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1
2
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4
 TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword.................................................................................................................... 7
MACEDONIA AND ALBANIANS:
PERSPECTIVES FOR A COMMON FUTURE .......................................................... 9
ÜBER MAZEDONISCHE: CHALLENGING MULTICULTURAL SPIRIT
VIA CULTURE........................................................................................................... 15
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 15
2. Culture: General insight ...................................................................................... 16
3. Culture as fragmentation tool: Vevcani Carnival and religious-ethnic
polarizations ............................................................................................................ 17
4. Sport as scene of ethno nationalism: “Nish 2012” .............................................. 21
5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 25
NEW URBAN NARRATIVE:
GRAFFITI ETHNO-NATIONALISM IN SKOPJE ................................................... 29
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 29
2. (Alter)urban art or graffiti (sub)culture ............................................................... 30
3. Bi-national polarization of the two-decade transition
in Republic of Macedonia ....................................................................................... 33
4. Content analysis: Graffiti and nationalism in the capital (Skopje) ..................... 34
YOUTH, POP CULTURE AND “POSTMODERN VALUES” ................................ 41
1. Fore-explication................................................................................................... 41
2. Pop culture: Consumerism, youth identity and hedonism as modus vivendi ...... 42
3. Postmodernism, information ignorance, alias Facebook mania ......................... 48
4. Conclusion(s)....................................................................................................... 53
BIG BROTHER: DEGRADING PERFORMATIVE BEHAVIOR AND
DEETHICIZATION AS A MISSION ........................................................................ 57
1. Anthropological television and self-capitalizing performances ......................... 58
2. Post-freudism: Libertinism or shame becoming unfashionable.......................... 60
3. Conclusion: Virtues, but what kind of?............................................................... 62
THE CIVIC RELIGION: NATIO-RELIGION .......................................................... 65
ETHICS: THIRD MILLENIUM CHALLENGE........................................................ 71
1. Abstract................................................................................................................ 71
2. Ethics: a general overvıew .................................................................................. 72
3. What is ethics?..................................................................................................... 73
4. Morality and ethics .............................................................................................. 74
5. Theories on Ethics ............................................................................................... 75
6. Moral crisis and global revival of ethics ............................................................. 76
7. Students’ perceptions on ethics: SEEU case ....................................................... 80

5
INVESTIGATING CORRUPTION IN MACEDONIAN
HIGHER EDUCATION.............................................................................................. 93
1. Abstract................................................................................................................ 93
3. Higher Education & Bologna process in Macedonian Context .......................... 96
4. Corruption and Higher Education ..................................................................... 100
5. Alumni Narratives on Corruption Affairs in Universities in Republic of
Macedonia ............................................................................................................. 106
5. Conclusions and recommendations ................................................................... 111
TRANSITION, EDUCATION AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE............................. 115
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 115
2. Macedonia: From Social Transition towards Europeanization ......................... 116
3. Education and Quality of Life ........................................................................... 117
4. Empirical Research: Education’s Impact on Life Conditions of Ethinc Albanians
in the Republic of Macedonia ............................................................................... 118
5. Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 122
ISLAM AND MUSLIMS IN THE BALKAN: ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS ......... 125
1. A little demography and history of Islam in the Balkan ................................... 125
2. From Pax Ottomana to the century of Balkanization ........................................ 128
3. Islamic revival, neo-Ottomanism and Islamophobia ........................................ 133
4. The main problems of Balkan Muslims and their solutions ............................. 137
5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 138

6
 FOREWORD

Honorable reader!
You are holding a compilation of selected academic texts that deal with the
problems of the socio-political reality of a Balkan society, i.e. Macedonia, going
through turbulent transitive periods, a chrestomathy that handles subjects such as
interethnic relationships, nationalism, religion, ethics-university-corruption, as well
as topics of a much modern spectrum, like pop-culture, graffiti, sports and performing
behavior (reality shows) which give the book the color of catching mural-virtual
trends and those of the society of the spectacle. The articles that have been presented
in various international scientific conferences in Prague, Rome, Cyprus, Craiova,
Konia and Rotterdam, entertain an empirical dimension besides the theoretical one.
The texts are accompanied by quantitative contents (tables, graphics) and visual ones
(photos) that speak and illustrate many things differently from speech and narrative
description. Besides content and documentation analysis, we have also employed
surveys, interviews, the analytical and comparative method, in the vertical temporal
aspect, as well as in the intersocietal one.
The discourse of these texts that can be described as reflections of a problem-
solving sociology, forms of praxis intervention, was built also thanks to the research
culture promoted at the Southeast Europe University and to the endeavor for
participation in the public-civic activity which sometimes stimulates and sometimes
derives material that makes one intellectually think, rethink and express about
different issues, from the concrete and immediate to the universal and spiritual ones.
We thank the LAMBERT Academic Publishing for publishing this text, the co-
authors of one of the articles, professors Murtezan Ismaili and Mentor Hamiti for
their contribution, Fribourg University-RRPP, Holger Kächelein, Edvin Zhllima and

7
colleague Shqipe Gërguri for their collaboration in carrying out the ESCoWeB
project. We also express our gratitude to SEER, WUT, Emma Collins from LAP,
friends from Shenja magazine, respondent students from various universities in
Macedonia for the time they shared in interviews conducted and to our family for
their moral support!
24 July 2013
Saraj/Skopje

8
 MACEDONIA AND ALBANIANS:
PERSPECTIVES FOR A COMMON FUTURE*
“The essence of state sovereignty is not in monopoly of force and domination,
but in monopoly of solutions”.

Karl Schmidt

Walter Bagehot says that XIX century was the period of creation of nations,
but in Balkan area nation-building project, as in every aspect of life, continues till our
time, namely till new millennium. The analysts of different social sciences claim that
tendencies for creation of closed national(istic) politic creatures in era of planetarism
and integration in global frame are paradoxes. There is no raison and interest from
living within “ethnic borders” in era of “global borders” and “global village”. For
misfortune in Balkan Peninsula, nationalist movements, xenophobia and mentalities
of (re)forming borders and building walls are very spread tendencies. It is a fact that
have to be known by every rational person and society that there is no place for
Balkans with tribe and clan borders in Europe and world without borders.
In the period of so-called first social transition, Republic of Macedonia or state
apparatus which de facto was in the hand of ethnic Macedonians aimed to be a
political creature determined by factor of ethnocentrism and Ku Klux Klan mentality:
Macedonian Power. For ten years the problem which was neglected by formal
politics was the position of ethnic Albanians who were treated as minority and second
hand citizens, even they formally form 23 % of total population of this country. The
questions like “politic and cultural rights”, education, rational/proportional
representation of citizens in the formal institutions were excluded from focus of

*
Paper presented at 2nd International SEER Symposium 2 – 4 November 2002, Hotel “Pavillon du Zoute”,
Knokke-Heist, Belgium (http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/vd_seer_2002_pajaziti.pdf).
9
interest and actuality. The consequence of Pax Macedonica’s wrong and tendentious
political praxis (state considered itself Caesar dominus est supra grammaticam1 –
intervened even in the sphere of Albanian toponymy) and exclusivist louisism
collectivizated in form “state, it is we, Macedonians” was the conflict of year 2001.
This conflict witness that the biggest defect of Homo Balkanicus is the short memory,
he forgets the historic events and the consequences of irrational deeds in the neighbor
countries like Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo…
The society who was face to face with the civil war between the two biggest
ethnicities, now copes with the issue of living together like a complex problem that
should be faced putting the person at the center of human rights, equity, social
inclusion as principles of a preliminary frame of any discussion and decision. A
frame independent of national, cultural, racial, religious background of the people.2 A
frame in which epicenter will be citizen, not national collectivities, where will be
respected principles of meritocracy which means competition free from
ethnocentrism and partisation.
After the “storm” and the “Ohrid Agreement” there is a ground for
consolidation, for transfer from Dionysian society in apollonian one, from dialog
centric and dialogic society in society of stability, where everything functions in
spontaneous and natural form, without prejudgments and taboos, even though there
are some open problems like national march who is ethnocentric symbol par
excellence (in it we face just elements of Macedonian patriotism), legalization of
University of Tetova etc.
Macedonia’s Albanians percepts RM their lebensraum and are ready for
constructive cooperation with the local and international structures for the better
future of all citizens of this small country. There is no Albanian institutions or
members of intelligentsia (like MAAS) who claim that territory and people changes
are only solution for succeeding constant peace. The inner stability of Macedonia

1
Ali Pajaziti, “Monizmi” si tetivë akiliane”, Lobi, No. 26, p. 32.
2
Marco Martinello, Living Together Experiencies from other Countries, Kaspar Hauser Library, Skopje,
2001, from introduction.
10
depend on process of integration of society, on process of recreating lines of
interethnic communication and avoiding of opposite extremes and interethnic
tensions, on process of substitution of ethnocracy with real democratic values. In this
aspect Macedonian corpus have to eradicate the fear and doubt of “phantasmagoric
syntagm”: Great Albania.3
Albanians consider Republic of Macedonia their homeland. Let we hear the
follow significant lines:
“My motherland is where I born, where I acquainted my mamma and papa,
where I’m known by all stones … and where I will give last breaths”.
Is there any better definition of motherland than this of well-known Albanian
renaissance poet Andon Zako Çajupi? “Albanians do not have reserve state, they
have Macedonia and try to build it like civil and civilized society, where everybody
will find own happiness, today and tomorrow.”4 Only Albanians do not deny or
refuse elements of Macedonian cause, they affirm Macedonian language,
Macedonian nation, Macedonian Orthodox Church and Republic of Macedonia. It’s
well known fact that Greece contests constitutional name of RM, Bulgaria contests
nation and language (claim that Macedonians are Bulgarians), Serbia denies
independence of MOCH…
Raison d’état (state behalf) is the full implementation of Ohrid Agreement,
understanding that ahead Macedonian society are two potential development
orientations:
1. Multiculturalism in its socio-cultural specter,
2. Model of post-ethnic society like a modern formal matrix of politic nation.5
In the first case it is important the advancing of ethno-cultural signs through
articulation of categories like language, religion and cultural legacy. In the second
case, in the sample of post-ethnic society, individual and personal choice will be

3
See: www.mladina.si/dnevnik/12563/
4
ɂɞɧɢɧɚɬɚ ɧɚ Ɇɚɤɟɞɨɧɢʁɚ (Ɇɚɤɟɞɨɧɫɤɨ-Ⱥɥɛɚɧɫɤɢ ɞɢʁɚɥɨɝ), Ɍɪɤɚɥɟɡɧɢ ɦɚɫɢ, ɋɤɨɩʁɟ, June 4-5, 2001,
p. 73-74.
5
Petar Atanasov, “Multikulturalizmi dhe të drejtat e njeriut”, Të drejtat e njeriut si vlera demokratike,
seminar organised by IADC and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Tetovë, October 15, 2002, p. 3.
11
more important factors within social life, it will be opened the doors of chances and
opportunities for all individuals in the social developments.
The Macedonia’s new premier’s words where he points that other nations who
live in Macedonia mustn’t comprehend like “unavoidable evil”,76 but like integrative
part of this state are meaningful, and a good ground for finding the formula of
tolerance, coexistence and interethnic confidence. Macedonia can survive as a politic
subject only like a unitas multiplex, not like a monolithic entity, only without
pretence for domination and claims like: “If you do not like Macedonia constructed
as we want, you can emigrate in Albania!” Denationalization of society is conditio
sine qua non for a future preserved from big problems. The alternative of this is come
back of social pathology called guerrism. The period of post-conflict Macedonia is a
second transition period, very critical stage, phase of Shakespearean to be or not to
be, phase which fate, if the citizens and leadership want, have to be different from
first socio-economic transition (1990-2001) who was evaluated as non-successful. If
the political relations go better, than in economy and in all other domains of life
should be released positive developments.
There is no unsolvable problem for homo sapiens who knows the prize of
dementia. Wisdom is necessarily factor of finding the way (re)establishing of human
relations between peoples throughout world.
The challenge that we citizen for RM and humanity faces today reminds me of
an old Sufi story about a man who died and left to his three sons their inheritance of
seventeen camels. To the first son he left half the camels, to the second son he left
one-third of the camels, and to the third and youngest son, he left one-ninth of the
camels. The three sons fell to negotiating, trying to get along, and soon found it was
difficult because seventeen doesn’t divide by two, and it doesn’t divide by three, and
it doesn’t divide by nine. Suddenly, it became difficult to coexist, difficult to get
along, and their fraternal relationship started to get strained. Finally, in desperation,
they went and consulted a wise old woman. And the wise old woman thought about

6
Ⱦɧɟɜɧɢɤ, November 1, 2002.
12
their problem for a long time, and finally she came back to them and said, “well, I
don’t know if I can solve your problem, but at least, if you want, you can have my
camel.” So then they had eighteen camels. Then the first son took his half, half of
eighteen is nine; and the second son took his third, a third of eighteen is six; and the
third son took his ninth, a ninth of eighteen is two. If you add nine and six and two,
you get seventeen. They had one camel left over! They gave it back to the wise old
woman.
If we think about that story for a moment, I think we’ll find that it resembles
the challenge that we face here, which is, like those seventeen camels, the issue of
coexistence and community building seems like a very difficult issue to crack. There
are over six billion of us on this planet; there are over six thousand distinct ethnic
groups on this planet; there are over a thousand religions, and there are countless
ideologies. We are emerging from the deadliest century the human race has ever
known. So the question is: how can we learn to live together? How can we learn to
coexist, despite our differences? How can we turn our differences into something
positive? What we’re trying to do in this initiative on coexistence and community
building is to see if we can find that eighteenth camel; to see if we can step back, like
that wise old woman, and change our assumptions.7

7
www.co-net.org
13
 References

• Ali Pajaziti, “Monizmi si tetivë akiliane”, Lobi, No. 26.

• Ⱦɧɟɜɧɢɤ, November 1, 2002.
• ɂɞɧɢɧɚɬɚ ɧɚ Ɇɚɤɟɞɨɧɢʁɚ (Ɇɚɤɟɞɨɧɫɤɨ-Ⱥɥɛɚɧɫɤɢ ɞɢʁɚɥɨɝ), Ɍɪɤɚɥɟɡɧɢ
ɦɚɫɢ, ɋɤɨɩʁɟ, June 4-5, 2001.
• Marco Martinello, Living Together Experiencies from other Countries, Kaspar
Hauser Library, Skopje, 2001, introduction.
• Petar Atanasov, “Multikulturalizmi dhe të drejtat e njeriut”, Të drejtat e njeriut
si vlera demokratike, seminar organised by IADC and Friedrich Ebert
Foundation, Tetovë, October 15, 2002.
• www.mladina.si/dnevnik/12563/
• www.co-net.org

