On the Anti-Nationalist, Reform and Democratizing Initiatives And
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Defeated Demos - On the Anti-Nationalist, Reform and Democratizing Initiatives and Tendencies in Yugoslavia 1989-1991 (with focus on Bosnia- Herzegovina and Macedonia) By Ljubica Spaskovska Submitted to Central European University History Department In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Supervisor: Prof. Balazs Trencsenyi Second Reader: Prof. Constantin Iordachi CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2009 Statement of Copyright Copyright in the text of this thesis rests with the Author. Copies by any process, either in full or part may be made only in accordance with the instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European Library. Details may be obtained from the librarian. This page must form a part of any such copies made. Further copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the written permission of the Author. CEU eTD Collection Abstract The work sets out to explore how the Yugoslav-oriented, pro-European, reformist/democratic and anti-nationalist tendencies before the definite break-up of the Yugoslav federation in the period 1989-1991 manifested themselves and secondly, focusing on Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, why it was these two which had been the only openly pro-Yugoslav federal units before the dissolution. Using archival material, interview data, media accounts from the period and relevant secondary literature, the research concentrates on the historical background of the nation-building process of the Bosnian Muslim and the Macedonians, their position in Yugoslavia, relating it to the political, intellectual and popular anti-war, Yugoslav-minded, anti-nationalist and reformist initiatives, movements and events. A determining factor in both cases appears to be that it was within Yugoslavia that both the Bosniaks and the Macedonians achieved a status of equal and recognized political partners and national groups, which, along with the relative prosperity and security helped determine their positive perception of a common Yugoslav polity. While the political elites were driven by pragmatic motives and rational calculations, the intellectual, cultural and popular milieus which advocated a reformed democratic Yugoslavia of equal citizens and nations clung to cosmopolitan, European, or personal and emotional platforms and reasons. The fact that most of these initiatives and projects were belated does not mean CEU eTD Collection they do not deserve to be considered an indispensable factor which would complement the image and the story of the last Yugoslav years. i Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible with the kind assistance, help, advice, insight of many individuals who have shared a similar interest or personal connection to the history of socialist Yugoslavia. Hence, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all those directly involved in the events this thesis is analyzing, who were kind enough to share their thoughts and experiences with me: Mr. Vasil Tupurkovski, Mr. Bogiü Bogiceviü, Prof. Ljubomir Cuculovski, Mr. Stojan Andov, Prof. Zdravko Grebo and Mr. Safet Pihljak. I am equally thankful to my supervisor Prof. Balazs Trencsenyi for his useful insights, encouragement and patience; to Gëzim Krasniqi for the exciting debates and discussions on the labyrinths of Yugoslav history; to my Sarajevo friends who made me feel at home in Bosnia. Finally, I thank my parents for their understanding, inspiration and support, as I dedicate this work to them - for they taught me how to be fascinated by diversity. CEU eTD Collection ii INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1: SOME THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS............................................................. 7 1.1. ALL THOSE IDENTITIES................................................................................................................... 7 1.2. NATIONALISM/SUPRANATIONALISM/CITIZENSHIP.......................................................................... 11 1.3. FEDERALISM ................................................................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER 2: THE MAZE OF (UN)RECOGNIZED (NON)EXISTENCE........................................ 23 2.1. DENIED/CONTESTED NATIONS...................................................................................................... 24 2.2. NEW KINGDOM, OLD GRIEVANCES ............................................................................................... 29 2.3. THE COMMUNIST EMBRACE ......................................................................................................... 32 2.4. NEW NATIONS IN A NEW YUGOSLAVIA ......................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 3: DEMOCRATIC YUGOSLAVISM? - ANTI-NATIONALIST, PRO-DEMOCRATIC AND REFORM VOICES FROM ABOVE.......................................................................................... 44 3.1. THE BATTLE OF THE “LAST YUGOSLAV”....................................................................................... 46 3.2. THE ENVISAGED UNION OF MYRIAD FACES - WHAT KIND OF A NEW YUGOSLAVIA? ...................... 58 3.3. THE EIGHT SUPREME COMMANDERS - THE PRESIDENCY AND THE ARMY ....................................... 66 CHAPTER 4: “OVO JE ZEMLJA ZA NAS”/”THIS IS A COUNTRY FOR US” -THE PRO- YUGOSLAV NON-POLITICAL FRONT........................................................................................... 72 4.1. THE VOICES OF THE INTELLECTUALS: UJDI .................................................................................. 73 4.2. “ROCK FOR PEACE” - THE ROLE AND RESPONSES OF THE YUGOSLAV ROCK SCENE......................... 83 4.3. “GOOD EVENING, YUGOSLAVIA!” - YUTEL IN THE DIVIDED MEDIA SPACE.................................... 89 4.4. THEY, THE PEOPLE… ................................................................................................................... 96 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................... 104 ANNEX........................................................................................................................................... 109 ANNEX 1........................................................................................................................................ 110 ANNEX 2........................................................................................................................................ 113 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................ 114 CEU eTD Collection iii Introduction “One morning we woke up and we didn’t have a country anymore. We suspected that it might happen, but you always hope that the worst won’t happen […] It was a strange feeling, you might imagine what it would be like to wake up one morning and find that France, Italy or England didn’t exist anymore. It was difficult to believe that Yugoslavia didn’t exist anymore. Our generation grew up with that country and we didn’t know any other.”1 If the “annus mirabilis” 1989 for the citizens of the Eastern bloc symbolized a long-awaited return to democracy, for the Yugoslavs it marked the inauguration of a transitional paradigm from which in the following years would emanate irreconcilable voices and clashing ideologies. Understandably, due to the context and the manner in which the dissolution of the socialist federation took place, the majority of the scholarly debates and reflections have centered on the discourses of ethno-nationalism, religious nationalism, communism and nationalism, elite- nationalism, grass roots nationalism, etc. The vast scholarship on Yugoslavia has addressed the complex processes involved in the dissolution of the multi-ethnic state during and in the aftermath of years of war. The events have been analyzed from economic, social, political, cultural aspects, as well as from the vantage points of international law and international relations. Undeniably the writings of the scholars (among them John Lampe, Sabrina Ramet, Susan Woodward, CEU eTD Collection Andrew Wachtel), those of journalists, the autobiographies and memoirs of 1 Vojka Smiljanic - Djikic and Velimir Viskovic, “Why Sarajevo notebooks?” in Best of Sarajevo Notebooks No 18 edited by Vojka Smiljanic-Djikic (Sarajevo: Mediacentar, 2007), 7. 1 generals and politicians provide a valuable account of the process of a highly complex political, economic, social and cultural upheaval which will remain one of the most tragic chapters of the post-communist era and in particular of South- East European history. Yet, most of the scholarly work on former Yugoslavia fails to explicitly deal with the other opposing current which was particularly visible in the years before the official dissolution of the country in 1992 - that is the movement of Yugoslavism, anti-nationalism and preservation/democratic reformation of the Yugoslav state. As Jasna Dragoviü - Soso rightly notes, “there has been a tendency to ‘read history backwards’, ignoring alternatives that did exist to the dominant nationalist discourses and policies throughout Yugoslavia’s history.”2 If the history of the dissolution of Yugoslavia is to be analyzed and comprehended in its entirety, the anti-nationalist, democratizing and pro- Yugoslav forces and