Essai d'interprétation du nouveau nationalisme post-communiste

Towards an interpretation of the new post-communist nationalism : the case of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav case is one of post-communist nationalism, among all the other communist countries which have been unable to resolve the nationalist question, driven by a power-hungry political class. The post-communist nationalism being encountered is a new phenomenon, though still having links with the preceding political system which, through different policies, made it possible. Tito's men prepared the ground for the growth of nationalist ideology. In a confused situation, the active elements in society, in the absence of a State, set about creating a new Nation-State, on new foundations, in an effort to make a clean break with the past. However, finding a definition for the nation remains a thorny problem, leaving the options open to every possible theory. Various common criteria are applied (language, religion, history, territory, etc.), none of them proving entirely satisfactory. The criteria involved are primarily political, the aim being to create an organic entity. Post-communist nationalism is built in opposition to the Other, along regressive lines. The ideology of post-communist nationalism is inherent within all nationalist groups, with fundamentally different power relationships (particularly military) among the various groups in question. There are few grounds for optimism, since extended analysis of this manifestation holds out little hope of any favourable short-term development in the situation in this part of Europe. The absence of special affinities with democracy offers a fair prospect of nationalist hostilities still to come

Communism · Communist state · Democracy · Ideology · Nationalism · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Balkan and Eastern European Studies · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Law