14
 ÜBER MAZEDONISCHE: CHALLENGING
MULTICULTURAL SPIRIT VIA CULTUREȗ

keywords: –”ƒ†‹–‹‘, –”‹„ƒŽ ‡‘Ǧ’ƒ‰ƒ‹•ǡ –Š‡ ƒ–‹Ǧ•’‘”– •’‹”‹–ǡ …—Ž–—”ƒŽ

‹–‘Ž‡”ƒ…‡ǡƒ…‡†‘‹ƒǡ†‹˜‹†‡†•‘…‹‡–›

1. Introduction


‘…‹‡–‹‡•ƒ”‡•‹‹Žƒ”–‘Ž‹˜‡„‡‹‰•ǡ–Š‡›–”›–‘•ƒ˜‡–Š‡•‡Ž˜‡•ƒ‰ƒ‹•––Š‡
ƒ–‹„‘†‹‡• –Šƒ– ’”‘˜‘‡ –Š‡ ƒ† Š—”–• ‹ †‹ˆˆ‡”‡– ™ƒ›•Ǥ ‡’—„Ž‹… ‘ˆ
ƒ…‡†‘‹ƒǡ ƒ• ™Š‘Ž‡ ƒŽƒ ‹• ˜‡”› ˆ”ƒ‰‹Ž‡ ƒ”‡ƒǡ –”ƒ•‹–‹‘ƒŽ …‘—–”› ™‹–Š
‹–‡”ƒŽƒ†‡š–‡”ƒŽ—•‘Ž˜‡†‹••—‡•ǡ™‹–Šƒ—–Š‡–‹…Š‘‘„ƒŽƒ‹…—•‹ƒ…–—Ǥ
‘Ǧ•–ƒ„‹Ž‡ ‡…‘‘›ǡ –—”„—Ž‡– •‘…‹‡–ƒŽǦ’‘Ž‹–‹…ƒŽ ”‡Žƒ–‹‘•ǡ ‡–Š‹…ƒŽ †‹…Š‘–‘›ǡ
ƒ‡ ‹••—‡ ȋ™‹–Š
”‡‡…‡Ȍǡ ƒ”‡ –Š‡ •‘‡ ‘ˆ –Š‡ ‹–‡• ‘ˆ ’‡”ƒ‡– …”‹•‘Ž‘‰‹…ƒŽ
ƒ‰‡†ƒ ‘ˆ –Š‹• …‘—–”› ™‹–Š ƒ–‹“—‡ ‹ƒ‰‡ „—– ™‹–Š ˜‹”—Ž‡– ’‘•–Ǧ‘†‡”
’”‘„Ž‡•Ǥ ˆ–‡” –Š‡ Š”‹† ”ƒ‡™‘” ‰”‡‡‡– ȋʹͲͲͳȌ –Šƒ– ˆ‹‹•Š‡† ‡–Š‹…
…‘ˆŽ‹…–„‡–™‡‡–™‘ƒŒ‘”‡–Š‹…‹–‹‡•ǡƒ…‡†‘‹ƒ•ƒ†Ž„ƒ‹ƒ•ǡ’ƒ…‹ˆ‹…ƒ–‹‘
–‡†‡…‹‡•ǡ•—’’‘”–‡†„›‹–‡”ƒ–‹‘ƒŽˆƒ…–‘”ǡƒ‹‹‰•–ƒ„‹Ž‹œƒ–‹‘ƒ†…”‡ƒ–‹‰
‡™’‡”•’‡…–‹˜‡•™‡”‡ˆ—…–‹‘ƒŽǤ—–Žƒ•–›‡ƒ”•ǡ‡•’‡…‹ƒŽŽ›ˆ”‘–Š‡›‡ƒ”ʹͲͲ͸ǡ
’‡”ƒ‡–‹–‡”‡–Š‹…ƒ†‹–‡””‡Ž‹‰‹‘—•–‡•‹‘•”‡ƒ’’‡ƒ”‡†˜‹ƒ‰‘˜‡”‡–̵•
†‘œ‡ ‘ˆ ‹””ƒ–‹‘ƒŽ ’‘Ž‹…‹‡• –Šƒ– ƒ‹• ‘‘‡–Š‹…‹œƒ–‹‘Ȁmonoreligionization ‘ˆ
•‘…‹‡–›̵•‹ˆ”ƒ•–”—…–—”‡ƒ†•—’‡”•–”—…–—”‡Ǥ‡”‹‘—••‘…‹ƒŽ–‡•‹‘•ƒ”‡•‘‡‘ˆ
–Š‡ ‡ˆˆ‡…–• ‘ˆ –Š‡ ’”‘˜‘…ƒ–‹‘• ƒ• …›…Ž‘’ƒ‡†‹ƒ ʹͲͲͻǡ …Š—”…Š ‘ …ƒ’‹–ƒŽǯ•
––‘ƒ…ƒ•–Ž‡ǡƒ–‹—”„ƒ’”‘Œ‡…–̶‘’Œ‡ʹͲͳͶ̶ǡ‡˜…Šƒ‹ʹͲͳʹ‡–…ǤŠ‹•’ƒ’‡”

*
Paper presented at Third International Conference
After Communism. East And West Under Scrutiny, 05-06 April 2013, Craiova, Romania.
15
‹• „ƒ•‡†‘ ƒ —Ž–‹†‹‡•‹‘ƒŽ •–—†› –Šƒ–‡ƒ„Ž‡• •…‹‡–‹ˆ‹… ‹–‡”’”‡–ƒ–‹‘ ƒ†
‡Žƒ„‘”ƒ–‹‘‘ˆ’Š‡‘‡‘‘ˆ̶†‹˜‹†‡†•‘…‹‡–›‹’”‘‰”‡••̶–Š”‘—‰ŠƒƒŽ›•‹•‘ˆ
–™‘ …ƒ•‡• ™Š‡ –”ƒ†‹–‹‘ ȋ…ƒ”‹˜ƒŽȌ ƒ† •’‘”– ȋŠƒ†„ƒŽŽȌ ™‡”‡ —•‡† ‘– ƒ•
…‘Š‡•‹˜‡„—–ˆ”ƒ‰‡–ƒ–‹‘–‘‘ŽǤ

2. Culture: General insight

The term culture derives from the Latin word colere that means: plow the land,
sow, harvest or work. The word culture is used as synonyms of “sowing”. This term
was used at the time of Bismarck, when were established the foundations of
Germans’ union in the meaning of expression of spiritual national values;
physiognomy of the spirit of a nation, reflection of the philosophy and aspirations of
a nation. In the common language cultured person is considered the one that speaks a
couple of languages, knows history, literature, philosophy and beautiful arts. It does
not exist an overall definition of culture accepted by all scientist. Two American
Anthropologists Kroeber and Klukholn in their book from 1952 have written 164
definitions on culture. The most classical definition of culture gave E.B. Taylor, who
said that the culture is a complex entirety that includes knowledge, art, ethics, moral,
traditions and all the skills one obtains as member of the society. C. Wisler says that
culture represents the way of living of a nation. Claude Lèvi Strauss, one of the main
advocates of French structuralism defines the culture as union made of mental
structures impacted by the history, psychological and social environment of the
group. In anthropology with the term culture we mean the common way how a
nation lives and the social heritage an individual gains from his group. The culture is
a factor that determines human’s behaviors. If a person behaves in a manner, it
reflects the fact that he was born and educated in the environment of a particular
cultural tradition. The culture of a society shapes the individuality of its members.
All the cultures in the globe, regardless their differences, bear religious features. In
general, religious culture possesses integrated aspect in the social structure, but as
well the “autonomous” mechanism that acts completely out of the social structure.

16
Each culture within its structure includes methods and values that are not weighted or
judged with the criteria of another culture. According to G. Markush, a philosopher
of culture from the old school of Budapest, the culture is a concept consisted of two
layers: an anthropological approach and sector approach. Based on the first approach,
the culture is integrity of all activities we do not carry out instinctively, but we learn
them, rather the entirety of the skills we cultivate, that give meaning to the “human”
life. The other approach - sector type (or with direct evaluation burden) is known for
everyone: comprises the domain that usually is named “high culture”, the domain that
embraces “immortal” works of art, scientific spirit, philosophy and religion.
(Haviland, 2002: 270; Kluckholn, 1998: 69; Tomash, 1989: 203)

3. Culture as fragmentation tool: Vevcani Carnival and religious-ethnic

polarizations

Each culture possess its elements of particularity, •‹‰‹ˆ‹…ƒ–ǡ signs with

relational character, that firmly connect the members of a group in the scope of
common symbols, that necessarily determine the constrains of division with the other
culture. Cultural anthropology states that the multiplicity of cultural components is an
evident social phenomenon, so almost there is no a culturally monolith society. It is
significant to understand what John Rawls has called “the fact of reasonable
pluralism”ȋ–Š‡ˆƒ…–‘ˆ”‡ƒ•‘ƒ„Ž‡’Ž—”ƒŽ‹•Ȍ. (Maclure-Taylor, 2011: 10). Anyhow
the reality proves that the signs, initiate and are interpreted from different
perspectives. The sign-operator causes direct reaction of receiver or alteration of his
state, e.g. feeling fear, rage or joy. The human is †‡•‹‰ƒ–‘” as well, he can comment
the signals and signs and he can develop a opinion on them. (Kloskovska, 2005: 91-
92) In general, culture facilitates the stability, continuity and progress of human
society (Iliü, 1978: 13)
Republic of Macedonia is multicultural society, with a diversity of its ethnic
and religious composition, an environment, where for centuries are situated
components of different ethnicities, complex identities, different civilizations,

17
ancient cultures, Byzantine, Ottoman, Slavic, Albanian, Macedonian, Turkish,
Serbian, Bosnian, Vlahos’ etc. In addition, Macedonia is a multiethnic society, multi-
religious, grouped in distinctive systems of values.
Although, historically these cultures have cohabited mutually, after the withdrawal of
Ottoman State from these territories, serious turbulences were experienced, starting
from the ideology of romanticism, triad history-folklore-ethnos, nationalism and
identities, that Malouf defines ad —”†‡”‘—•. Balkan societies nowadays face with
“negative peace”, conventionally defined as lack of struggle and conflict, aiming to
reach positive peace that includes –Š‡ ’”‡•‡…‡ of some capacities and conditions
intending to create a primary •‹–—ƒ–‹‘of harmony and equilibrium, not only ƒ”‡•—Ž–
of a political agreement. (Kallën, 2012:227)
In Republic of Macedonia “multicultural nationalisms” are in permanent contact, so
in this context Macedonian nationalism is within a competition-struggle with other
nationalisms, especially with the Albanian nationalism (Atanasov, 2004: 306). We
can freely say that the society of RM has a need for organizing the diversity and
complexity as unreduced property of human world (Eriksen, 2007: 1058) within an
environment, where instead of the process of integration exists the process of
segregation. This can be seen in all the domains of life, starting from the politics,
education, culture, reaching to urbanism, sport etc. As more obvious example of the
process of fragmentation is the capital, Skopje, where is taking place a phenomenon
of ethno-urbanism, rather ‡‹”—–‹•ƒ–‹‘ (DW, 2012) as consequence of anti-urban
design “Skopje 2014” that segregates the capital on ethnic and religious lines.
2012 was a year with political and cultural turbulences in RM, occurred Vevchani
case (scandalous carnival), Nish (chauvinistic fanatic fans), Gostivar (execution of
two young Albanians by a ethnic Macedonian policeman), urban busses in Skopje
(beating Albanian students by Macedonian hooligans), Smilkovci (macabre execution
of five Macedonians), that caused raise of “ethnic tensions with religious
dimensions” (Reynal-Querol, 2000: 15), as †‹ˆˆ‡”‡–‹ƒ•’‡…‹ˆˆ‹…ƒ of Balkans.

18
Even cultural events can generate clash to vast extent. This was proved by the
traditional carnival, organized in the village of Vevchani in Struga (13-14 of
January), characterized as one biggest cultural manifestation in RM (–”‹•‹
‡•‹), where externally was caused a diplomatic scandal with Greece (due to the
symbolic burial of the Greek corpse), so Greece sent to Macedonia a protest note,
internally was generated a turbulence with religious nuances, were upset religious
feelings of almost half of the population of RM.
American sociologist M. B. McGuire (2007: 328) says that the religious limits very
often are related to the other outlines of separations, such as racial or ethnic, political
or national loyalty and so on. This ascertainment is valid for the case of Macedonia,
where ethnic Macedonians identify themselves with Christian orthodoxy, rather
Albanians with Islam. (state.gov) In Vevchani’s carnival, that is comprised of pagan
and modern celebration, there was a scoffing and irritating attack against Islamic
values, like Quran, veil (hijab), turban, imam’s coat, prayer (salah), bowing (sajdah),
in other words it exceeded the redline of a ƒ•‡„ƒŽŽ. This degrading parade,
unnatural and perverse linkage between sacred and pornography caused reactions
amongst Muslim population all-round Macedonia. The spokesperson of this anger
became the Mufti office of Struga, releasing a reaction, where amongst other was
stated that:
“From these video sequences is clearly obvious that one carnival attendee has in his
head a so called turban-ˆ‡• and in his hand holds the Holy book of Islam, but on the
book is written Kuron, then some other citizens dressed with priest’s coat and veil
(hijab) bow to sajdah above Islamic flag, where is placed a giant penis about one
meter long”… “There are visible images of pedophilia and other anti-Islamic
phenomenon’s, because these images caused hard feelings and exacerbate
interreligious and interethnic relations, that as such are fragile in this land”.
(ditari.com)
This carnival, characterized by the Minister of culture as “illuminating pearl of
Macedonian tradition and a brand for introducing Macedonia to the world”

19
(kultura.gov.mk), but in contrary to this, by a representative of Islamic Union in RM
it was characterized as “carnival of dirtiness” (A. Islami). It arouse serious polemics
in the public, where even were produced statements such as: “Either unified state or a
split up” (Mufti of Struga, Polisi).
Islamic Union in its reaction in global scope stressed out the feelings of a
psychology of an antiislamic madness, ‹•Žƒ‘’Š‘„‹ƒ:
Dzˆ‘”–—ƒ–‡Ž›ǡ‹•Žƒ‘’Š‘„‹ƒ‹•‹–Š‡’”‘…‡••‘ˆ‰”‘‘˜‹‰ƒ†
”‡Žƒ–‡† –‘ ƒ ‹””ƒ–‹‘ƒŽ Šƒ–”‡†ǡ –Šƒ– …‡”–ƒ‹ ’‡”•‘• ’”‘‘–‡ ‹ ‘—”
•‘…‹‡–› ƒ‰ƒ‹•– –Šƒ–™Šƒ– ”‡’”‡•‡–• •Žƒ ƒ† —•Ž‹•Ǥ  ‘—” …ƒ•‡ǡ
‹•Žƒ‘’Š‘„‹ƒ ‹• ’”‡•‡– ƒ† ‹Š‡”‹–‡† ‹ ‘—” …—Ž–—”‡ǡ ‹ –Š‡ ƒ”–ǡ
Ž‹–‡”ƒ–—”‡ǡ ‡†‹ƒǡ ’—„Ž‹… †‡„ƒ–‡•ǡ ™Š‡”‡ —•Ž‹• ƒ”‡ –”‡ƒ–‡† ƒ•
DzƒŽ‹‡•dzƒ†‘’’‘‡–•‘ˆ–Š‡…‹˜‹Ž‹œƒ–‹‘dzǤ(bim.org.mk)ͺ
This situation caused the emergency meeting of Committee for Interethnic
Relations, intending to amortize the tensions, to calm down the situations and take
measures to regain ethnic and religious confidence, to heal the threatened
cohabitation in Macedonia, where people are whistled just because they sing in
Albanian in the center of Skopjeǡͻ ™Š‡”‡ –‘‘ ’Žƒ…‡ ƒ …—”‹‘•‹–› „‡…ƒ—•‡ ƒˆ–‡” ͷͲ
›‡ƒ”• ƒ ˆ‘”‡‹‰  ȋȌ •–ƒ–‹‘ …‘‡ –‘ ‘’Œ‡ ƒ† „”‘ƒ†…ƒ•– ƒ •‘‰ ‹
Ž„ƒ‹ƒŽƒ‰—ƒ‰‡‹ƒ–‹‘ƒŽŠƒ‡ŽǤͳͲ‘‹–Š‡…ƒ•‡‘ˆ‡˜…Šƒ‹ǡ…—Ž–—”‡
™ƒ•…‘˜‡”–‡†–‘ƒ–‹Ǧ…—Ž–—”‡ǡƒˆˆ‡…––Š‡‘•–•‡•‹–‹˜‡’‹‡…‡‘ˆ‘—”‡”ƒǡ–Š‡‘‡
‘ˆ‹–‡”Ǧ”‡Ž‹‰‹‘—•…Žƒ•Š‡•ȋ™Š‹…Š–”ƒ‰‡†›™‡•ƒ™‹‘•‹ƒǡƒ†‘™™‡•‡‡‹–‹
‹‰‡”‹ƒǡ›ƒƒ”ǡƒŽ‡•–‹‡Ǧ•”ƒ‡ŽȌǡ–Šƒ–™ƒ•…‘’‘•‡†‹ƒ…ƒ†‡‹…’”‹…‹’Ž‡„›
—–‹‰–‘Ǥ

8
The biggest anger was expressed towards the Government. According to the officials of this union,
islamophobia is often combined with the Government’s propaganda such is the case of Vevchani carnival,
for which the Government of Macedonia each year allocates 50.000 euros. Apart from that the most
disgusting moment of this carnival was the participation of Minister of culture, MPs from Macedonian
position and opposition political parties and the mayor of municipality of Vevchani.
9
The concert of 21st anniversary of Macedonian independence organised on 8th of September, 2012 in the
Arena Philip II.
10
On the occasion of 100 anniversaries of Balkans wars, National Radio Television of Turkey, on the motto
“From Balkans wars to Balkans peace” organised a great musical spectacle “Balkan Fest” where attended 14
well known singers from Albania, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Macedonia. (Lajm, 29 korrik 2012)
20
 4. Sport as scene of ethno nationalism: “Nish 2012”

