Europe from the Border: The End of Socialism in the Balkans (1980-1990)

  • Xavier Baró i Queralt International University of Catalonia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-02-2019pp95-113
Keywords: Balkans, memory, identity, socialism

Abstract

In a conference focused on the reflection regarding European identity, it seems pertinent to ask ourselves about the geographic and cultural limits of Europe. In this sense, the Balkans, a true crossroads between the West and the East, could be considered as a privileged field of study in order to know the «other» Europe. Centered in the Balkans, this communication will analyze the complex identity substrate of the region, marked, among others, by its own cultural and religious diversity, in which the Christian (Orthodox and Catholic) and Muslim religions coexists. For our texts we have established the chronological caesuras of 1980 (year of death of Josip Briz, Tito, founder of contemporary Yugoslavia and highest representative of «self-managed socialism») and 1990 (year in which the majority of socialist regimes of the Balkans fall). Special attention will be paid to the relationship between the historical events and their influence on the identity features of a border macroregion in Europe, as well as to the complex relationship between nationalities and neighbouring states.

Received: 02 July 2018
Accepted: 16 July 2018
Published online: 27 February 2019

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Xavier Baró i Queralt, International University of Catalonia
Professor Baró Queralt got a scholasrship from the University of Barcelona (2000-2005), and he was a professor at this university (2008-2012). Currently, he is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities at the International University of Catalonia (UIC, Barcelona); of which he has been Vice-Dean. He is a member of a consolidated project of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and has participated in five national and regional research projects. He has obtained a Basileus research scholarship awarded by the European Union (UE) for the Balkans area (2016). His main lines of research are the cultural relations in the early modern age and the study of historical memory in the Balkan region, especially in the case of Albania. He has obtained the acreditation as a Lecturer (AQU) in 2009. In the field of early modern age, he has published ten monographs and more than 50 articles in specialized magazines. Regarding the Albanian theme, he co-edited a Spanish-Albanian translation of the work of Juan Eusebio Nieremberg with Anastasi Prodani (Nieremberg, Aforismos y fragmentos sobre la naturaleza humana. Aforizma dhe fragmente mbi natyrën njerëzore. Tirana: EDFA, 2016).
Published
2019-02-27
How to Cite
Baró i Queralt, Xavier. 2019. “Europe from the Border: The End of Socialism in the Balkans (1980-1990)”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 02 (February), 95-113. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-02-2019pp95-113.
Issue
No. 02 (2019): SPECIAL ISSUE. European identity: roots and scope
Section
Monographic Articles. Roots of European identity. PART 2: «Forging European identity»

The author grants to the Publisher the distribution, public communication, and reproduction rights of her/his work subject of publication in Deusto Journal of European Studies (DJES), whichever the media may be, including the permission to include it in the databases where this Journal is indexed and in the institutional repository of the Universidad de Deusto.

Upon its publication, the content of any Issue of Deusto Journal of European Studies (DJES) can be accessed, read, downloaded, copies, and distributed freely for non-commercial purposes and in accordance with any applicable copyright legislation.

The content of Deusto Journal of European Studies (DJES) can be subsequently published in other media or journals, as long as the author clearly indicates in the first footnote that the work was published in Deusto Journal of European Studies (DJES) for the first time, indicating the Issue number, year, pages, and DOI (if applicable). Any other use of its content in any medium or format, now known or developed in the future, requires prior written permission of the copyright holder.

The content of the work published in Deusto Journal of European Studies (DJES) is each author's sole responsibility. The authors assume the responsibility of obtaining all the necessary licenses for the reproduction in their manuscripts of any text, material or illustration coming from another author, institution or publication. The liabilities that may arise from complaints for publishing plagiarised articles are the sole responsibility of the author.