to the novel political and economic environment, the thesis concludes that there is a need to adapt, reconfigure and improve a range of institutional forms, particularly those of a civic nature, so as to generate confidence in the new institutional setting.
N.B. For reasons of confidentiality the names ofvillages and individuals have been changed.
v
GLOSSARY
community leader, literally a standard bearer Municipality bajraktar - Bashkia -
- besa -
- word of honour, pledge, faith, creed, protection, loyalty, trust, agreement,
promise, pact, treaty, armistice, pact (see §6.5). a semi-feudal share cropping arrangement. a person from the Dukajin mountains, a term commonly used to describe a recent migrant from the north,
?iflikDukajini -
- fis -
- tribe or clan
- krye-
- chiefor head
kryeplakllagjamehallandervillage chief(literally - chiefold man) city district village zone encompassing a collection of dwellings honour perscutim - the persecuted, i.e. those detained for political reasons under communism Rreth - shtepi - vilayjetvllazni -
District or County house province (Turkish administrative region) a group ofbrothers, literally a brotherhood zoti i shtepi - head of house
- 1denim -
- one tenth of a hectare or 100 sq.mtrs. 1 hectare = 2.471 acres
ABBREVIATIONS
- Albanian Communist Party
- ACP
APL CMEA DF
Albanian Party of Labour Council for Mutual Economic Assistance Democratic Front
- DP
- Democratic Party
- EU
- European Union
GDP MNC NIE
Gross Domestic Product Multi-national corporation New institutional economics Non Governmental Organisation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe People's Council
NGO OSCE PC
- PM
- Prime Minister
- SP
- Socialist Party
USSR WEU
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Western European Union
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