Sport, an activity that derives from the religious festivals and nowadays one of the
domains of attraction and postmodern culture is an institution that consumes leisure
time and recreation and promotes health (Olympic games of ancient Greeks, that
started in 766 B.C. with the concept of mental and corporal development) and close
relations between people. Since the industrialization, a secularization process took
place and sport was divided from the religion, obtaining the extents of a particular
institution, a new form of control (Marcuse), of collective mobilization (Gjata, 2003:
36), of neo-paganism, of dictatorship based on ˆ‘‘–„ƒŽŽǡ ˆ‹‡•–ƒǡ ˆƒ†‘ (Salazar), of
modern slavery.11
The term •’‘”–for the first time comes across in the novels of Catalan and Castilian
(XI-XIII century) and in sociological theory we find three perspectives: functionalist,
conflicting and cultural studies. According to the first perspective, sport is a mean for
social integration, provides common interests and unifies people in racial, ethnic and
class basis; enhances norms and social values, teaches them to work, to act as a team
and respect the authority. In addition to this, according to the conflict theory sport has
a negative social “mission”, preserves inequities, distracts people from their real
problems, legitimize the violence and justifies inadequate division of the wealth. The
third perspective is focused on the evolution of sport from an entertaining activity,
oriented towards the participation, to an activity similar to the work of corporations,
led by the principles of commercialization and entertainment, •Š‘™„‹œ. (Frey, 1991:
503-522)
Sport, that in the past was an open and spontaneous game, nowadays has
become “e total social fact”, rather an indivisible part of the society of spectacle
(Gjata, 2003: 13, 25), or a real industry where billions turnover, where plenty of
money in most of the cases are manipulated by underground bosses that set up the
real sport, it intoxicates and makes passive the most vital part of the society, avoiding
them from authentic youth engagements, leading them to betting offices that grow up

11
There are cases when a player is sold for three other players + an amount of money.
21
just like mushrooms after the rain. Various scandals that occurred lately, gradually
are weakening the interest of those satisfied from the great sportsmen as Li Ning,
Comaneci, Lendl, Stenmark, Jabbar, Zico, Kukoc…
Sport has turned into an area of releasing hatred and nationalistic rage, ethno-fascistic
approach, excommunication trends that jeopardizes social interest of the peace. The
last cases of Nish, Serbia (European Championship in handball, 15-29 of January
2012), Port Said (football match between al-Masry- el-Ahly, where more than 70
people lost their lives, 1•– February, 2012) and March in Belgradeͳʹ are metaphors of
destructive extent of rage and extreme(ist) passion of sport fans, who get into trans
under devilish ecstasy and state offensive language that becomes morbid action
against “the other”. Š‡…—Ž–‘ˆ˜‹…–‘”›has made sport followers to so called fans or
fanatics that always associate me with an illness and condition needed to be cured in
clinics, instead of being revealed in sport tribunes. These images create a
performance of “the black choir”, that with or without conductor creates a real
shuddering environment. This assumption is valid for those watching sport matches
Ž‹˜‡on the spot, as well for TV spectators.
As well in the context of RM youth vagabondism and fanatic sport fans that always
attack each other represent a destructive and dangerous phenomenon against social
peace and the process of creation of a stabile and functional society. Extreme sport
fans call people on war cry by announcements, graffiti, or use indecent vocabulary.
This vocabulary I experienced last winter in a basketball match (Liria-Kumanovo)
where the curses and offences where so much exposed so you would never like to
watch such matches anymore, due to the low and offensive attacks against the
opponent team (Macedonian team) and against the referees. I was shocked due to the
selfish ƒ†Š‘…, contradictive and strange reasoning: All players of BC Liria were of
Slavic origin, the best was Serbian (Simic), and on the other hand the fanatic
supporters were singing “Ethnic Albania”, “I live red and black…”, “Xhamadani

12
Fanatics of Football club Rad from Belgrad in the match against Novi Pazarin, had displayed the message
“Nozh-Zhica-Srebrenica” (knife, wire, Srebrenica) referring to the genocide done against the Bosnians.
22
vija-vija...” (Doublet jacket with thin lines), cursed Macedonian girl (“Makedonsko
devojche...”) etc.
On the other, hand Slavic fans have crossed any red light, even transgressing the
domain of physical anthropology and Darwinist theory, they attack Albanian on
racial basis. Even when Albanians play for the national team of RM, even when they
score, instead of being applauded they are “awarded” with curses on ethnic basisͳ͵.
The analysis of the content proves that Macedonian sport is highly infected wit anti-
Albanism. In 2012 Macedonia, “cursed Albanians” were present in Serbia (Nish), at
the European championship, even they were physically far away. Macedonian ethnic
sport fanatics, who want pure Macedonia (“ɑɢɫɬɚ Ɇɚɤɟɞɨɧɢʁɚ!”), were seeing
Albanian ghost hundreds of kilometers away. They want more to see Albanians
beneath the ground than above it (“Dead Albanian is good Albanian!”). The victory
against non-Albanians (Czech Republic) was celebrated as victory against Albanians.
The worst of all this is the fact that the players, whose task was to give a beauty to the
game and create •’‘”–•–‹—‰‹•–‡ƒ†‘ˆ…—”•‹‰ǡthey joined to this massive rage
that derived from their inappropriately gained education. Beyond all that was the
moment when the State President “a step towards ground zero”, decorated those, who
diminished the foundations citizen’s household. Albanian coalition partner in the
government and Albanian opposition party reacted against this act.
A very famous song of Billy Joel from 1989, “We didn’t start the fire” ends
with “But we tried to fight it”. The text means that Americans are not responsible for
the problems of the world. The title explains a feature of postmodern era. Each group
considers that “we didn’t start the fire”; meaning that the other ethnic and religious
groups started first. It is not a sentiment taking into account in order to encourage
dialogue and harmony. In our society, everybody points the finger towards the other
one!

13
The last case was the football match between Macedonia and Serbia (October 16), where according to live
legend commentator Artim Shaqiri, present at this event, ethnic Albanian players, creators of victory, were
insulted on national bases.
23
 During my childhood and youth age I was always buying sport magazine
“Tempo” and I as keeping them as “a very worthy” collection” (all that remained in
my memory). I remember one of the cover pages of the magazine that marked the end
of Yugoslavia: football stadium Maksimir, fight between Bad Blue Boys (Dinamo’s
fanatic supporters) and Delije (fanatic supporters of Red Star) and the kick of
Croatian player Boban in a kung-fu technique throwing in the air the helmet of a
Yugoslavian militia. He became national hero of Croatia cause against macabre
Serbism. Similar clashes were noticed in basketball matches as well (Cibona-
Partizan), where all raged nationalism requisites were present, starting from the flags,
hats, badges and the repertoire of chetnic and ustash songs.
When you think of the events in Yugoslavian sport arenas two decades ago and
the current situation in Macedonia, unavoidably raises the question, how come a state
that experienced a conflict and peaceful agreement now follows this ethnocentric
logics, that doesn’t care much about improvement of the climate, but applies illiberal
politics and plays with the fires that managed to escape.
After Nish, in a magazine was written, that after the chauvinism and racism
there is no Albanian that gives an attention to Macedonian national team: its results
for Albanians would initiate interest as those of Swaziland, Cambodia or Trinidad
and Tobago. How could this feeling be different, when from the repertoire of
Macedonian fanatic supporters we hear: “‡‹–Š‡”‘–Š‡•›‘”‘–Š‡‰”‘—†ˆ‘”
Ž„ƒ‹ƒ•–Š‡”‡‹•‘’Žƒ…‡dz (within this song they are treated as guerillas, ragmen,
“two headed black beast”. They are shame for Macedonia. God punish them. May
thunder hits them and no trace leave behind). In addition, in the Facebook Page of
Macedonian handball national team we read:
Dz‘›‘—‘™™Š›ƒ…‡†‘‹ƒŠƒ•‡š…‡ŽŽ‡–”‡•—Ž–•‹„ƒ•‡–„ƒŽŽǡ™ƒ–‡”’‘Ž‘
ƒ†Šƒ†„ƒŽŽǫ•Ž‘‰ƒ••–‹›Ž„ƒ‹ƒ•ƒ”‡‘–‹˜‘Ž˜‡†‹–Š‡•‡•’‘”–•ǡ™‡™‹ŽŽ
ƒ…Š‹‡˜‡ƒŽ‘–‘ˆ•—……‡••Ǣ‡˜‡”›™Š‡”‡‘—”’—”‡„Ž‘‘†ƒ…‡†‘‹ƒ••Š‘™—’ǡ™‡™‹ŽŽ
ƒ…Š‹‡˜‡ ˜‹…–‘”‹‡•Ǩdz If Hitler would have read this he would try to associates it with

24
the Aryan (white) race, and if we would remind him the cheering “gas chambers for
Albanians”… he would easily find himself as part of that environment.
Albanophobia trend has dominated the “discourse” of journalists, an
Neanderthal of revival-Macedonism, a “face with pedigree” of sport journalism
(Milenko Nedelkovski), close fiend of Gruevski, says:
Dz Šƒ˜‡ –Š‡ •‹š •‡ƒ•‘ ‘ˆ ›  •Š‘™ ƒ† •‘ ˆƒ”  Šƒ˜‡ǯ– ‹˜‹–‡† ƒ› —•Ž‹ ‘”
Ž„ƒ‹ƒ‰—‡•–Ǥ—Ž–‹’Ž›–Š‡™‹–Šœ‡”‘Ǩdz
Although the last victory of Macedonian football national team against Serbia, with a
goal scored by an Albanian player, created an atmosphere of relaxation (noticed in
forums and media), still the events in Kavadarci in the basketball match between
junior teams of Feni Industri and NBA Chair (against was evident statement “cursed
Albanians” - ƒŒ, 24.10.2012”) proved that social developments and phenomenon
do not change that quickly.

5. Conclusion

As Collingwood has pointed out, peace is a “dynamic issue” (Collingwood,

1971: 334),it requires awareness and vigilance, a continuous state of awareness,
requires action. Macedonia is a fragile society, which due to irrational public politics
stands in glass legs, threatened by nationalism and phobia towards the others.
Imprudent deeds in the domain of culture are social destructors, that do not contribute
for the cohabitation nor the shared civility and looks like (e)utopia, when we bear in
mind this discourse, even still seem achievable when we hear the voice of reasonable
people, as stated in relation to the dyad sport-nationalism Serbian-Croatian, burning a
flag or showing a chauvinistic parole are symptoms of an illness being developed
within the organism and it can terminate the state itself (Pendarovski, plusinfo.com).
Vital societies as music band (Arhangel) says, has no need of “provincial glory”,
neither for “calmness for buying”.
We suggest different authorities to take measures in order to change the course
of events in the domain of culture, including sport as physical culture, to educate the

25
citizens, develop a profile of a human that has into account the symbols and values of
the other, as far as didn’t approach the time of scream “I cannot take it anymore”! In
this regards must be enhanced legal measures too, in the meaning of disciplining the
“cultural perpetrators” those how insult the culture of the others, verbal and physical
hooligans. School, media, public persons, politicians, religious leaders can play e
very significant role in avoiding social pathologies, in the spirit of normal functioning
of •‘…‹ƒŽˆƒ…–‘”›ǡwhere sport will be free and spontaneous game, but not a struggle
“for life or death” nor a war with different methods.

26
 ͸Ǥ‡ˆ‡”‡…‡•

• Atanasov, P. (2004) “Macedonia Between Nationalism(s) and
Multiculturalism: The Framework Agreement And Its Multicultural
Conjectures”. ‘…‹‘Ž‘‰‹Œƒ, Vol. XLV, N° 4.
• Blazhevska, K., “Beautification or Beirutization of Skopje?”, ‡—–…Š‡ ‡ŽŽ‡,
27.12.2012. 
• Collingwood, R. G. Š‡ ‡™ ‡˜‹ƒ–Šƒ (1971). New York: Thomas Y.
Crowell.
• Eriksen, Th. H. (2007) “Complexity in social and cultural integration: Some
analytical dimensions”. –Š‹… ƒ† ƒ…‹ƒŽ –—†‹‡•. Vol. 30, No. 6
November 2007 pp. 1055-1069.
• Frey, J. H. (1991) “Sport and Society”. —ƒŽ‡˜‹‡™‘ˆ‘…‹‘Ž‘‰›ǤVol. 17:
503-522.
• Gjata, F. (2003) ‘…‹‘Ž‘‰Œ‹ƒ‡•’‘”–‹–. Tiranë: Afërdita. 
• Haviland, W. A. (2002) òŽ–ò”‡Ž–”‘’‘Ž‘Œ‹ǤStamboll: Kaknüs Yayınları.
• Iliü, M. (1978) ‘…‹‘Ž‘‰‹Œƒ—Ž–—”‡‹—‡–‘•–‹ǤBeograd: Nauþna Knjiga.
• Kallën, I. (2012) •Žƒ‹ǡƒ”•›‡Œƒ†Š‡„‘–ƒ‘†‡”‡ǤSkopje: Logos-A.
• Kloskovska, A. (2005) ‘…‹‘Ž‘‰‹Œƒ—Ž–—”‡ǤBeograd: ýigoja Štampa.
• Kluckholn, C. (1998) “Queer Customs”, në Lisa J. McIntyre, Š‡ ”ƒ…–‹…ƒŽ
‡’–‹…ǣ ‡ƒ†‹‰• ‹ ‘…‹‘Ž‘‰›Ǥ London-Toronto: Mayfield Publishing
Company.
• Maclure, J. and Taylor, Ch. (2011) ‡…—Žƒ”‹• ƒ† ”‡‡†‘ ‘ˆ ‘•…‹‡…‡Ǥ
London: Harvard University Press.
• McGuire, M. B. (2007) ‡Ž‹‰Œ‹‘‹ǣ‘–‡•–‹•Š‘“´”‘”ǤSkopje: Logos-A.
• ƒŒ, July 29, 2012; October 24, 2012.
• Reynal-Querol, M. & Montalvo, José G. (2000)  Š‡‘”› ‘ˆ ‡Ž‹‰‹‘—•
‘ˆŽ‹…–ƒ†–•ˆˆ‡…–‘
”‘™–ŠǤLondon: LSE.
• Tomash, G. et.al. (1989) ‹Ž‘œ‘ˆ‹ƒ†Š‡–”ƒœ‹…‹‘‹. Tiranë: Arbri & Soros.
27
• –”‹•‹˜‡•‹ǡJanuary 5, 2012.
• Š––’ǣȀȀ™™™Ǥ†‹–ƒ”‹Ǥ…‘ȀŽƒŒ‡Ȁ”‡ƒ‰‹‡Ǧ‰ƒǦ„ˆ‹ǦŒƒǦƒ”‡˜ƒŽ‹Ǧ‹Ǧ˜‡˜…ƒ‹–Ǧ
’‘•Š–‡”—ƒǦ‹•Žƒ‹ǤŠ–Ž
• Š––’ǣȀȀ™™™Ǥ„‹Ǥ‘”‰ǤȀ‹†‡šǤ’Š’ǫ‘’–‹‘α…‘̴…‘–‡–Ƭ˜‹‡™αƒ”–‹…Ž‡Ƭ‹
†α͵͹͸ǣ”‡ƒ‰‹Ǧ†ƒŒǦƒ”‡˜ƒŽ‹–Ǧ–‡Ǧ
˜‡˜…ƒ‹–Ƭ…ƒ–‹†α͵ͻƬ–‡‹†αͳͳͳȀʹͺǤͳʹǤʹͲͳʹ
• http://www.kultura.gov.mk/index.php/odnosi-so-javnost/soopstenija/388-
vevcanski-karneval-2012/30.10.2012
• Š––’ǣȀȀ™™™Ǥ›‘—–—„‡Ǥ…‘Ȁ™ƒ–…Šǫ˜αŒŒŽ͸
Ͷ
• Š––’ǣȀȀ™™™ǤŽ›”‹…•ͺͷǤ…‘Ȁ„„Ǧ—„‡”Ǧƒœ‡†‘‹•…Š‡Ǧ
Ž›”‹…•Ȁʹ͸ͶͳͲʹȀ͵ͲǤͳͲǤʹͲͳʹ
• http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/193047.pdf/07.11.2012


28
 NEW URBAN NARRATIVE: GRAFFITI ETHNO-
NATIONALISM IN SKOPJE*

““It’s worthless to whitewash it, we are determined to do it again”

(A Skopian graffiti)

key words: alternative art, graffiti, city, anti-culture, nationalism.

1. Introduction

The remarkable Australian philosopher and thinker Ivan Illich with regard to
his controversial discourse, among others says: “You can wipe out a whole city from
the earth if you take out its breath.”14 The hermeneutic of this sentence makes us
understand that cities are living organisms, with a body and soul, with “cells and
tissues”, creatures that breathe and even rebel when someone takes their power, they
are entities that will never forget (M. Arma÷an) but they can even cease to exist if we
don’t cultivate or culturalise them. From the ancient cities (Byblos, Damascus,
Jericho) up to now, together with cities that have brought the civilization, a special
culture has been developing that distinguishes it from rural geist, the rural way of
living. This culture is overlabeled as city culture or urban culture, that in up-to-date
form would result as urban life. This way of living in the postmodern time, when
everything passes away, has generated even an interesting artistic, challenging way, a
*
Paper presented at Second International Congress of Urban History Writers, Writers Union of Turkey and
Konya Metropolitan Municipality, 5-7 October 2012, Konya, Turkey.
14
Mustafa Arma÷an, ùehir Asla Unutmaz, øz Yayıncılık, østanbul, 1996, p. 15.
29
sub-artistic form or alter-artistic form that carries its exhortation in public places like
walls, buildings, bridges, in objects like old cars, sign posts etc., communicating with
the recipient sometimes in a verbal way (words, letters) and sometimes in a non-
verbal way (pictures, paintings, drawings) out of the mainstream of the social life. In
times of turbulent conditions graffiti has been used as a mean of expressing oneself,
communicating, and identifying with groups and ideals, and to divide territory among
antagonists. This article aims to unfold the trends of graffiti (sub)culture in Skopje, as
a mural literature of hatred and to detect the ratio between alternative art and
ethnocentrism and the impact of this discourse in the everyday life.

