DEMOCRACY: CRITICAL JUNCTURE En kvalitativ textanalys av nationellt narrativ under Jugoslaviens upplösning

Abstract

This essay seeks to investigate the nature of nationalist narratives during the collapse of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. In the republics which once made up Yugoslavia there is a difference in regards to the function of the democratic system. The theoretical background of this study has multiple layers. First, it is claimed that nationalist tendencies defined several independence movements in communist federations which fell apart during the end of the Cold War. Second, nationalism has been called a component of democratizations and usage of a particular national narrative by political leaders could have a negative effect if it is perceived as exclusive in nature, especially in multiethnic countries. Third, some theories on nationalism split the phenomenon into two distinct subtypes; Civic Nationalism and Ethnic Nationalism. One centered on values, the other heritage. This dualist theory exists mostly on a theoretical level, and has seldom been tested empirically. The aim of this study is therefore, through the use of a text analysis, to test the theory of civic and ethnic nationalism and see if the subtypes can be found in the constitutions of my two cases and in speeches made by their heads of state. The results show that no analyzed material belong solely to either subtype of nationalism, but that some of their indicators are present which points to a plausible theory.