What is Europe,

anyways?How students in Belgrade and Pristina engage with discourses of Europeanization and BalkanizationJeff Wheeler Spring 2015

Research Question• Topic

o Perceptions of the EU and the Balkans in Serbia and Kosovo

• Contexto Stalled EU integration in the Balkanso Youth migration from the Balkans to the EU

• How do students in Belgrade and Pristina engage with discourses of Europeanization and Balkanization?

Key TermsBalkanizationthe Balkans are inherently chaotic and incapable of integrating fully

Skepticismquestioning/critiquing these narratives

EuropeanizationEU integration is the

only approach that can save the Balkans

Internalization reflecting these

narratives

vs

vs

Methods/Ethics• Students recruited through universities and NGOs

• 7 personal interviewso Coding system for confidentialityo 3 Belgrade (SRB), 4 Pristina (RKS)

• Questions about identity, EU accession, and youth migration from Serbia/Kosovo to the EUo Positionality (outsider to EU integration)o Ethical considerations (personal stories)

Findings: Internalization• Students often reflected narratives in their views

• Europeanizationo A land of opportunities, values regulate daily lifeo There is more trash here in Belgrade than in other European

cities (SRB-2)

• Balkanizationo Let’s be honest, the Kosovo government is full of criminals

(RKS-1)o We’re from Serbia, you’ve probably heard about us, we’ve had

wars and everything! (SRB-3)

Findings: Youth Migration• Balkanization: the push to leave• Europeanization: the pull to enter

• Students perceive few opportunities at home and want to seek their futures in the EU (and the US)

• Students also perceive little potential for change, or for EU accession while they are still young

Findings: Skepticism• Students also critiqued these narratives

• Europeanizationo The EU is oppressive to small businesses and immigrants (RKS-1)o I fear the EU thinks we are implementing standards, and we’re not

(SRB-2)

• Balkanizationo I hate the term Western Balkans, it’s politically constructed (SRB-1)o I think of the Balkans in social terms, like rakija(RKS-2)o We need to give up traditional thought, then change the political

system, and then we can change the narrative (SRB-3)

Findings: Belgrade/Pristina• Situational Differences

o Status as states/EU candidacy/visa regimeso Demographics/Unemploymento In Belgrade, educated youth are trying to build careerso In Pristina, uneducated youth are trying to get out of Kosovo

• Discursive Similaritieso Subjected to the same negative Balkan stereotypeso Students engaging with the ideas of Europe and the Balkanso Skills learned from education, travel, and civil society

Conclusions1. Some internalization of EU and Balkan narratives, but

also some skepticism2. Youth migration indicates internalized narratives in the

face of stagnant EU integration3. Belgrade and Pristina are in different political

situations, but they are subject to similar narratives

• Limitations:o Students, NGO members, metropolitan, language

• Future research:o Rural areas, non-students, other Balkan states

Questions?

Photo Essay: Border Crossings