2. (Alter)urban art or graffiti (sub)culture

The urban way of living has generated an artistic alternative form: the urban
art, the graffiti (from Latin graphire, to write with a stylus; from Greek grapheion, to
write), which is a mainly juvenile subculture that breaks the rules of the tradition and
shows a completely new way of art making, that according to Ilse Scheepers is an
expression of the need of communication dating back since pre-historical times.15 The
theory and observations says that urban art makes up a style of art interconnected to
the city and city life, performed by artists living in the city or whose passion is the
city life. This form of art specified as drawing with letters, symbols and black images
in undergrounds and private properties of New York in the 1960s,16 the next decade
turned up as part of the hip-hop movement matching with break-dance, DJ-ism and
MC-ing. In the 1980s all these shapes began performing on a simultaneous way as a
form of hip-hop culture. The graffiti movement generating from the Afro-American
youth and Afro-Caribbean culture became part of the ghettos in America and
Hispanic slums, mixed up with jazz and blues, becoming widespread in the urban and
suburban areas of the middle classes.17

15
Ilse Scheepers, Grafitti and Urban Space, University of Sidney, 2004.
16
Nancy MacDonald, The Graffiti Subculture: Youth, Masculinity and Identity in London and New York,
Palgrave, New York, 2001, p. 2.
17
J. Rahn, Painting Without Permission: Hip-Hop Grafitti Subculture, Bergin & Garvey, London 2002, p. 2.
30
 Graffiti combines street art with spray painting, used to summarize all shapes
of visual art shown in the urban parts, inspired by urban architecture or city way of
life. Due to the non-natural presence in public places it is considered as vandalism
(punished by law) and an attack to private property, but according to some others it is
a genre of artistic expression that deserves to be shown in art galleries and
exhibitions. Although it can be seen in neighborhoods, where representatives of
different cultures live together, today it consists of an international artistic form used
in different ways, so that different urban artists travel from city to city and have
social contacts with people all over the world. This kind of culture is called other
graffiti culture, that marks a kind of public writing that might seem as simple written
words, dating back to the antique Rome and Greece. In modern times mural writing
and paintings, especially those made with spray and markers, are most popular
among teenagers. Graffiti culture and urban art are interlinked with hip-hop music,
anarcho-punk, antiwar clichés, anarchic, feminist and anti-globalist ones, etc. Other
people think that the urban art can be alternatively called counterculture or culture
jamming, or deculturization, because it violates the framework accordance of every
society, it tends to bring forward slogans like Lisez moins, vivez plus (Read less live
long!), it shows fascist symbols as swastikas... Some others have even specified it as
underground press, as a figurative art and form of calligraphy.
This kind of subculture, whose performers have been considered as space
invaders & hijackers, sometimes conveys political messages (Skopje: Forever
Macedonia!; Tetovo: 1 language, 1 state, 1 nation!; Prishtina: 12:44 Time is up,
UNMIK go home!; New York: Broken promises/Falsa Promesas; Cairo: Antique
dictators for sale!; Amsterdam: Freedom lives when the state dies!), and sometimes
have connotation of sport, humor, stylistic figures (No teeth, no moustache, smell like
a... Bosnian girl!; I don’t want chewing gum, I want my change!; Keep guard on the
Yugoslavia!; What a good hotel it was!; I will never forget you, just go away!; Aids,
Aids, but what isn’t cancer!; Tallava18 20 years!; Error 404: Peace not found! Graffiti

18
A type of Balkan music mixed with Greek, Turkish, Albanian and Slavic undertones.
31
is a fun crime!; No vote neither for the Batman nor for the Superman, only for the
Sefa Sirmen!; Ultras Forever!)
Some authors assume that graffiti culture is an oxymoron, since speaking about
it is like speaking for dead life, for dark light... It is important to emphasize the
esthetic or non-aesthetic dimension of urban culture, how much it has to do with the
beauty as a category and with values as an axiological concept and with their
antipode? In spite of denying the positive reflection of the graffiti, it can still be said
that this kind of urban modus vivendi constitutes a sociological phenomenon that is a
reflection of social trends and can even be considered as a corrector of many negative
social consequences, like an alternative rebellion. Graffiti is an expression of a world
view, philosophy, of a perspective for human being, society and life in general, either
in the form of drawings or writings. The symbolism of this avant-garde subculture is
a breath of knowledge archaeology (Foucault) and of deconstruction (Derrida), a
social network that joins together social groups as in national level (“Bad Blue
Boys”), at the same time in the global level (the antiglobalists: Bread, not guns!).19
The elements of this culture are found in every corner of our city.
The city of the future, expressed by the words of Jonathan Raban, seems like a
soft city,20 part of postmodern urbanism, where different cultural elements stay
together as encyclopedic articles, that is, in full harmony and order with each other.
Anarchic city even in the aspect of giving orders is not a healthy place to live in, but
even the absolute “No” about the alternative culture is not a solution. Ethics and
moral values are distinctive signs of social health and public order, necessary to be
kept with vigilance. This is the reason why there are anti-spray corpses, workers that
wipe out ugly and tendentious writings. On the other hand, there are those who paint
the peace symbols, hearts and Linux as liberators of the future and means of
coexistence in the information society.21

19
See, A. Pajaziti, “(Alter)arti urban ose grafitti (sub)kultura”, Shenja, 00, march 2011.
20
See, Jonathan Raban, Soft City, The Harvill Press, 1974.
21
Pajaziti, 2011.
32
 3. Bi-national polarization of the two-decade transition
in Republic of Macedonia

Nationalism is closely related to the term of nation, contemporaneous

understanding of which doesn’t goes behind the 18th century. It started and rose up in
Europe, together with the modern state. It is defined as the totality of symbols and
beliefs that create the feeling of being part of a single political community. As
cultural ideal, nationalism relies on the statement that the nation provides an essential
form of belonging to the people. On the other hand, as a moral ideal, nationalism is
the ethics of heroic sacrifice, that justifies the use of violence to protect one’s country
from enemies, internal or external. Like a universal phenomenon, it is a product of
modern civilization that has effects upon social developments of many countries,
very often having heavy consequences to the extent that a thinker once said: “Up to
now it hasn’t been invented a more destructive weapon as nationalism.”22
The ethno-nationalism phenomenon is present even in Republic of Macedonia
in the form of a state-national nationalism and of a sub-national Albanian
nationalism. (Engström 2002: 3-17, cited in Atanasov 203:304). This is best seen in
the two decades of transition, where there has been continual confronting in national-
ethnical sizes between two subjects in this country, the Albanians and the
Macedonians. A chapter that was thought to be over with the interethnic conflict of
2001 and the Framework Agreement which implied constitutional changes in favor of
non-Macedonian ethnic groups and communities has however failed to bring
conclusive peace. From 2006 and on the country has been living under the
turbulences of permanent provocations by Macedonian state nationalism which
showed itself in the most refulgent way in the case of the Macedonian Encyclopedia,
that of the fertility law, in the case of the castle church in Skopje, anti-urban project

22
Ali Pajaziti, Fjalor i sociologjisë, Logos-A&SEEU, Shkup, 2009.
33
“Skopje 2014”, handball fans in Nish or anywhere else throwing offending anti-
Albanian slogans, the troubles in spring 2012 when two Albanians were executed in
Gostivar, children beaten in Skopje buses etc. These are only some of the “products”
of policies of new millennium’s excommunicating Macedonian ethno-revivalism, of
nationalist hysteria, of momentum hypnosis, of strongest paradigm in the Balkans
from the fall of communism.23 The last cases with the concert of the 21-st anniversary
of the Independence Day where three Albanian singers were offended in public in the
presence of highest state dignitaries (among them President), the discriminating law
for the members of military forces of RM by the 2001 conflict, and the Mass during
the beginning of 2012-2013 academic year in the state university where members of
other religions are studying as well are cases that tell about the social route of this
country that is rapidly going towards the social dichotomy, towards creation of two
opponent realities, with the potential to break violently apart this society.24

4. Content analysis: Graffiti and nationalism in the capital (Skopje)

In the methodological aspect it must be underlined that graffiti were gathered by

us, photographed in different locations of the capital, by our students and by surfing on
the internet. Visual notes are from different parts of Skopje, from its urban and rural
areas. In the linguistic aspect graffiti is three-lingual: Macedonian, Albanian and
English. In the ethnic Macedonian dominant space of the capital prevails Macedonian
language with its Cyrillic alphabet (accompanied sometimes by Serbian language), while
in Albanian ones we find the English alongside the Albanian language.
We have followed a selective method with graffiti, so we have selected only
those that have to do with perception of national and religious otherness in a time of
continuous unrest, whether nationally or globally, when each identity feels at risk, has
the fear of destruction or disappearance and, therefore, reinforces its particularity,

23
Denko Maleski, “Koengzistencija ili neegzistencija”, http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-10-17-
maleski-mk.html/11.12.2012
24
Loring M. Danforth, “Nationalism and Pluralism in the Heart of the Balkans: The Republic of
Macedonia”, Cultural Survival Quarterly, No. 18. 2 (Summer 1994).
34
close to make its distinctiveness a primitive absolute, an idol - and like every idol it
easily generates violence.25
The phenomenon of tension with ethnocentric dimensions in Macedonia is
manifested in different ways, among others through different graffiti that we find
abundantly in the space of this society, from one side to another, especially in the
capital which non-officially is being transformed into a city with one million
inhabitants. These writings which are of youthful nature and perceived as a spectrum
of alternative culture, give in fact the real message of communities about themselves,
the other and otherness, about nation, religion...
There have been a lot of tension scenes, conflicts and exclusivist identities in
the past 20 years all around the Balkans which is a notable region where nationalism
is a dominant political ideology,26 and also in the Republic of Macedonia. Examples
of interethnic and interreligious clashes that keep going on in other forms are Bosnia
1992-1995, Kosovo 1997-1999, Macedonia 2001. In the narrow perspective, this year
(2012) has been very turbulent for our country (Vevþani, Gostivar, Nish, Smilkovce).
Besides other fields the climate of animosity and nationalism is reflected in
alternative art as well. Concerning this there are a lot of examples speaking about the
spirit of chauvinism that has engaged the social organism. In Kriva Palanka, on a
sign-post that shows the name of the settlement are drawn crosses and added words
“A city without Albanians”. Thus, the aim is to show that we have to do here with a
one-national, one-religious, Macedonian and Christian milieu, with a monolithism to
be notified as an element of pride.

Illustration No. 1. A modified sign-post according to ethnocentric course at Kriva Palanka

(Kriva Palanka: City without Albanians)

25
Claudio Magris, Panairi i tolerancës, IShM & IDK, Tiranë, p. 13.
26
Danforth, ibid.
35
 Such an intolerant climate is even met in the capital, in the multicultural
Skopje, in the city of seven gates, in the second Bosphorus, that lately is being
differentiated into two different units, in the Macedonian and Albanian ones, in the
right side Skopje and left side Albanian one, with two diametrical faces, urban and
quasi-urban, with a modern infrastructure and shanty Skopje. This feeling of division,
or Beirutisation (Deutche Welle), is reflected even in the mural messages registered
with colors that transmit hatred, phobia, ethnocentrism and even racism.

Illustration No. 2. The monoethnicism as passion: “Macedonia for the Macedonians” and
“Clean Macedonia” (i.e. without Albanians; Throwing Albanian traditional hat in the waste bin)

Among exhortations of this gang or illegal subculture that we encounter in the

Macedonian language in the capital are those that express a pathological hatred
against Albanians, which encompass threats about the existence of the Albanian
element, and even those with religious connotation, namely, religious hatred. In the
course of the investigation made in the second half of 2012 we found graffiti of the
type: “Death to Albanians” (ɋɦɪɬ ɡɚ ɲɢɩɬɚɪɢ!), calls for violent conversion from
Islam to Christianity: “We will crucify you!” (ȷɟ ɜɟ ɩɨɤɪɫɬɢɦɟ), for genocide,
“Clean Macedonia” (ɑɢɫɬɚ Ɇɚɤɟɞɨɧɢʁɚ), “Macedonia for the Macedonians”
(Ɇɚɤɟɞɨɧɢʁɚ ɧɚ Ɇɚɤɟɞɨɧɰɢɬɟ), nay, and Nazi swastikas, demonstrating a fascist
spirit in Skopje and evidencing “anarchic forms of everyday criminality”.27 In a
place we registered graffiti where a well-known Macedonian journalist is labeled as
27
Jeff Ferrel, “Freight Train Grafitti: Subculture, Crime, Dislocation”, Justice Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 4
(1998), p. 587-608.
36
Albanian, in the pejorative sense (“ɑɨɦɨɜɫɤɢ ɲɢɩɬɚɪ! - Chomovski Alabanian!). A
graffiti speaks about the name issue of the state (contest with Greece), presenting it as
vital for Macedonian identity (“It’s about the name” - Ɂɚ ɢɦɟɬɨ ɫɟ ɪɚɛɨɬɢ), another
about the ideal of United Macedonia, where we find the name of Thessaloniki,
showing the expansionist spirit of the authors of these “sub-cultural icons”.

Illustration No. 3. Fascistic (Death for Albanians!) and expansionistic graffiti in the capital of
RM (Thesaloniki-United Macedonia)

As far as graffiti is concerned, in the Albanian part of the city those have
mostly the character of a reply to challenge the “other” through contesting the
statehood of Republic of Macedonia, of defending Islamic-religious identity which
time after time is a target of Macedonian chauvinism, like in Smilkovci during 2012.
In one of graffiti in Cvetan Dimov street is written that “Çair is not Macedonia”, and
in another “How good is to be Albanian!”, while in another “Don’t panic, we’re
Muslims!”, associated with the drawing of three women with headscarves. From the
rural areas of the capital we have registered a note with a call, “Wake up UÇK
(Albanian Liberation Army)” and another with classical insults, but in English
language, ”F...k Macedonians!”.

4. Extraterritoriality calls and religious apology at an Albanian neighborhood of Skopje

37
 In this way, the sentences or the words used in graffiti of Skopje are in
agreement with definitions of the ethnocentrism: “thinking one’s own group’s ways
are superior to others”, “judging other groups inferior to one’s own”, “making false
assumptions about others’ ways based on our own limited experience”. The question
that poses in this aspect is what is the source of these negative messages, this
mindless, senseless vandalism?28 The answer can be multidirectional: the prevailing
climate in the country in general, in antagonistic policies and discourse, in leaders
presented as macho-men, in aggressive media... According to a local
communicologist (S.T.), graffiti with this content are “an open expression of ethno-
nationalism”, reflection of inadequate education, of politicians’ discourse, of mass-
media, are an instrument through which young population express its frustration and
revolt, are narrations that produce two parallel worlds, that Macedonian and
Albanian.29
5. Conclusions

Analyzing the content of the graffiti that among others threat the aesthetical
sensitivity of people” (City, 2010) in the capital of Macedonia, shows that we have to
do with a ethnocentric vandalism, even in the fascistic size, with a psychology of
extreme hatred, with artistic, anomic actions, generally youthful. The
excommunicative messages present on each corner of the city about the “other”
create a mental construct of the intolerant juvenile culture. In a society with a such
gap there are many reasons for sociological intervention in order to change the
(self)perception of its citizens. Not only so, but one should realize perception
management. The famous American newspaper New York Times in its pages has put
the symptomatic title: “Nationalism Still a Threat in Macedonia”. The alternative art
of graffiti, socially caused even though it is not considered a big deal in reality,
expresses in reality the general climate of the time (Zeitgeist), the real feeling and
state of youth category that is the future of society. Serious treatment and

28
MacDonald, ibid.
29
Interview given on November 7, 2012.
38
interpretation of these exhortations can help us to avoid interethnic and interreligious
contradictions. To conclude, we suggest that the competent institutions, even each
citizen, to react against ethnocentric, fascistic and racist messages that pollute the
public space and people’s minds and could have catastrophic impact on our future.

