Etnocid i Kosovo ? språk och kultur som vapen i en etno-politisk konflikt
The aim of this master's thesis is to describe the role of language and culture as ethnical identification factors and illustrate how these have been used as political weapons by the Serb regime in Kosovo during the last decade. The thesis discusses the concept of ethnicity, the relations between the politics of identity, nationalism, ethnic mobilization and the importance of language and culture. Kosovo has historically been characterized by severe ethnic antagonism between Serbs and Albanians. Different languages, cultures and religions beside political processes led to ethnic cleavages that paved the way for ethnocentrism, ethnonationalism, chauvinism, ethnic cleansing and civil war. Since 1989, the Serbian authorities have intervened in all important spheres of life, in an attempt to Serbianize Kosovo. In order to eliminate the Albanian cultural heritage Albanian mass media have been banned amongst other cultural and intellectual institutions. Schools have been partly closed for Albanian students and Albanian language and culture have played a marginal role in the school curriculum. Many Albanians were dismissed from their jobs due to their ethnical background, and the use of Albanian in the public domain and in state institutions was discriminated against. Order was maintained by a massive police and military presence, suppressing all forms of Albanian overt dissent. Several libraries and a lot of the Albanian book and magazine component was burned or destroyed by other means, partly because of the segregation politics in operation, partly because of the war events that took place in 1998-1999.