Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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cemeteries, fields and places of work were destroyed, with the destruction<br />
manipulated to their advantage. This narrative trend seemed to link local<br />
acts of provocation to a long-term political strategy.<br />
Again, it is not our task to evaluate the truth content of these stories. More<br />
important here is that the strategies described, in short, the anti-<br />
Albanianism, have been supported and maintained not only by the Serbian<br />
vox populi, but also by the mass media, which, by the end of the 1980s,<br />
was mainly controlled by the Serbian government. These tales are therefore<br />
perceived as real, insofar as they have existed in the media, to be circulated<br />
throughout a population. On the other hand, the stories in which<br />
the Kosovar Albanians were cast as victims were not spread by the media,<br />
but mostly by word of mouth, by direct knowledge or by the official and<br />
unofficial armies.<br />
Regardless of their mode of dissemination, what all these stories reveal is<br />
the severity of the conflict, and the willingness of a people to accept<br />
unconditionally this complete image of the enemy. Whether true or false,<br />
entirely one or the other, part false or completely true, the veracity of the<br />
stories is not important here. It would be much more significant to consider<br />
them as a further step in the radicalization of the conflict, and in the<br />
creation of an “other” worse even than an adversary: an enemy who bears<br />
the marks of a base and impious monster.<br />
Places of conflict<br />
<strong>Psychosocial</strong> <strong>Notebook</strong>, Volume 2, October 2001<br />
A perception and understanding of the adversary that is so removed from<br />
social experience, and that differs for young people, adults, women, or<br />
immigrants, is further evident in places where conflict developed during<br />
the 1980s and 1990s. One theme that runs vividly through the recent history<br />
of Kosovo is that of repression in the workplace and its next stage: the<br />
waves of employee dismissals. This matter was discussed without exception<br />
in all of the interviews, both by Kosovar Albanians and by Kosovar<br />
Romany. According to most interviewees, the worsening situation of some<br />
non-Serbian workers was caused by the Serbian government, which aimed<br />
at granting privileges to its supporters in Kosovo. These attentions were<br />
strategically distributed, most of them targeted at working class areas, particularly<br />
during the economic crisis of the 1980s. The resulting situation<br />
forced many to vow their allegiance to Belgrade out of need. Many still,<br />
even having done so, were dismissed and forced to consider emigration.<br />
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