6. References

1. A. Pajaziti, Fjalor i sociologjisë, Logos-A&SEEU, Skopje, 2009.

2. A. Pajaziti, “(Alter)arti urban ose grafitti (sub)kultura”, Shenja, 00,
march 2011.
3. C. Magris, Panairi i tolerancës, IShM & IDK, Tiranë.
4. C. M. Grant, “Graffiti: Taking a Closer Look”, BI Law Enforcement
Bulletin, Vol. 65, No. 8 (August 1996), p. 11-15.
5. D. Maleski, “Koengzistencija ili neegzistencija”,
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-10-17-maleski-
mk.html/11.12.2012
6. E. B. Tracey,”Grafitti Art: A Contemporary Study of Toronto Artists”,
Studies in Art Education, Vol. 41, No. 1, Autumn 1999, p. 22-39.
7. I.Gendelman & G. Aielello, “Faces of Places: Façades as Global
Communication in Post-Eastern Block Urban Renewal”, in Semiotic
Landscapes: Language, Image, Space, ed. Adam Jaworsky and Crispin
Thurlow, Continuum International Publishing Group, New York, 2010.
8. J. Ferrell, Crimes of Style, Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1996.
9. J. Ferrel, “Freight Train Grafitti: Subculture, Crime, Dislocation”,
Justice Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 4 (1998), p. 587-608.
10.J. Rahn, Painting Without Permission: Hip-Hop Grafitti Subculture,
Bergin & Garvey, London, 2002.

39
11.J. R. Lasley, “New Writng on the Wall: Exploring the Middle-Class
Grafitti Writing Subculture”, Deviant behavior, Vol. 16, No. 2 (1995), p.
151-167.
12.L. M. Danforth, “Nationalism and Pluralism in the Heart of the Balkans:
The Republic of Macedonia”, Cultural Survival Quarterly, No. 18.2
(Summer 1994)
13.M. Arma÷an, ùehir Asla Unutmaz, øz Yayıncılık, Istanbul, 1996.
14.M. Ness, Grafitti Decomposition, Network Science Center, New York,
2012.
15.N. Wood, “Nationalism Still a Threat in Macedonia”, The New York
Times, July 4, 2006.
16.N. MacDonald, The Graffiti Subculture: Youth, Masculinity and Identity
in London and New York, Palgrave, New York, 2001.
17.“Our culture is your crime”, City, Vol. 14, No. 1-2, February-April,
2010.
18.R. Cover, “Some Cunts: Graffiti, Globalisation, Injurious Speech and
'Owning' Signification”, Social Semiotics, Vol.12, No. 3, 2002
19.P. Atanasov, “Macedonia Between Nationalism(S) and Multiculturalism:
The Framework Agreement and Its Multicultural Conjectures”,
Sociologija, Vol. XLV (2003), N° 4.
20.W. A. Wilson, The social organization of the hip hop graffiti subculture,
The College of William and Mary in Virginia, 1995.
21.http://www.usma.edu/nsc/siteassets/sitepages/Publications/Graffiti%20D
ecomposition.pdf/28.09.2012.
22.http://www.graffiti.org/faq/scheepers_graf_urban_space.html/02.11.201
2
23.http://www.communicationandculture.co.uk/Ghetto%20Art.pdf/02.11.20
12
24.http://www2.gwu.edu/~uwp/fyw/euonymous/2004-
2005/Fung.pdf/02.11.2012
40
 YOUTH, POP CULTURE AND “POSTMODERN VALUES”*

“If it was not for internet, I’m sure half of Macedonia would go mad”.
Note from Facebook
“Knowledge without wisdom is a fire one lights only to burn one’s self.”
Fatmir Muja

1. Fore-explication

Youth constitutes the most vital part of any society, the future and positive
horizons of the healthy social environment or that category which makes societies
foresee a turbulent future, even the state of many mutilations in all vital dimensions.
It is the bearer and implementer of community’s vision and mission.
Youth is a term that indicates physiological, demographic and sociological
dimensions of a social group and category, generally including individuals who
attend the education process, economically dependent, sensitive towards social issues
and demographically including the age range 15-25, with some taking the limit to 30,
even 35 years. Youth is the most dynamic and complex phase in life. Its main
characteristics are physical and psychological development, dynamism, emotionality,
entrepreneur spirit, impatience, search for identity, rebelliousness, crisis, anxieties,
sorrow, reactions, conflicts, dreams, passions, endless demands, lack of
correspondence between psycho-physical and social development, etc. It is a
preparation phase in which personality traits are earned that are necessary for bearing

*
Lecture delivered at International Balkan University, Skopje, March 29, 2011.
41
professional and family duties, when the young starts behaving more independently
and more responsibly.30
Pop culture or youth culture, also called as consumerist culture implies a
culture accepted without control by people as a homogeneous body, a culture created
and distributed through commerce, “an industrialized culture produced and
distributed by an industry motive by profit and which pursues its economic interests
only” (J. Fiske). In the empirical aspect popular culture can also by described as spare
time practices and texts, while ideologically it is treated from the aspect of being
exploited or controlled in the framework of “creativity” or resistance.31
This paper is about the triangle of youth, consumerist culture and
postmodernism as a stimulating condition for life variety and a relativizer of social
values.

2. Pop culture: Consumerism, youth identity and hedonism

as modus vivendi

“Popular culture” is an expression that sociologists have not reached a

consensus upon. Because of the “popular”, some link popular culture with “people”.
According to them popular culture implies everything produced by those who are not
part of and stand above the people but “create” for the people which constitute the
majority. So it is a culture of majority. Some has called it a culture of the labor class
and since the latter is poor, relatively uneducated, ignorant and of a low level, the
culture that stems from it is low, unworthy and vulgar too. Some have treated it from
the aspect of quantity and quality, asserting that since it is a culture of majority, it is a
culture without real quality. This link popular culture with mass culture, widely
created and distributed by the cultural industry, possessed by power holders and used
by them to lead the crowds.32

30
Ali Pajaziti, Fjalor i sociologjisë, Logos-A, Shkup, 2009, p. 553-554.
31
David Rowe, Popüler Kültürler: Rock ve Sporda Haz Politikası, Ayrıntı Yayınları, østanbul, 1996, p. 20
32
Nazife Güngor (ed.), Popüler Kültür ve øktidar, Vadi Yayınları, Ankara, 1999, p. 10, 11.
42
 The consumerist culture that is part of culture industry and which has been
transformed into an activity of new relevance and in rise since the end of the last
century,33 is not about consumption only, but about culture as well, an active process
of creation and bearing of significances and tastes in the framework of the social
system. This culture is widely discussed about as a result of the dazzling development
of audio-visual and media technologies. Advertisements, pop music, cinema, fashion,
sport, etc. are objects of discussion in this context. The study of consumerist culture
has been contributed to by structuralism, semiology, semantics and many other
disciplines. This culture is the fruit of modernization and change, of culture industry
and is considered to be part of mass manipulation. According to some, the
consumerist culture undermines the bridges that link the past of the people with their
present, a “drug” offered to people in the form of fashion and what is trendy or “in”.
This because it takes them away from personal culture, from authentic values, from
national authentic culture. This culture sows in people the instinct of acting according
to the consumerist logic, making them lose true objectives and transforming them
into goods. People’s culture differs from the culture of consume (or pop culture) in
the creative role of the people and the tradition as an important element with the first.
People’s culture is identified with national culture and identity. Consumerist culture
is the antipode of the most exclusive culture, like the elitist or high culture, an
antipode of the culture of the dominant social groups.34

33
$QGUHDV-9LHVDQGet.al.,QGXVWULLQDNXOWXUDWD5D]YRMQLDVSHNWL),220Skopje p. 7.
34
Kudret Emiro÷lu & Suavi Aydın, Antropoloji Sözlü÷ü, Bilim ve Sanat Yayınları, Ankara, 2003, p. 694-
695; Džon Fisk, Popularna kultura, Clio, Belgrade, 2001, p. 31.
43
 Popular culture is considered as an instrument of domination, especially of
American domination (Mel van Elteren),35 so it can be linked to the McDonaldization
of the world, to Americanization and westernization. The representatives of the
Frankfurt School employ popular culture as a synonym of mass culture and entertain
a negative idea about it. For example Adorno says music alienates people and
expresses very pessimistic feelings about this. According to Adorno and Horkheimer,
popular culture which spreads through means of mass communication, creates a
homogeneous cultural environment that makes the functioning of productivity and
consume easier in relation to the market functioning of such culture.36 But in this
context, of culture and market and economy, a number of thinkers raise their voice in
asserting that culture is a public capital that cannot be sacrificed to monetary
economy. Whereas the producers of entertaining culture maintain that besides the
educative dimension, culture must have the entertaining aspect as well,37 as it is
reasonable and natural.

Case study:
From among 125 students of mine, the day a made the survey 118 had worn jeans, probably the only
American contribution to fashion industry. The other seven “renegades” also possessed jeans but had not
worn them that day. My question is whether is there any other cultural product – movie, TV program, CD,
lipstick – as popularized?
I asked them to write shortly what jeans meant for them personally and had a discussion about it. A
coherent network of significances grouped around some central points stemmed from that debate. One of
those focuses was essentially unifying and rejected social differences. It considered jeans as informal
clothes, with no class, no gender; suitable to city and village and wearing jeans was seen as a sign of
freedom against definitions that social categories impose to behavior and identity. The mostly used adjective
was “free”, often as “being free to be who I am”, followed by “natural”. In fact, that dress is
psychologically repressive, more often conveying social meanings than individual sentiments and spiritual
state. (Fisk, 2001: 8-10)

35
Güngor (ed.), p. 17.
36
Güngor (ed.), p. 14-15.
37
9LHVDQGet.al., p. 8.
44
 Popular or youth culture is linked to cultural economy, pleasures, idleness,
style and identity forms, to many relationships, meanings and social and cultural texts
generated in different forms.38 Some have also linked it to the laissez-faire
philosophy, to freedom, to social differentiation and distinction, to the bottom-up
social movement towards the city, sophistication, fashion and the special.39
In some countries however, until the end of 70’s, all products of popular
culture were labeled as garbage and kitsch and were marginalized. Austrian culture
value high culture only: Wiener Festwoechen and Salzburger Festpiele put Austria at
the epicenter of global high culture.40
Seventy years ago, in his novel The Island Aldous Huxley drew a pessimistic
view of a new world that does not recognize any purpose beyond body pleasures and
doesn’t choose methods to reach this goal, or interferes with human development
since the embryonic phase through scientific means. He describes such an order as a
system imposed by a despotic dominant minority. Huxley talks about infants that are
made to never touch books by means of electroshock, about children who blush when
family, father, mother, brother, uncle, aunt are mentioned, about “twins” whose
intellectual level is petrified because of the possibility to engage them in crude work,
crowd that hate countryside and mountainous areas but love open sports, savages
with heads poisoned with Shakespeare. Today the picture equivalent to that drawn by
Huxley would be that of World Cup, Spanish, Turkish or Indian soap operas,
videogames and movies, hormone tomatoes, national lottery, online studies, e-
library… This is a period when the individual is lost within the crowd and we are
living hyper-democracy and don’t find people like Erasmus and Kant anymore to
rebel against individual passions in the name of humanity and justice.41
Popular culture is linked to the hedonistic trinity of the 60’s: sex, drugs and
rock & roll. During the 60’s songs called for enjoying the moment, like “But I Might
Die Tonight”, “Someday never comes”, “Get it While You Can” (Janis Joplin), “Let

38
Rowe, p. 22.
39
Fisk, p. 13.
40
9LHVDQGet.al., p. 92.
41
Nabi Avci, Enformatik Cehalet, Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1999, p. 8, 14, 18.
45
Live for Today” (The Grass Roots). The time has even been labeled as the time of
rampant hedonism, of uncontrolled abandonment to all kinds of passions.42 The
vocabulary of Albanian youth music contains low, aggressive, anti-cultural
expressions, like “I don’t give a damn”, “I’m an outlaw, I respect my laws”, “Bloody
Boyz”, “My spirit’s like an hurricane”, “My nerves are breaking”, “Make it hot”,
“Alcohol, whatever you want, any color you want, however you want”, “You are a
junky, you keep a knife to mess with me”, etc.43 This is anti-art itself, lexical and
language bastardization, immorality in action.
The climate created by economic globalization and intellectual vulgarization
and mediocrity has been the target of many different circles. During a ceremony in
Brazil in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI blamed popular culture for the spread of immoral
sexuality while praising modesty and honesty at the time of extreme hedonism. He
blamed media for deriding marriage and virginity and expressed thoughts against
drugs, violence, corruption and enticement to wealth and power. Since the 90’s he
had criticized Bob Dylan’s performance for Pope John Paul II.44
The influence of consumerist culture is also seen in economized sport
transformed into a kind of neo-paganism, a quasi-religion and generator of
hooliganism and fan violence. While sport should connect people, today it has
become a scene where hate against the other, in terms of club or nation and race,
explodes. The social identity of sport fanaticism has now taken the form of a
subculture, becoming a sub-identity that protects itself through any means, even
aggressive and hooligan ones. Youth aggressiveness is a matter touching the
conscience of contemporary society and this field of concentric circles is widening by
everyday with the number of intolerant pupils rising. A considerable part of them
cannot even bear their families and parents, let alone opponents of any kind. They
express nuances of violence against people with different views, from sport to
ideological, ethnical and religious adherence. The causes of such a state are many.

42
James F. Harris, Philosophy at 33 1/3 rpm: Themes of Classic Rock Music, Open Court Publishing
Company, Illinois, 1994, p. 103-104.
43
http://www.teksteshqip.com/tekste.php?aid=2443&id=1869754/29.03.2011
44
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18611180/ns/world_news-americas/17.03.2011
46
The society in general is not a stable one but a society of much turbulence and
tensions, of cultural and especially political aggressiveness and this generates violent
youngsters who show their superiority not with values but with anti-values, not
through the power of reason and intelligence but through muscles and sticks.
Analysis show that the means of mass communication too increase the level of
violence through their broadcasts full of guns, rifles, swords, punches, tanks… Low
education and de-ethicization of society also play a role. Moral values are in their
lowest. Nobody cares about morals and ethics. All are inclined towards utilitarianism
and hedonism, towards moment’s profit and pleasure (which can be the stealing of a
purse, adultery or beating the opponent sport fan). Modern society in general is in
crisis and great thinkers of the time, like Alasdair MacIntyre, Rene Guenon, Peter
Berger, Ivan Kropek, Guenter Lewy, etc. speak about this.
A study made this year in Macedonia by UNICEF with students of 7-th, 8-th
and high school 1-st and 2-nd degrees, (with 2114 from 30 schools) shows that
children from 11 to 15 years old not rarely are consumers of alcohol and tobacco.
According to sociologists, “consumption of alcohol among young population,
especially among school youth, is a reflection of pop culture, of the weakening of
family and traditional culture, of the fading of parent authority and the acceptance of
influences by mental globalization. The global secular culture attempts to break the
taboos and prohibitions. Helped by TV and internet, movies and especially sport, it
targets youth as the “worthiest consumer”45 Data about drug usage are terrifying, in
the country as well as in global framework.
According to J. H. Gatto, the industrial project that destroys personality,
personal freedom and traditional morals, separated children from the real world, by
advancing the authority of business and of the political state against tradition, family
and religion, brought about the state in which people have problems with themselves
as well as others (psychological and social problems46).

45
http://kohaere.eu/index.php/lajme/maqedoni/9004.html/18.03.2011
46
According to Al Gore (2000) 55 % of Americans are mentally disturbed and need therapy. (John Taylor
Gatto et.al., Edukimi i fëmijëve tuaj në kohët moderne, Rinia e së Ardhmes, Tirana, 2008, p. 41.)
47
 We can say that the hedonism of the time continually creates icons “adored” by
the crowd. Popular culture adores some of them like Hugh Hefner, Richard Branson,
Merlin Monroe, Kennedy, Paris Hilton, Christiano Ronaldo, Eminem, Brad Pitt,
Justin Bieber, Rita Ora...47 The fame pushed by media and missionaries of superficial
culture, increase the number of followers of the machine that produces hedonism of
forms like Big Brother, Macedonian Idol, Golden Cage, Survivor, The Voice, Big
Boss, etc.

