[ SEE books ]

And since the discussion of Kosovo/a and its final (?) status is certainly going to revive soon, not only on the "official" level, here another info about a new book on education in Kosovo - Routledge published „Kosovo: the politics of identity and space“. The author is Denisa Kostovicova.

Kostovicova discusses, among other things, the effects which the parallel education system of the 90ties had and still has in Kosovo . Here an overview of the contents:

“Kosovo: the politics of identity and space“ explores the Albanian-Serbian
confrontation after Slobodan Milosevic's rise to power and the policy of
repression in Kosovo through the lens of the Kosovo education system.

The argument is woven around the story of imposed ethnic segregation in
Kosovo's education, and its impact on the emergence of exclusive notions of
nation and homeland among the Serbian and Albanian youth in the 1990s. The
book also critically explores the wider context of the Albanian non-violent
resistance, including the emergence of a parallel state and its weaknesses.

This book not only provides an insight into events that led to the bloodshed
in Kosovo in the late 1990s but also shows that the legacy of segregation is
one of the major challenges the international community faces in its efforts
to establish an integrated multi-ethnic society in the territory.

Contents:

Introduction

1. Albanian educational battles: from the Ottomans to the Communists

2. Education and national mobilization in Kosovo in the 1980s

3. The path to Kosovo's two national education systems

4. The establishment of the Albanian parallel education in Kosovo

5. Celebration of Albanian nationhood in parallel education

6. Segregation in Kosovo prevails before and after NATO intervention

Conclusion

To order this book from the publisher, see www.routledge.co.uk

Since this book is very expensive to buy, interested readers in Vienna can also find it at the library of the BMMA.

More information on education in Kosovo/a can be found here – for example Michael Daxner’s report on education in Kosovo. Daxner had been appointed international administrator of the University of Prishtina system by UNMIK – which was followed by a lot of discussions at the time - and also published a book about his experiences in Kosovo from 2000-2002, ”Ohne Alternative? Mein Bericht vom Planeten Kosovo”. (Can be found at the Universitätsfachbibliothek für Geschichte in Graz.)

So there’ll be definitely more on some very political and controversial issues on this blog soon, and hopefully there’ll be better news than the insatisfactory results of the last official meeting of two ministers, Loncar and Haziri, in Vienna:

DER STANDARD, 17.09.2005, Seite 6

Komplizierte Gespräche über Kosovo

Wien - Im österreichischen Außenministerium haben am Freitag erstmals Gespräche über die Dezentralisierung der südserbischen Provinz Kosovo auf Ministerebene stattgefunden. Das Treffen wurde überraschend vom Sonderbeauftragten des UNO-Generalsekretärs, Kai Eide, persönlich geleitet. Eide sprach von "sehr wichtigen Themen", die in Wien diskutiert würden. Es gehe darum, wie man die Sicherheit im Kosovo erhöhen und eine multiethnische Gesellschaft erhalten könne. Lösungen bei den Wiener Gesprächen seien aber keine zu erwarten. Es gebe viele Probleme, diese könnten bei einem Treffen von einigen Stunden sicher nicht gelöst werden.

Zu Beginn der Sitzung kam es für einige Sekunden zu einer frostig-angespannten Situation, als ein Fotograf die Verhandlungsparteien aufforderte, sich die Hände zu reichen. "Let's do a handshake!", rief der Fotograf den beiden Ministern für lokale Selbstverwaltung, Zoran Loncar (Serbien) und Ljutfi Haziri (Kosovo), zu. Haziri folgte der Aufforderung, doch dem serbischen Minister war offenbar nicht nach Fotografieren zumute. "Wir sind doch nicht zum Posieren hier", lautete seine Antwort und erwiderte die Geste nicht. Vom Eide-Bericht hängt ab, ob noch in diesem Herbst die Gespräche über den umstrittenen künftigen Status des Kosovo beginnen werden. (APA, lis)

Wie war das – „Nothing is simple in the Balkans?“ (David Owen)