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