Contenu du sommaire : Les politisations de l'identité dans les Balkans contemporains

Bulgarian Muslims in politics since 1989: An anonymous political group The examination of available data suggests that Muslim Bulgarians are relatively absent from the country's politics. The factors and reasons underlying this persistent political "anonymity" are analyzed. Traditionally divided into small groups, these Muslims have not managed to unite around a shared goal that would attract them into the political arena. They have remained a divided, heterogenous group along the sidelines. Lacking their own political representation, they will probably look for spokesmen in existing political parties and/ or rally under their umbrella.

Romani NGOs, movements and political parties in Bulgaria: Competing forms of organization and definitions of group interests The Romani community has become involved in politics and in NGOs, which have grown quickly since 1989. Given international funding and "expertise", a "Gypsy industry" emerged during the 1990. Though supposedly providing answers to the problems of Roma in Bulgaria, it has had an ambiguous impact on defining common interests for Romani communities and defending them. Political representation has not always been a worthwhile alternative to NGOs, which have multiplied thanks to international funding. Since 1990, the strategies of Romani political "entrepreneurs" have fluctuated. Some of them have wanted to run on the tickets of the so-called "generalist" parties, while others have tried to form a pact with the Movement of Rights and Freedom (which represents the Turkish minority's interests), and still others are supporting an alliance among Romani political formations that would reach beyond cleavages within the community. Given the visibility of the "Romani social problem" on the international and European levels, articulating the internal and external (international organizations, Western foundations, Europeans, etc.) definitions of the issues involved represents a major challenge.

The politics of communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina While defending the thesis that the preponderance of ethnic politics in Bosnia is not at all a recent phenomenon, nor can it be blamed on the Dayton Agreement alone, this study of the relation between ethnic identities and political parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina does not seek to suggest that the prevalence of ethnicity is natural or permanent. Since the war ended in 1995, nationalist parties have waned and now have to compete with moderate parties. Interparty competition takes place more intensely within each ethnic group than between formations that are vying for the votes of Muslim Bosnians, Serbs and Croats regardless of their ethnic affiliation. This trend has been reinforced by the territorial concentration resulting from the war and ethnic cleansing.

Albanian parties in the Republic of Macedonia: The vicious circle of ethnopolitics (1990-2006) The Albanian minority, which makes up about 25% of Macedonia's population, suffered from decades of structural discrimination before the country's independence in 1991. Since democratization, Albanian political parties have played a major role in the politics of Macedonia, a country where cleavages run along mainly ethnic but also social and confessional lines. Highly politicized ethnic identities have led to unanimous voting patterns. Although the participation of Albanian parties in government since 1992 is evidence that they are stakeholders in the country, it has also been motivated by the desire to share in the spoils of power. Ethnic patronage and corruption have undermined the legitimacy of Albanian parties. This, along with the intransigence of Macedonian politicians, led to the outbreak of violence in 2001. Although most Albanian demands have been met in the meantime, their parties still play the only game they know: the ethnic one.

Minority parties - "parties like any other"? The MRF in Bulgaria and the DUHR in Romania In the past decade, many a study has tried to explain the emergence and durability of so-called ethnic political parties in pluralistic post-Communist societies. Most of these writings have ascribed minority party electoral victories to a supposedly captive ethnic base. But are ethnic parties an exception? The analysis of the trajectories of the Movement of Rights and Freedom (MRF) in Bulgaria and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (DUHR) suggests a different conclusion. For one thing, identities are not always or systematically tapped as a political resource. The relative importance of identity politics and the changing definitions of identities advocated by these parties depend on: competition among minority political entrepreneurs, the form given to "ethnic cleavages" in the political arena and the state of relations between "generalist" parties and minority formations. For another thing, the MRF's and DUHR's electoral successes after 1989 should also be set down both to the organization of political competition around the opposition between anti- and ex-Communists (and the resulting alliances) and, also, to the ability of the MRF and DUHR to provide some minority members with prospects for unprecedented social mobility.

the interests of ethnic Hungarian political formations in the province and parties in Hungary itself. Every Hungarian government since 1989 has proclaimed its support for an ethnic-based cultural unity that transcends borders, but the meanings assigned to this "unity" vary. The objectives of integrating Hungary in Europe and in NATO, which have been top priorities on the country's foreign policy agenda, have not always been compatible with the goals of minority policies. In recent years, relations between communities in Voivodina have changed for the worse. As a consequence, Hungarians in the province risk being disenfranchised and separated from Hungary by an "iron curtain" of visas.

Aromanians in Romania since 1990: How to do without a cumbersome fatherland? The self-identification of a significant number of Aromanians as a distinct group in Romania came as a surprise. Not only is their Latin- based language close to Romanian; but also, during the last decades of the Ottoman Empire, Romania funded schools for Aromanians living along the borders shared by Greece, Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria. The Aromanians in Romania moved from this area, and most of them settled in southern Dobruja between 1925 and 1932. Following a description of the arguments used, in 2005, by advocates and opponents of granting Aromanians the status of "national minority", the stakes are evaluated at the scale of Romania and of the Balkans. Questions are raised about the formation of a sense of identity in Aromanian communities and the forms of political activism arising out of it.

A domestic diaspora? The discourse of the leaders of an organization of Greek Albanians in Athens Since the early 1990s, a large number of migrants from the Balkans have come to Greece, now one of the EU member-states with the highest percentage of foreigners in its population. The 438.000 Albanians form, by far, the largest group among the 700.000 aliens registered in Greece in 2001. Not all migrants are treated alike. Greek authorities and the local population see some of them as belonging to a Greek diaspora with real or assumed Hellenic origins. This holds for the Vorioepirotes (Greek Albanians or northern Greeks), many of whom now live in Greece. A Vorioepirote association's declarations are analyzed to propose an interpretation of the origins and development of a discourse about a diaspora.