SEEKING INDEPENDENCE: MAKING NATION, MEMORY, AND MANHOOD IN KOSOVA by Nita Luci A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in the University of Michigan 2014 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Kelly M. Askew, Chair Professor Emerita Gillian Feeley-Harnik Associate Professor Damani James Partridge Professor Emerita Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Professor Katherine M. Verdery, CUNY Graduate Center Map of Kosovo with current municipal and administrative regions. Map developed by the Kosova Statistical Agency. Map of Kosovo showing ethnic composition, post 1999, and neighboring states. Map developed by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and US Instittue of Peace © Nita Luci 2014 DEDICATION To my parents, Lumturije Gashi-Luci and Kemajl Luci ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgments, as I understand them, are about showing your gratitude. In Albanian you would say faleminderit, meaning that you bow to the honor given to you. There are certainly many people to whom I wish to show such a gesture. There are two families, however, to whom I owe the most. On the one hand are my parents and sisters, and on the other are the remarkable members of my dissertation committee. It is without doubt that the merits of this dissertation belong to Kelly Askew, Katherine Verdery, Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, Damani Partridge, and surely Janet Hart who left the University of Michigan before I could complete the dissertation. In the company of these incredible teachers and scholars one cannot but feel inspired and humbled. Certainly, all the omissions and shortcomings in this dissertation are entirely mine. I feel tremendous gratitude for the numerous scholars, researchers, students, and communities of activists, artists and an amazing group of friends I have had the incredible privilege to know and learn form during the years. I only hope to have met some of their expectations of me. The Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan has supported me in more ways than one and I am forever grateful. As I continue to learn I am constantly reminded of the influence of faculty from whom I have learned so much. They were and are: Fernando Coronil, Alaina Lemon, Judith Irvine, and Jennifer Robertson. Sonya O. Rose’s course on Gender and Social Transformation, at the History Department, paved the way for my interest on masculinity. The incredible iii group of scholars during my research fellowship in 2003 at The Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan, helped me to prepare for fieldwork. Block Grant Fellowships, a Dissertation Research Fellowship, and a Humanities Research Fellowship from the Rackham Graduate School, made my fieldwork possible. I am thankful to all. The Department of Anthropology would not have been as wonderful if it were not for Laurie Marx. As Graduate Program Coordinator she was there for me from day one, just as she was for all the other students. She made it easy to navigate requirements, meet deadlines, or just have a chat over coffee. I don’t know what I would have done without her. Debbie L. Fitch, the Graduate Program Manager, has been my connection to the Department from afar and has helped to cross all the t’s and dot all i’s. Thank you. At the same time Ann Abor would not have been a second home if it had not been for the Goçi family who took such a good care of me when I needed it most. In New York, Ema Hrustic and Tim Gospodinov always provided a fantastic escape. Ana Bakalinova, Dijana Despodova, and Violeta Petrova have always been around despite or physical distance. The final stage of writing was made possible with the generous support of the Gender Research Institute at Dartmouth College, which accepted me as Visiting Scholar and Research Fellow. There, Annabel Martin, Maral Yessayan, Joseph Aguado, Ivy Schweitzer, Amy Allen, and Laurel Stavis gave me the home away from home and the academically challenging environment I needed to complete this undertaking. Fellow students and colleagues have also deeply influenced my thinking, including: Emil Kerenji, Edin Hajdarpasic, Charles Gentry, Tijana Krstic, Ema iv Grama, Ann-Elise Lewallen, Besnik Pula, and Tracy K. Flemming. The best of that influence remains unsaid. For the past number of years, colleagues from Kosova and further have inspired me with their work and provided encouragement. In no particular order they are: Drita Statovci, Hasnije Ilazi, Anton Kolë Berishaj, Zanita Halimi, Tahir Latifi, Shemsi Krasniqi, Vjollca Krasniqi, Jelena Bjelica, Albert Heta, Shkelzen Maliqi, Vesa Sahatqiu, Ariana Qosaj-Mustafa, Igo Rogova, Agon Hamza, Flaka Haliti, Astrit Salihu, Ardian Gola, Gëzim Selaci, Gordana Mlinarevic, Lamia Kosovic, Isabel Strohle, Ruth Seifert, Lumnije Kadriu, Arsim Canolli, and Armanda Kodra. Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Fran Mascia-Lees, and Michael Kennedy provided valuable comments and suggestion on different parts of this dissertation. Rona, Maren, Marek, Ana, Annete, and Ralph, introduced me to Berlin and hosted me during me defense. I will never forget your kindness. Linda Gusia has been my sister in arms, in the halls of the university as well as any all other place “that needed fixing.” No less have been Eli Gashi, Dafina Zherka, and Eli Krasniqi. Belma Bajrami, Sara Habipaj and Jeta Dida, my friends since childhood, have always stuck by me. I am forever grateful for their friendship. My family has given me unconditional support, in more ways than I can say. Some years ago I was told that I think like my father and speak like my mother. I can only hope that this is true. Therefore, this dissertation is dedicated to them. At this point, I know my grandmother would have reminded me to mention all my family, although they are many. I have received so much love from my grandparents, Halide Syka-Gashi, Emine Zatriqi-Luci and Ahmet Luci. Although gone before I was born, at least I know I look like Hasan Gashi. My aunts Luljeta and Safete, and uncle Naser Gashi, raised me just as much as my parents did. My aunt Ahsene Luci-Agai has become a true friend. I will never stop missing my uncle Rexhep Luci. A particular v thanks goes to my cousin Dren and his wonderful wife Jill Jackson-Luci, and especially their sons Sokol and Petrit, who made the final weeks of writing a joy as I wrote from their studio apartment in Boston. I feel truly lucky to have Zana and Besa as my sisters. Ultimately, as anthropologists, we remain most indebted to all the people who take part in our research. This dissertation is my way to acknowledge that debt. I remain concerned whether I managed to do justice to the inspired experiences and knowledge they have shared with me. The writing of this dissertation took me to a number of places, but Prishtina, the city I always yearn for the most, made writing possible and quite often difficult. Its sounds, colors, streets, and above all its’ people, carved the tone and structure of this text in ways I never expected. It forever holds the “sacred and profane, the pleasure and the pain,” reminiscent of that Dire Straits classic (1991), that takes me to the Kosovo of the 1990s I so wished to portray in this dissertation. In a category apart is Ardian Dushi, my husband and friend. His encouragement came in the form of his musical take on life, both exciting and constant. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ ix ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ xi Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 Historical context ............................................................................................................... 3 Memory, Events and Space ........................................................................................... 15 The Relatedness of Nation and Gender: National Resistance and Manhood ................................................................................................................................................ 30 Conclusion and Summary ............................................................................................. 39 Chapter 2: Interventions in Kosova: Un/Welcomed Guests ............................. 46 Locating Justice................................................................................................................. 49 The 1990s ........................................................................................................................... 66 International Intervention, 1999 ............................................................................... 74 Stories of Intervention ................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 3: Blood-Feud Reconciliation: Intellectuals Make Memory, Women Make Politics ..................................................................................................................... 86 Mobilization of Cultural Traditions .........................................................................