Course objectives: The main aim of the course is to provide basic knowledge on theoretical approaches and empirical studies dealing with ethnic relations in the region of Southeast Europe. Based on concepts, theories and methods from the ethnicity and nationalism studies this course enable comparative and interdisciplinary perspective on dynamics of ethnic and national identity formation, and on realities and challenges of interethnic and minority relations in the Southeast Europe, ranging from historical foundations to contemporary forms, in the context of globalization.

Enrolment requirements and/or entry competences required for the course: None.

Learning outcomes at the level of the programme to which the course contributes:   

(1) Recognize and explain the ways in which local, national, and transnational processes influence social structures in Southeast Europe

(2) Critically assess and apply theoretical approaches to the analysis of phenomena and processes in Southeast Europe

(3) Recognize, use, integrate, and document data from various sources

Expected learning outcomes at the level of the course:   

(1) To adopt basic concepts, typologies and theories within the interdisciplinary field of Ethnic Studies and Nationalism Studies

(2) To critically analyse ethnic phenomena and processes in Southeast Europe from pre-modern to postmodern times

(3) To critically evaluate theoretical and empirical foundation of scientific and professional papers in the field of Ethnic and Nationalism Studies

(4) To be able to write a seminar paper on topic of ethnicity, nationalism or ethnic relations in Southeast Europe

Course content (syllabus):   

This course consists of lectures and seminars. The seminar part of the course will be conducted in form of oral presentation(s), where students (in pairs, triplets, or in small groups), present and discus on a topic chosen according to their own affinities and according to agreement with the course teachers. They analyse chosen topic with approach of desk research and present the seminar orally to course colleagues.

The content of the course is the following:

(1) Introductory lecture (syllabus presentation, student obligations and expectations)

(2) Basic concepts in study of ethnic relations: identity, culture, religion

(3) Basic concepts in study of ethnic relations: race, ethnicity, nation(-state)

(4) Sociological theories of ethnic relations

(5) Nation-states, nationalisms and modernity

(6) Nationalisms and violence

(7) Ethnic relations in the Southeast Europe: essential facts and processes

(8) Ethnonational mobilization and historical violence: Dissolution of Yugoslavia

(9) Interethnic contact and minority politics: Romania and Bulgaria

(10) National disputes and identity politics: Monte Negro and North Macedonia

(11) Perception of threat, closeness or distance: Kosovo case

(12) Europeanness, orientalism and islamophobia: Greece and Turkey

(13) Ethno-nationalism in post-conflict settings: Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

(14) Future of ethnic relations and nationalisms in Southeast Europe

(15) Concluding lecture – systematization, summary and reflection on the course.

Format of instruction: Lectures, seminars and workshops, independent assignments 

Student responsibilities: Regular class attendance and participation in discussions during lectures and seminars, creation and oral presentation of a seminar paper, and final written exam.

Monitoring student work: Class attendance, seminar paper, written exam

1. Malešević, Siniša (2004). The Sociology of Ethnicity, London: Sage Publications Ltd. (selected chapters)
2. Malešević, Siniša (2013). Nation-States and Nationalisms: Organization, Ideology and Solidarity, Cambridge: Polity Press (selected chapters)        
3. Jenkins, Richard. (1997). Rethinking Ethnicity: Arguments and Explorations. London: Sage (selected chapters)
4. Smith, Anthony D. (1991). National Identity. Reno: University of Nevada Press (selected chapters)
5. Gellner, Ernest (2006). Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell (selected chapters) 
6. Anderson, Benedict (2006). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso (selected chapters)

1. Banton, Michael (2015). What We Now Know About Race and Ethnicity. Berghahn Books
2. Brubaker, Rogers (2008). Nationalist Politics and Everyday Ethnicity in a Transylvanian Town. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
3. Billig, Michael (1995). Banal Nationalism. London: Thousand Oaks.
4. Hashamova, Yana and Dragostinova, Theodora (eds.) (2016). Beyond Mosque, Church, and State: Alternative Narratives of the Nation in the Balkans, Budapest: Central European University Press.
5. Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence (eds.) (1983). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6. Hutchinson, John (2004). “Myth Against Myth: The Nation as Ethnic Overlay”. Nations and Nationalism, 10 (1-2):109-123.
7. Kymlicka, Will (2000). “Nation-building and minority rights: comparing West and East”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 26 (2): 183–212.
8. Malešević, Siniša (2010). “Ethnicity in Time and Space: A Conceptual Analysis”. Critical Sociology, 37 (1): 67 –82.
9. Ramet, Sabrina and Valenta, Marko (eds.). 2016. Ethnic minorities and politics in post-socialist Southeastern Europe. Cambridge University Press.
10. Wimmer, Andreas (2002). Nationalist Exclusion and Ethnic Conflict: Shadows of Modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

+ additional literature for seminars which is chosen according to students’ own affinities and agreement with teachers