3. Postmodernism, information ignorance, alias Facebook mania

As it is known, the great narrative of modern philosophy or the totalizing

narrative includes the discourse on progress, emancipation and freedom which affirm
universality. All these grand myths that contain historical messianism have to do with
the future, the idea expected to get realized. The essence of modernism is the idea
that history has a progressive significance; that it advances towards a final perfection
(endism).
Some dramatic events that have shaken the 20-th century (like Chernobyl,
Berlin Wall, the dissolution of communism) have been perceived as the drowning of
the ideals and goals of illuminist spirit, as the dissolution of the great emancipation
projects (Kullashi).48 A crisis of these narratives is going on recently, conditioned by
scientific developments and ending in disbelief in great narratives: the post-
modernity. Habermas says the modern is a project destroyed or done with. Lyotard
says that after the dissolution of meta-narratives we are in a state of the
immeasurability of the heterogeneousness of discourse games irreducible to each
other.49
One of the characteristics of the postmodern is doubt about everything. In this
time, relativeness or relativism is the norm.50 Postmodernism constitutes a view that

47
http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/a-practitioners-guide-to-hedonism/16.03.2011
48
Astrit Salihu, Aporitë e modernes: Kritika e rrëfimeve të mëdha, Rizoma, Prishtina, 2009, foreword.
49
Salihu, p. 341-342.
50
Ziauddin Sardar, Përtej dogmës: Islami në kohët postmoderne, Logos-A, Skopje, 2010, p. 263.
48
was developed as an answer to the crisis caused by modernity, a worldview with
evident reflections on the thought of the last 20 years. This polysemic notion is now
widely used in art and social sciences literature and it contains elements like game,
chaos, partiality, schizophrenia, polymorphism, dissolution, surface, collage, lack of
identity, anarchy, intertextuality…51 Some other designations about it are: “disbelief
in meta-narrations”, “rebellion against human monotony imposed by the modern way
of life which melts all distinctions in its boiler,” “a break of ties with the aesthetic
space of modernism”, “core of post-criticism and policy of interpreting today”,
“schizophrenic period of consumer society”. Postmodernism which holds a valuable
place in the critics towards the Western way of life and thought, has become an
important point of interest by intellectuals in the west and beyond. Since the 70’s it
has been judging all values and institutions sanctified by the modern period.
The well-known scholar Z. Sardar says that postmodernism is “a logic of late
capitalism”, a part of the linear trajectory that starts with colonialism, continues with
modernism and ends with postmodernism. He asserts that something like the Truth
does not exist at postmodern times. Everything that attempts to offer us the truth is
nothing but a deceiving legerdemain. Postmodernism suggests that an ultimate reality
does not exist. Instead of it we have an ocean of images, a world where the
distinction between the image and material reality has dissolved. Postmodernism
describes the world as a videogame, in which we administer our movements around,
make battles in cyberspace and make love with the flow of digital information. We
swim in an endless sea of images and stories that form our perceptions and individual
“reality”.52
The reality of our time is that of the information highway, of information
society, when post-industrial technologies are one of the most influential factors in
human’s and society’s life. The society of the beginnings of the 3-rd millennia lives
with the postmodern and futurological concept of the information society which
suggests that the essential factor of social development is the exploitation of

51
Ridvan Dibra, Një lojë me emrin postmodernizëm, Albas, Tirana, 2007, p. 24-25.
52
Sardar, p. 234.
49
scientific, technical information, all in the framework of the so-called “the fourth
sector” of economy. Theoreticians like Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens and Manuel
Castells assert that since the 70’s the passage from the industrial society into the
information society has been realizing globally. On the theoretical plan, information
society is closely tied to post-industrial production (D. Bell, A. Toffler). The main
protagonist of this theory is the Japannesse E. Masuda. The Spanish sociologist of
information society Castells, uses the term “internet galaxy” regarding this society,
which replaces that of Gutenberg.
The young population is especially “organically” tied to this galaxy. The
juvenile culture has generated a parallel society (Parallelgesellschaften), that of the
youth world which breathes with the internet, the magic web. It is the computopia (Y.
Masuda), a surreal world that has computer in its epicenter. This is verified by a note
we encountered some days before while surfing on the internet: “If it was not for
internet, I’m sure half of Macedonia would go mad”.53
Facts show that a good part of people today, especially young people, are
victims of social networks, especially of Facebook, one of the greatest superpowers
of the web. It is like a virtual “state” with more than 500 million citizens, most of
whom are under 34 years old (72%). Every fourth person who surfs on the web has a
Facebook account. The last year 742.400 people in Macedonia were connected to
Facebook. It is suggested that Microsoft has made usage of computers easier. Google
helps in looking for information. Youtube entertains. “Twitter can tell whether your
community is happy or not!” Facebook has the advantage of emotional investment by
its users, making us laugh, shiver, contract in front of our photos we look at later,
worry when nobody answers our sharp notes, wonder when we see somebody
fattened after high school, change our status to “married” after marriage and to
“single” again after divorce. Facebook and Twitter changes our social DNA, making
us much more open. The Vatican has taken another step in its efforts to embrace
social media by offering "indulgences" to followers of Pope Francis' (@Pontifex)

53
www.facebook.com/16.03.2011
50
Twitter account. Alongside its papal Twitter account, the Vatican offers an online
news website (and app), a Facebook page, and is currently planning to engage with
users on Pinterest.54 As the inventor of Facebook (Zuckerberg) says, company’s
mission is to make the world more open and connected.55 People attached to this
network have been called as facebookaholics by some, a category of people who take
a look at the network as soon as they wake up or have some spare time, or get back
from school, after dinner, while making homework, before going to sleep. Other
designations about FB are facebook addicts, facebookers anonymous, facebookacy: a
disease that has appeared in Norway and implies being too much attached to the
“king of internet”. A wise man of our times says internet is a way to spend the time
that nobody gives us back. Others have expressed complaints like “How Facebook
Stole my Life”, “8 Ways Twitter Will Change Your Life”.56 A study from
Switzerland (Eidenbenz, 2001) has established that internet addicts spend averagely
35 hours a week on the internet, out of profession engagement. However, less than 35
hours a week on the internet might cause negative effects or be about addiction
symptoms.57 More than half of the 298 people polled in a study of University of
Salford (U.K.) claimed their lives have changed for the worse since they started using
sites like Facebook and Twitter: They feel depressed after comparing their
achievements to their friends', they find it hard to relax and sleep, and - despite the
apparent negative side effects of social media -- feel stressed when they can't access
it.58

54
yhttp://www.theverge.com/2013/7/17/4531048/follow-pope-twitter-indulgence-purgatory/July 24, 2013.
55
Dan Fletcher, “How Facebook is Redefining Privacy”, Time, May 20, 2010.
56
http://www.techhive.com/article/152686/twitter.html/July 24, 2013.
57
www.el-hikmeh.net/22.03.2011
58
http://now.msn.com/study-suggests-facebook-and-twitter-are-ruining-our-lives/July 24, 2013.
51
 Computopia, the utopia world of computer is also linked with sectors of
popular culture. It promotes pop-images, has to do with the process of disneyfication
(Viesand, 143), with music and fashion industry, with the mythology of being young
(Rowe, 17). The first edition of the Albanian magazine Facebookmania, features the
main actors of Albanian pop culture, like Blero, Agnesa Vuthaj, Rozi, Hueyda el
Saied, Bojken Lako, Kaltrina Selimi, Genta Ismajli, etc.
Network mania also causes problems about education. Most children pass their
winter holidays in front of the magic screen of computer or TV, because these two
components of contemporary life exert much more attraction than the classical tools
of culture and information like books, magazines, newspapers, etc. The colored world
of the screen is more easily consumed and more attractive on first sight because it
offers everything as ready and is present in every house. All of us are hooked up in a
virtual world that feeds us awry information, bombards us with needed and unneeded
things and treats us like slaves of consumerist society. The man of today, especially
the young, is not socialized with books. In fact he barely knows it. It is residuary and
boring to him. Many finish the school without opening a book, an absurdity of the
time we are living in. While book has been the closest friend for man during the past,
today it is put for décor on ultramodern shelves, just like a vase, glass or painting. A
few days before we saw on TV a kind of furniture which included a simulation of
books, a library with encyclopedias and thick books from outside and empty inside.
This is the reality of our time when book is vulgarized and killed, when the rich
scoundrel deceives other with his false library. This is the time when PC and mobile
phone are the technological masters of the house excluding reading, talking,
traditional hours, stories, tales… For the teenager world of our time, the book is out;
it engages with iPAD, iPhone, Facebook, walkman, etc. There’s no time for the book
which is considered as démodé. Unfortunately this is the state of the globalized,
technologic new generation, of the e-society or e-misery we would say. A generation
that doesn’t even know the elementary terms of communication, that has a poor
language full of lingual idiocies and barbarisms, without taste or tact. Internet mania
52
of youth is addicting people everyday who express their creativity by communicating
through distance with the world, by writing and rewriting mutilated words and
sentences and reading very little. We should emphasize that unfortunately internet is
very little used for information in our country but for entertainment and spending
time mostly, whereas in developed countries it is mostly used for research and study.
Some have described internet as better that mother’s milk, whereas in general it
produces ignoramuses, offering deformation as much as information so that no
distinction remains between the Golden Book and a voluminous classical work. The
postmodern in alliance with the magic network are narrowing the world every day,
metamorphosing many dimensions of human development and of our daily order.
The ignoramus in action can be seen in the constellation of the idols of the time
who do not have elementary information about things but are taken as referential
persons by teenagers, as “secular icons”. A famous singer (Ch. Aguilera) was asked
where the Cannes Film Festival was to be held this year. Another (B. Spears) doesn’t
like fish from Japan, a country she thinks is in Africa. A basketball player (Sh.
O’Neal) who was asked by journalists whether he had visited the Pantheon in Athens,
answered that “he doesn’t remember the names of clubs he had visited”.

4. Conclusion(s)

A considerable part of our youth, unfortunately live in palaces of cartoon

(Bashgil), in a postmodern utopia, without looking life in the eye. The consumerist
culture makes them hip-hop generation, screenagers and addicts to time’s manias,
follower of the postmodern religion (Lady Gaga: “Pop culture is my religion!”)59
They lack guidance about the way of learning and spiritual support, this being the
main cause of desperation, pessimism and spiritual destruction.60 Many people reach
success and get to positions in the society they don’t deserve, but this doesn’t mean
they are happy too. The search for happiness somewhere outside us, in fame, wealth

59
http://www.delo.si/zgodbe/nyt/for-lady-gaga-pop-culture-is-a-religion_2.html/21.09.212
60
Ali Fuad Bashgil, Kokë më kokë me të rinjtë, Logos-A, Skopje, 2009, p. 16-17.
53
and power, is an optical illusion in the dry, thirsty desert. Students as apprentices of
life must learn the art of living. Education institutions are obliged to sow in young
people good manners through which they will attain to success and happiness, and
protect them from ugly manners. The ethical will must be aroused in them and they
must be made possessors of the spiritual power that will enable them to choose and
realize good deeds and get away from ugly models,61 from slavery to beastly instincts
and passions. An education far from the heart and spirit is deficient and cannot reach
fruitful results. Unfortunately, elementary schools, high schools and universities in
our time pursue economic goals instead of intellectual and spiritual ones. They tell
new generations they need such knowledge that would open the doors of success for
them, the latter being measured by monetary achievements. Whereas the main goal of
education must be the education of mind, the balance between the inspired soul, the
irascible soul and the reasonable soul, moral and intellectual perfection. To conclude:
The ignoramus and the consumer of superficial culture must leave the scene and be
replaced by those who know how to live and hold in their hands the sails of the ship
in the postmodern ocean of globalism.

61
Bashgil, p. 38.
54
 4. Bibliography

AVCI, Nabi, Enformatik Cehalet, Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1999.

BASHGIL, Ali Fuad, Kokë më kokë me të rinjtë, Logos-A, Skopje, 2009.
DIBRA, Ridvan, Një lojë me emrin postmodernizëm, Albas, Tirana, 2007.
EMIROöLU, Kudret & AYDIN, Suavi, Antropoloji Sözlü÷ü, Bilim ve Sanat
Yayınları, Ankara, 2003.
FISK, Džon, Popularna kultura, Clio, Belgrade, 2001.
FLETCHER, Dan, “How Facebook is Redefining Privacy”, Time, 20 May 2010.
GATTO, John Taylor et.al., Edukimi i fëmijëve tuaj në kohët moderne,
Rinia e së Ardhmes, Tirana, 2008.
GÜNGOR, Nazife (ed.), Popüler Kültür ve øktidar, Vadi Yayınları, Ankara, 1999.
HARRIS, James F., Philosophy at 33 1/3 rpm: Themes of Classic Rock Music, Open
Court Publishing Company, Illinois, 1994.
McROBBIE, Angela, Postmodernizm ve Popüler Kültür, Sarmal Yayınevi, Istanbul,
1999.
PAJAZITI, Ali, Fjalor i sociologjisë, Logos-A, Skopje, 2009.
ROWE, David, Popüler Kültürler: Rock ve Sporda Haz Politikası, Ayrıntı Yayınları,
Istanbul, 1996.
SALIHU, Astrit, Aporitë e modernes: Kritika e rrëfimeve të mëdha, Rizoma,
Prishtina, 2009.
SARDAR, Ziauddin, Përtej dogmës: Islami në kohët postmoderne, Logos-A, Skopje,
2010.
9,(6$1' - $QGUHDV et.al. ,QGXVWULL QD NXOWXUDWD 5D]YRMQL
DVSHNWL),220Skopje, 2002.
http:// www.el-hikmeh.net/22.03.2001
http://www.pcworld.al/facebookmania.html/17.03.2011
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Facebookaholic/17.03.2011
http:// www.fatmirmuja.com/22.03.2011
http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/a-practitioners-guide-to-hedonism/16.03.2011
55
http://www.facebook.com/16.03.2011
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18611180/ns/world_news-americas/17.03.2011
http://www.teksteshqip.com/tekste.php?aid=2443&id=1869754/29.03.2011
http://www.delo.si/zgodbe/nyt/for-lady-gaga-pop-culture-is-a-
religion_2.html/21.09.2012
yhttp://www.theverge.com/2013/7/17/4531048/follow-pope-twitter-indulgence-
purgatory/Julu 24, 2013.
http://now.msn.com/study-suggests-facebook-and-twitter-are-ruining-our-lives/July
24, 2013.

56
 BIG BROTHER: DEGRADING PERFORMATIVE
BEHAVIOR AND DEETHICIZATION AS A MISSION*

“Every person you would talk with about electronic

surveillance would tell you how wrong it is. Privacy is being
harassed… The protecting walls of privacy are being digitally
ruined.” (David Lyon)

Expressions like “you are being surveyed” or “you are being spied on” are not
announcements applying to a certain person only anymore but they describe our
culture and reflect the general condition of humanity. Cameras follow people going to
their workplaces recording their acts in every step. They record ATMs,
intergovernmental networks analyze telephone calls, looking for words indicating
possible subversions. Your boss might survey you; your neighbors may buy satellite
photos of your garden... In Sidney the wall camera records the pupil as he enters the
class and sits on his chair.62 Every police dog in New York holds a camera.63
From an electronic media we heard recently that in Macedonia too, with the
legislative changes, services (not them only but Prosecution, Customs and Financial
Police as well) will be able to spy not only on telephones but also on internet
communications, including Facebook, Twitter, Viber, Msn, Skype, e-mail, etc.64
We are living in a strange world at a strange time, of relativization of things, of
suffocation of values, of the stripping of culture, of culture without culture, of
immoralizing experiments, of the creation of a postmodern legendarization where
*
Shenja, No 15, July 2012, pp. 41-43.
62
http://www.ethics.org.au/living-ethics/big-brother-coming-school-near-you/17/06.2012
63
John Edward McGrath, Loving Big Brother: Performance, Privacy and Surveillance Space, Routledge,
New York, 2004, p. 19.
64
Alsat-M, 15.06.12.
57
virtues are being fought against and pop culture is being transformed into religion, as
one of the icons of this garbage idealism, Lady Gaga, would say. It is the time of
Nietzschean social caricaturizing that stems from the idea of getting free from
conscience as “one of inner human tyrants”.65
A moral crisis, a crisis of public moral, from the state leader to the simple
seller at the marketplace, is being talked about nowadays in the global context.
Humanity has entered the 21-th century through a fiery door on the scene of cultural
vagabondism and is going through different tensions. Libertine globalism is sweeping
everything on the way, from language and clothing to people’s mental structure,
reformatting everything that hinders the change of paradigm and modus vivendi my
way. In this direction the Albanian society, as part of post-communist and post-
transitional Europe, is radically changing too.

1. Anthropological television and self-capitalizing performances

Tempora mutandur (Times change) old Romans used to say. Societies, tools,
media and many other things change. Since the Dutch media tycoon John Demol
(1997) invented the phenomenon called Big Brother, we have been facing a new TV
culture, surveillance and voyeurism as a metaphor, with people who chose to be part
of the panopticon, the institution called “house”, with house playing of acting, with
the analysis of people’s behavior in an artificial environment created for this event of
TV identities by spending huge amounts of money for decoration and futurism in a
time of recession. Big Brother is part of the reality TV that presents the state of being
surveyed as constructive and “helpful”, transforming surveillance from a symbol of
totalitarian regime into a desirable state. This type of TV Mark Andrejevic (2003) has
called “anthropological TV” because it has human being on its focus, his physical,
psychological, social, cultural performances etc. He holds that in the empirical sense
this form of entertainment is similar to an artificial laboratory where people are cut

65
Ali Pajaziti (ed.), Etika publike, Logos-A, 2004, p. 31.
58
off from the outer world being constantly kept under surveillance like through a
microscope.
This form of entertainment that pretends to present the social reality in its
liveliness while being a product of entertainment industry, presents surveillance as a
form of self-realization, giving life to what has been described by some as bio-power.
According to Giorgio Agamben this form of power implies not power over masses
but influencing their way of life. Major productions sign contracts with BB
participants to be able to consume later sequences from their life in the national
house (!). Hungry for fame and success the latter accept because they are offered the
opportunity to capitalize, to materialize themselves, in money or in fame, this being
one of the most attractive offers by the entertainment industry.
The hundred days period that seems like a form of vacancy or relaxation in
which competitors win even while sleeping, is presented as a camp where private,
intimate life and discretion are unfolded, where there is even a confession room
through which the experimental persons address people and fight their rivals.
It is to be noted that in programs such as Big Brother there is no private life, no
privacy and reality is built as if in the absence of cameras. Participants in this reality
show must behave as if there is no recording, as if they are living at their home, as if
they are not part of a TV program even. Such a program appears as a competition,
talk-show, soap-opera, and documentary film. The Big Brother house has been
clearly built and equipped for maximal surveillance, as a studio-home space where
the whole rhythm of inhabitants is an ideal field of surveillance where spectators
consume and affirm image-personalities at the same time. Through voting and fan
clubs they create groups in support of one of the inhabitants, at the same time
participating in creating media myths who think of going forward in the social
staircase, by rising through their deeds and fame earned during the days of “positive
prison” of cohabitation in front of the digital eye. Although resembling a totalitarian
institution like prison, the BB house differs from it as punishment there is not
confinement to a certain space but expulsion from the closed space. In prison people
despair because of walls, whereas in BB they despair when they get out of the walls.
59
In BB, confinement is legitimized for the sake of surveillance, even through a
contract, while inhabitants’ free time is made monetarily productive. These economic
relationships, differently from those at a factory or in a prison, offer inhabitants more
opportunity for consumption, spare time and entertainment.66
Such phenomenon, besides bio-power also implies the effort to self-
capitalization, to sell one’s self at the market as profitably as possible. For example,
Meti of Big Brother Albania 5 said he saw participation in the house as an
opportunity to get better introduced to modeling.

2. Post-freudism: Libertinism or shame becoming unfashionable

If we analyze the discourse and actions of BB inhabitants we observe a total

recording of ethical and non-ethical acts of a sphere where work, entertainment, spare
time, leisure and consumption are all mixed together. We have to do with a public
trauma, with the tendency to catch the special, to catch inhabitants on an act that
naturally should not have been public. McGrath says the greatest pleasure in the
space with two parties, watchers and the watched, is to catch people unprotected and
when someone does something that sets him apart from his cohabitants.67 In this
context we have the party that is ready to open its intimacy to the public, trying to
differ from the rest by any means. The format of such programs has sex and basic
instincts as the main theme of extreme of exhibitionism. Even Freud wouldn’t know
what to say about this. It is known that his patients were very reluctant to talk to him
about intimate matters, even with nobody else around in his therapy room, whereas
TV has made such themes into public matters easily talked about by everyone.68
Participants in BB live through what Arnold van Gennep calls personal
development, the rite of passage from mediocrity and anonymity to being a star
thanks to the exposure of individuality that makes them pretty and special. In this

ϲϲ
Barıú Bora Kılıçbay, Türkiye’de Gerçeklik Televizyonu
ve Yeni Televizyon Kültürü, Ankara Üniversitesi, Ankara, 2005, p. 186, 190.
67
McGrath, p. 50.
68
Kılıçbay, p. 228.
60
process being conflictive, creating otherness, being dramatic, body and sexuality are
the main ingredients of fame making that contradicts the moralistic protective
approach of the sanctity of privacy. Defenders of BB-mania hold that ordinary people
are not only those who eat and drink but who fight with each other, who gossip,
engage in immoral behavior, etc.69 Regarding the importance of conflicts and
dissension between house inhabitants, talks best the admission of one of the
organizers of such a show who says that participants are deliberately chosen with
different cultural backgrounds, styles and evident differences that set up the scene for
the magnetic show. So people are sought to bring rating points, to show their self and
tie people to the TV, to stir up conflicts, to shout and make excesses (like the racist
offence by Jade Goodey to Shilpa Shetty at BB 2007, Britain)70 in order to maximize
the income from sponsors who continually swallow their advertisement space. This is
best shown by Big Brother Albania 5 which bore an intersection of different views,
by a villager (Genta), a teenager (Françeska), a 52 years old, of westernized
Albanians (Liam, Gjon), Kosovars (Meti, Arbër), each of whom offered his/her spirit
(A. Osmani) and living in spiritual affection (A. Konomi). When we look at the
discourse used in this “event” we the vocabulary of participants boiling with
degrading words (“garbage”, “you lick your lips like a maniac”). These TV identities
make actions like semi-nude dancing, showing their underpants, kissing and even
making sex in front of cameras or pornography (UK House, Anaid & Joana). This
denigrating line of forcibly advertised passion is contributed to by scenarists and
rating planners who unfold scandals of participants like that of Genta with her photos
from a forum that were published in a daily newspaper and around which “serious”
debates evolved that peaked with absurdities like “it’s a sin to publish these photos
but it’s a sin not to publish them too” (Panorama daily journalist) and that such
photos help women with a thick and short figure console themselves that they are not
ugly and have what to show (Fans Club, 22 April).71

69
Kılıçbay, p. 212.
70
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVoM_AUoNGA/17.06.2012
71
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Eor99XsBc&feature=relmfu/16.06.2012
61
 3. Conclusion: Virtues, but what kind of?

At the coverage by Top Channel from Prishtina on the night of the

announcement of the winner of BBA 5, a young man from Prishtina who had been
waiting till midnight for the victory of a Kosovar, talked about winner’s virtues. The
question is: what kind of virtues? Virtues are the vertebra of ethics, are values. What
values could a spectator get from BB? Its moral destructiveness and ethical dilemmas
about it are discussed everywhere. In Australia producers didn’t know what to say
when the father of a participant at the “public house” died. What would they do? One
the other hand there is a group of people who percepts it as a new experience, a
challenge, a show allowed by neoliberal democracy. They justify this voyeuristic
experiment with slogans like “all love you, all vote you” (BB5) or telling moralists
“Just don't watch it!” Surveillance as an instrument of capitalism has been criticized
by Foucault, Giddens, Lyon and many others, as well as those who want to preserve
the cultural common sense. From a time in Britain a discussion has been going on
about forming an independent committee with representatives of production
companies, media, institutions and the public in general, for evaluating proposals
about TV reality shows. In other countries the issues of informed consent, of the
danger of impairment, confidentiality, the relation between technology and
individuality, etc. If we consider the discourse, sequences and performing behavior of
BB participants, we can say it is a format of nonsensopedia, senselessness, a theater
of deculturalization, of individual and collective real-alienation, of public smuggling
of non-values, of an arena of outdating.
18.06.2012

62
 References

1. Barıú Bora Kılıçbay, Türkiye’de Gerçeklik Televizyonu

ve Yeni Televizyon Kültürü, Ankara Üniversitesi, Ankara, 2005
2. Daniel Jones, The Psychology of Big Brother, Lulu.com, 2007.
3. John Edward McGrath, Loving Big Brother: Performance, Privacy and
Surveillance Space, Routledge, New York, 2004.
4. Mark Andrejevic, Reality TV: The work of being watched, Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, 2004.
5. Mark Andrejevic, Ispy: Surveillance and Power in the Interactive Era,
University Press of Kansas, 2007.
6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6702315.stm/17.06.2012
7. http://www.ethics.org.au/living-ethics/big-brother-coming-school-near-
you/17/06.2012
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Eor99XsBc&feature=
relmfu/16.06.2012

63
64
 THE CIVIC RELIGION: NATIO-RELIGION*

During a rally at Nënë Tereza square in Tirana in November 2010, the

Albanian PM, probably influenced by the spirit of American politicians (God bless
America!), said: “God bless Albania and its flag. God bless Albanian youth!” In
another occasion he had said: “God bless my country!” The cover of the past Shenja
(No 5) magazine issue had an interesting photo that showed the Kosovar PM, Hashim
Thaçi, bowing in front of a national sanctity. That sight made me undertake a
sociological analysis of the moment, by drawing a parallel between straight
religiosity and secular of civic religiosity that is becoming stronger everyday and a
substitute to the authentic religion, challenging and pressing the latter. People bow
and submit to flags, statues, graves of national heroes, kiss and touch nationally
sanctified objects, put their hand over their heart when the national anthem is being
sung, visit the “national temples”... The questions to be put forth over this are like: Is
it a religion or a pseudo-religion? If it’s the latter, how can it drive individuals and
crowds? What are the factors that make people sanctify competent people of the
mythical national procession? What’s the role of this new religion in the social
constellation?
Civic religion, as a term was for the first time used by Jean Jacques Rousseau
at the eighth volume of his Social Contract. The basic principles of this “religion” or
in the ideal civil society are: respect of God, belief in the justice of His judgment,
reward to virtues, punishment to vice and emphasis of civil democracy. These are the
general religious principles that should constitute the basis of civic values and belief
in order to build the just society of equal people. In 1967, Robert N. Bellah issued his
book Civil Religion in America by which he made current again this alloy term of

*
Shenja, No 6, October 2011, pp. 79-81.
65
civility and religion, i.e. Americanism, that had its own sacred scriptures, such as the
Declaration of Independence, its own saints and martyrs, such as Abraham Lincoln,
its own formal rites—the Pledge of Allegiance...
According to Hammond, the civic religion is “a body of convictions and rituals
that intertwine with the past, the present and the future of a people (nation) as
understood transcendentally” (1976:171). The civic religion or "new-time religion"
is an expression of nation’s cohesion, of the ideal of integrating the imaginary
community around a set of values. It transcends factionary, ethnic and religious
boundaries. The civic religion includes rituals through which members commemorate
important national events and revive their devotion to the nation and nationalism.
Such rituals and representations are religious, because they represent the nation-
people and a higher reality (McGuire). “The civic religion includes crowds who sing
the national anthem in public spaces, parades and the demonstration of the national
flag during national celebrations, loyalty oaths, the accession ceremonies for the new
king or president, the mythologizing of narratives about nation’s founding fathers and
its other great leaders, important events, monuments of fallen soldiers and
commemorating ceremonies about them, the expressed devotion to the homeland, the
constitution etc.”
The civic religion is characteristic about pluralistic democracy countries, but
most clearly it is evident in USA and in countries where Protestantism if the
dominant religious fraction. The Thanksgiving Day, 4 July, president’s inauguration,
all serve to the exalting of the American values and national unity as in a melting pot.
There are national temples in USA, such as the monuments in Washington, the
Capitol, the birthplaces of key presidents, war memorials and other “special” places
visited by Americans and others. The veneration towards these monuments is not
based upon their historical age and importance, but on their capacity to symbolize the
transcendence of the nation as a “people”. A visitor of the Independence Hall, once
said: “Only staying here makes me shiver”. In Durkheim’s view, national temples are
“holy”.

66
 Civic religions are not always limited to the national space. With ties among
states they start to expand, so that the European civic religion has enabled the
creation of European Union, assuming its image by the constitutional contract
verified through Lisbon Treaty. Some see this religion as the field of neo-humanism,
the basis of European and global unity, most directly spoken about by Hans Küng
when he emphasizes the importance of the Global Ethics.
McGuire observes that violation or negligence of such ceremonies, temples or
objects is considered improper behavior, offence or “sacrilege” of sanctities, pointing
out that many people were arrested in the 60’s for improperly wearing or
demonstrating the American flag (like, for example, at the back of pants)’ while
many lawmakers have proposed bills in the 90’s for punishing the burning of the
American flag during protests.
The civic religion also has its myths and saints, such as the main presidents
(like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, D. Roosevelt, Kennedy), popular heroes (like
Davy Crockett, Charles Lindbregh) and military heroes (like MacArthur, Theodore
Roosevelt). Socially important myths include WKH American Way of Life American
Dream – the land of abundance, the unlimited social mobility, economic consumption
and achievements.
If civic religion is a reflection of nation’s integration, than it can be expected to
play a valuable role in solving conflicts. Just as tribal rituals “heal” internal conflicts
and magnify tribe’s unity, the rhetoric of inauguration speeches and court statements
imply the solution of conflicts and a call for integration to the group (Hammond,
1974). The symbolization of civic religion is much visible when people think the
nation is being threatened by the enemy.
In societies where the civic religion covers the public space and the diversity of
many religions cover the private one, the social structure is in cohesion with the sense
of individual freedom of choice.
Like any other nation, Albanians too have the myths and iconography of their
civic “religion” in construction, with Scanderbeg, Mother Theresa, 28 and 29
November, the national flag and anthem, the eagle, the parliament, the Independence
67
Declaration, the Jashari House, the Alphabet House, etc. Unfortunately the civic
religion of Albanians is a real mishmash. Despite the promotion of the syntagma
“Albanian’s religion is Albanianism” aims at an interreligious balancing, a part of the
Albanian state intellectuals put forth national personalities belonging to a certain
religion and excludes others other of another religion and creates a national vision
that is religious as much as it is secular. Catholicism is particularly advanced as the
vertebra of Albanianism, a phenomenon called Catholic-centrism. From Rugova to
Kadare, a kind of nationalism is outlined that is based on the Christian-religious-
Catholic element and violently imposed, through public policies, school books and
press propaganda, as a cargo cult in national dimensions, as the all-Albanian
cornucopia. It is an exceptional contradiction that this happens against the fact that on
the other hand it is spoken about national cohesion, about the rare example of affinity
between various religious adherences among Albanians, about the model of
cohabitation in the religious triangle of Islam-Orthodoxy-Catholicism.
An example of the Albanian civic religion is offered through these words
uttered by a high official after the homage held at Martyrs’ Graveyard: “This is
nation’s birthday. The most notable, the eternal day of great pride. For all Albanians!
Today we venerate the founders of independence, the martyrs of the safest and freest
nation in all our history.”
In the virtual space we also find these texts:
“So, Albanianism is the only nonaggressive religion in the world”. “In my
opinion Albanianism is truly a religion, as it fulfills all conditions to be so... Every
religion has a system of values it propagates, which often take the form of dogma,
being believed as such and which nobody has the right to judge... Albanianism has
the oath, an original concept not to be found in any other religion or culture in the
world. It is an undisputable, dogmatic sanctity.” (albanianforum.net)
This is the sui generis national religion of Albanians! We observe that civic
religion is a product of modernization process, of secularist state building on one
hand, and of the human and people’s need for the sacred. Man cannot live without
spirit, that being the reason why he describes sacred elements to profane things.
68
 References

• Martin E. Marty, Modern American Religion, vol. 3, Chicago: Chicgo

University Press, 1996.
• Meredith McGuire, Religjioni: Konteksti Social. Skopje: Logos-A & CRPA,
2007.
• Robert N. Bellah, Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post-Traditionalist
World. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
• http://bisedoj.albanianforum.net/t2945-feja-e-shqiptarit-eshte-shqiptaria

69
70
 Ali Pajaziti
Mentor Hamiti
Murtezan Ismaili1

ETHICS: THIRD MILLENIUM CHALLENGE∗

“Without the ethics, everything would happen as if all of us were five billion
passengers travelling on a vehicle which is driven by no one. It goes faster and faster,
but we do not know where it is headed to.”
Jacques COUSTEAU

keywords: morality, ethics, deethicization, moral crisis, education, SEEU,

university youth

1. Abstract

Few last decades, the world is faced with some alarming issues that
immediately require a very serious treatment. Today’s modern society is mainly
based on material values, with moral crisis where the ethical principals are violated.
This has created self-destructive, alienated human beings in terms of steps and
actions he makes in an unspiritual manner and leaded by absolutised science and
technology. In this context, debates around ethics have the tendency to go on the
direction of being global issues and ethics to be seen as a tool for finding a way out of
crises with which today’s humanity and the world are confronted.
In recent years, ethics is accepted and treated very seriously in every modern
society. This approach to ethics has begun to affect community life, family life,
human relationships, democracy, and in the broadest sense the education as well. This

∗
Winner paper at EACME Conference 2008, 'Organizing Bioethics: Challenges for Western, Central and
Eastern Europe', 25-27 September 2008 – Prague, Czech Republic.
71
new field has led also to new university courses where curricula materials contain
ethic based courses such as: professional ethics, deontology, social ethics,
information technology ethics, public ethics, administrative ethics, business ethics,
global ethics, ethics in religion, environmental ethics and journalism ethics. Moreover
there are new research centers, professional organizations, and conferences where
ethics related questions are discussed and taken into consideration by being opened to
different points of view.
This article represents the results of a research questionnaire conducted with
students of South East European University (SEEU) related to ethics based issues and
also their interest in studying ethics courses. The survey took place on December
2007, and 750 students from five different faculties (Contemporary Sciences, Public
Administration, Business Administration, Law and Teacher Training Faculty)
participated in it, where each faculty was equally represented by 150 students. From
the descriptive, analytical and comparative approach used here, the results shows that
the majority of the surveyed participants support the incorporation of ethic based
courses within the study programs.

2. Ethics: A general overview

Elisabeth Dodswell claims that “the main issues that civilization is dealing
with nowadays are the ones regarding moral and ethics.” As never before, humanity
is facing various different challenges, problems caused by “dehumanization of man”,
with lots of ethical dilemmas that require immediate resolution. Policymakers,
lawyers, ethicists, religious communities, as well as each and every individual living
in this time of global crisis, in age of extremes (Hobsbawm), modern human plight
(Guenon, S.H. Nasr), should give their contribution for a more hopeful world, better
than the one of the 20th century which did not fulfill the expectations for a self-
accomplishment era, for the human well-being and happiness. The new
century/millennium, in which we are making our first steps, represent a new page of

72
the history which does not accept the values and ethics of the 20th century
(Huddleston). Therefore, the course should change. This scientific approach deals
with the issue of ethics and morality, with the ethical crisis which we are facing today
and with the re-actualization trend of the ethical discourse. In this context, it also
gives a reflection of viewpoints of some of the students at the Southeast European
University on ethics, on the need of expansion of the ethical network. Student
opinions and approaches have been drawn from a 14 – question survey which was
conducted in December last year.

3. What is ethics?

This question being made today, is a bit strange but necessary, too, especially
for new generations living in the virtual world of the internet, for the “screenagers”,
for those who only recognize countable and material values, for those whose spiritus
movens is only the interest, profit, and nothing else. Discussing about ethics, means
discussing about subtle values, but, as Ivan Kropek says, discussing about values at
times of “thought vagabondism” and “nomad soul” is too difficult.2
The bitter reality of an extremely individualized and atomized society has
made ethics an acute subject these days, therefore, its analysis, at least from the social
pragmatics viewpoint, is a duty for every conscious person who feels the coming of
crisis age, talked about and expected for more than two centuries now. Let us now
give a comprehensive explanation of ethics as a notion and discipline.
“Ethics” comes from the Greek expression ethos/ethikos, which means
tradition and habits. According to Encyclopedia Britannica ethics, also called
morality philosophy, is the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad,
right and wrong. The term is also applied to any system or theory of morality values
or principles.
The Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines ethics as:

the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with morality duty and
obligation; a set of moral principles; a theory or system of moral values; the

73
principles of conduct governing an individual or a group; a guiding philosophy; a
consciousness of morality importance; a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness).

4. Morality and ethics

Morality (from the Latin mos, moris, "manner, character, proper behavior") is
the learning process of distinguishing between virtues and vices.3 It is considered that
this expression was first used by Cicero in his work “De Fato” and Seneca in
“Epistulae”, by translating the Greek word ehtikos.4 Morality, philosophia moralis,
functions as a system of rules which have to be respected by individuals, so that they
can make the difference between good and bad, distinguish their duties, etc.5 In a
philosophical point of view, morality refers to a set of good traditions which enable
the existence and appropriate development of individuals and the society.6 Morality
also refers to the repetition of deeds, attitudes within a spiritual system, habits.7
According to Öjvind Larsen, morality is generally used as a term to explain given or
traditional normative references which do not lose their power and values. The main
difference between ethics and morality is that ethics is a discipline which generally
deals with moral issues. According to some, this difference is similar to the one
between musicology and music.8
We could say they ethics is a synonym for the moral philosophy. Based on the
definition, it has a wider and more profound meaning. Ethics also represents the
theory and content of morality. On the other hand, morality is only the content itself.
While ethics provides the norms, morality contains them as is.9
According to Dwight Waldo, morality implies the preferred attitude in terms of
the immediate and traditional approach, whereas ethics has to deal with the attitudes
that we have examined and imagined. It should be noted that this difference is not
always made. As a basic problem in ethics is the justification of morality, i.e. to prove
whether the moral action is reasonable or not.10 Morality is a concept treated by
philosophers such as Hume, Kant, Hegel, who, according to Rawls, define morality
as an instrument of social justice which is “in the foundations of the social structure,

74
which lives by the way of how the social institutions distribute basic rights,
responsibilities and social advantages.”11
Some of the most important issues that ethics addresses to are: “How should
we live?”, “How to achieve happiness?”, “Should we strive for finding happiness, or
should we equip ourselves with knowledge, virtues, or wonderful things?”, “If we
choose happiness – should it belong to us only, or to everybody?”, “Can we choose
the wrong way to achieve our aims?”, “What are our responsibilities towards other
beings that we share this planet with?”, “What are our responsibilities towards our
future generations?”…
The wide aura of these questions can be related to different scopes, such as
ethics, anthropology, biology, economy, history, politics, sociology, theology, etc.
Yet, ethics is different form all these disciplines, since it deals with the determination
of the quality of normative theories, not factual ones, as well as with the practical
aspect of moral issues. 12

5. Theories on Ethics

Based on the aforementioned elaboration, we learnt that ethics is a

philosophical point of view, reflective consideration upon convictions and morality
practices. According to the origins of morality, ethical doctrines and theories are
divided into:

a) heteronymous

b) autonomous

According to the first classification, morality originates from a superhuman

instance, from the divine revelation, from prophetical practices, from the absolute
truth, and as such, it represents an eternal, absolute value. Apologetics of the
heteronymous ethics claim that morality is another aggregate state of the religion.

75
 Autonomous ethics seeks morality genesis in the humans themselves. This
approach is supported by scientists, secularists, materialists, nihilists, atheists, etc.
According to this perspective, it is only the human being that represents the criterion
of all existing and non-existing things. Judgments, principles, and values of this kind
of ethics are acquired from experience, consciousness, and living reminiscence. As a
result, they are relative in their nature, transitional and irrelevant to humans. If, in the
framework of the humans’ morality lives, a special attention is paid to reason,
emotions, will, or experience, the autonomous theory has generated other theories
which, in sciences, in life, and in morality recognition put the rationale first
(rationalist theory), will (voluntary theory), emotions (emotional theory) and
experience (empirical theory). According the aims of human activities, ethical
doctrines are divided in hedonistic, utilitarian, eudaemonist, and perfectionist.
According the first doctrine, bodily, physical, biological, lustful, and
instinctual pleasures are the final and superior things in one’s life.
According to the utilitarian ethics, the highest good is interest and profit,
which, in fact, is a central state, society, and individual category. The interest is the
pushing force of the history.
The eudaemonist approach has as a final goal the ethical ideal, which it equals
with happiness, internal peace, comfort, equilibrium, and pleasure.
The perfectionist ethics considers the perfection of the society and natural
world the highest value. It strives for human perfection and their conveyance to a
13
non-repeatable level. Perfectionists aim at perfect order, perfect family, whereas
they categorically refuse lies, hypocrisy, injustice, violence, artificial life, blood-shed,
terrorism – basically, all the evil in tutti.

6. Moral crisis and global revival of ethics

The end of the last century was characterized as bloody, unmerciful, and
terrifying. It was called “the terrible century”, during which a large number of people
(more than ever before) were violently exterminated on behalf of criminal political

76
ideas. We were facing a morality gap which should extremely seriously be dealt with
by reasonable people of our civilization.14 The world of the third millennium battles
with huge problems, accumulated through centuries, since the time when the western
rationalism prevailed, since the 18th century, when the “modernization project”,
which idolized the ratio and excluded the spiritual, sacral and super temporal, was
launched. We are facing the so called common disorder, chaos and anarchy, a crisis
of values and a loss and violation of primordial principles. The modernization era,
along with all the technological and scientific achievements and material progress,
proved to be a paradoxical welfare. Technological possibilities oppressed our ability
for moral judgment, and this terrible situation has made us unable to review the past
so as to shape our presence and have a critical vision upon the future. Here is how the
general present state of the modern human has been described by an author in his
article entitled “Reform Your Hearts”:
“Nowadays our hearts are empty, longing for justice. Who knows what
progress offers to them (our hearts)? In any case, a surrogate who temporarily fills
their inner emptiness, deceits you and your heart still remains empty, even more.
Empty heart, empty form (shape) – these are the characteristics of our actual social
life. Only the impact of tradition, education, a small religious sparkle, which is still
present in people’s consciousness, prevents them from negation of principles, which
you cannot find in one’s heart. People are formally chaste in their societies only
because of politeness and external décor, whereas in their private lives they avoid the
morality law. These two moralities, one for our private life, and the other for the
saloon, represent the cancer our society is suffering from. They only recognize
morality in public, since, as the claim, that is what they really need. In order to cure
public morality, we first need to cure our individual one.” 15
This situation could be clearly seen through unhappiness, increase of cases of
neurosis, psychosis, drugs, crime, suicides, divorce, abort, ignorance of the elder, etc.
The list could go on to infinity, but, we will just point out some fragments taken from
various different newspaper articles, which picture the social crisis reality, be it at a
local or international level:
77
 “He hung himself in his bathroom”, “Family violence”, “A lot of fights,
criminality and prostitution in pubs and clubs”, “She hung herself in the kennel”,
“He robbed the trader with a knife”, “Two suicides”, “He beat his mother to death”,
“The teacher beat two pupils”, “The teacher bites three kids”16, “The student
commits hara-kiri”, “He threatened his wife holding a bomb in his hands”, “Two
years in prison because of rape”, “Seven years in jail because of rape of his own
daughter”, “Stabbed with a knife, hit with an axe”, “They tied the granny up, beat
her and robbed her”, “He killed his wife, his son, his daughter, and finally himself,
too”, “He killed her with a hammer”, “She cuts her husband into pieces and puts
him in the freezer so that she could eat him later”, “Babies trafficked”, “They tried
to kill themselves by drinking raising agent”, “Graves have been desecrated”, “They
killed the couple with two guns”, “Parents fought in front of the school”, “She
jumped off the fourth floor”, “Over 30% of English marriages end up in their third
month”, “They were accused of child abuse in pornographic materials”, “Revenge
made the student kill 17 people”, “Suicide with a hand grenade”, “Macedonia – the
second country in the region with high level of teenage criminality”, “The all-state
campaign saplings stolen – to be sold in the car market”, “Takes care of his dog
while his mother is being taken care of in a hospice”, “The major is convicted for
having stolen €100,000”, “One in four seconds dies of hunger”, “One billion people
suffer because of lack of potable water”, “800 million die of famine”,…18
The whole of this negative reflection, with lots of banditism, violence, crime,
psychological disorder, family instability, unconsciousness, traumas, reveals that
today’s world needs to revive positive and affirmative values against the evil. It needs
values that will return dignity and optimism to people, so that they can happily live
their lives. As never before, the world desperately needs the chaste person, the one
that knows where his action limits are, the one who is responsible and accountable for
his deeds, the one who rests upon principles and categorical imperatives (Kant), and
who, apart from his interests, recognizes the ideals and idealism.

78
 According to Descartes, the first and basic rule of ethics is to permanently
insist to recognize the good, and when this is achieved, attempts to enliven the good
are willingly made.19 People should nowadays start to think more extensively, they
should be more responsible for their deeds, more accountable for all the aspects of
their lives. According to some data, only 7% or 8% of people in the world act
according to ethical norms (Huddleston). The report of the Institute of Global Ethics
reveals that fundamental ethical values such as mercy, chastity, sincerity,
responsibility and respect for life have been undermined today. The demoralization
that has spread at a global level including all generations, strata and social segments,
from the shop assistant to the top of the social pyramid (intellectuals, political elites,
etc.) has made the whole situation alarming. As an author says: “Nowadays you
cannot be sure that people will not lie to you. Models of thought, evaluation, and
attitude have been created. All of them have the same slogan, ‘Be skillful, that is
what everybody does!’, whereas interest is the main aim everywhere. Everyone
deceits each other. Everything is excused by saying that times have changed and
people cannot live differently. Circumstances are the ones that change the people;
problems – even more. The worst times are those when people become rude; when
the price of honor falls down.”20
Some hundred years ago, everyone was against ethics and morality, claiming
that it represents means of oppression which sets frames and limits the human
freedom. Everyone shouted, “Let them pass, let them do”, but this brought the
leviathanism, the exterminating policies with the two world wars, apartheid,
desecration ideologies like communism and fascism21 , genocidal activities in the
Balkans, Africa and elsewhere. Today, the ideological-political systems which did
not bother much about welfare, are realizing that they have destroyed the human
criterion for distinguishing the good from the bad, that they have not helped people
control their destructive abilities; on the contrary, they have incited the destructive
power in humans.22 The neglecting idea about ethics and morality created the
destructive human being (drugs, prostitution, AIDS, etc.) It has created the type that

79
wants wars in one place of the world (extermination of thousands people) in order to
please their sporty lust.23 We are really living in a morally immature global society.
Thirty years ago people started seriously to look for the cure of this social
pathology, aiming at human transformation and re-wakening. It was concluded that
the way to this transformation goes exactly through ethics; therefore, this science
gained the feature of the most important science of the time. Moving forward is not
possible without ethics. Either the human will recognize the good, or else he will self-
terminate. This was the conclusion. The great Spanish scientist, Federico Mayor,
director of UNESCO, claimed that the only compass which will securely lead us to
the future is ethics. Ethics is the science that will enliven from the family unit to the
international relations.

7. Students’ perceptions on ethics: SEEU case

The most important part of this paper is the study realized by the UNESCO
24
International Network – Macedonian Unit on Bioethics at the SEEU campus, in
December 2007, which we think carries the specifications of the opinion
representation of 7500 students. The number of surveyed students was 750 (which
means 10% of the total) which is quite reasonable for the social science parameters.
Survey, statistical and analytical methods were used in this study project. The
research hypothesis was that “SEEU students are not well informed about issues on
ethics (question 1), and that “the students support the expansion of ethical subjects in
their departments (question number 6). Apart from the academic staff, students also
gave their contribution to the realization of this project, by distributing and collecting
the questionnaires, technically processing the data, which actually included them in
the research process itself and introduced them to a vital problem in our everyday
life. Let us now see the achieved results.

80
 a. How do the students define Ethics?

Below you will be able to see the answers given on the question: What does
ethics mean? How do you define it?
By making this question, we aimed at revealing the students’ knowledge about
ethics. We have only chosen some of the most representative responses to this
question, from each faculty.

Faculty of Public Administration and Political Sciences

- norms, morality rules, habits and customs
- human behaviour in the society
- behaviour according to specific principles
- crucial rules that define the human as such
- politeness
- morality application at university
- sincere way of living
- science on morality
- science on morality, spiritual world of human individuality

Faculty of Languages, Culture and Communication

- science on morality
- science on morality and morality attitude
- rules about the consciousness of the personnel
- human character, rules, sincerety, etc.
- Integrity and honor
- consciousness, culture and normal way of acting
- respect for written and unwritten rules
- behaviour, norms, rules that a person does or has in his lifetime

81
 Business Administration Faculty
- science on morality
- respect of moral and professional rules
- unwritten rules according to which a person acts and lives (what is right and
what is wrong)
- science that studies moral norms and standards
- codec of moral principles and rules that adjust the behaviour of individuals
and groups
- a good deed in our favor, without harming the others, nature and society
- behaviour regulations at university

Faculty of contemporary sciences and technologies

- behaviour regulations, written

- bonton, rules to be obeyed by the majority
- philosophy of morality and well-behaviour
- coorect attitude
- rules that protect morality, privacy without interfering with others’ privacy
- inherited regulations
- special values for each individual, human qualities

Law Faculty

- Ethics is morality, style, and character

- behaviour regulations, politeness
- freedom of expression
- social well-behaviour
- Accepted deed in the society (without religious background)
- Pure feeling which makes you do human deeds
- Respect for intellectual property

82
 - Tolerance.
- Principles of behaviour of a student or teacher
- Moral values; respect for human rights and freedoms

Based on the responses we got, we can conclude that students do not have
enough information and knowledge about issues on ethics. This could be proved by
the fact that about 44% of them did not respond at all. We should also point out some
of the opinions that do not have to deal with the issue in question, such as ”mental
capacity usage”, ”a set of legal norms”, ”science on religion”, ”science on beauty”,
”science on nationalities”, etc. These results support our first and main hypothesis
that students are not well-informed about ethics. It is interesting that some of the
students relate ethics directly to the behavioural environment within the university
itself.
b. Written rules at university?
Chart 1.

Are there written regulations at university?

37%
44%
Yes
No
Don’t
know

19%

Based on this chart, we can see that almost half of the students do not know
whether there are written ethical rules at SEEU. This obliges the university
management to publish and promote the written ethical rules.

83
 c. How much do students/teachers respect ethical principles?

Chart 2.

How much do students respect ethical principles?

75
80

63 64 64
70

60 53 58 56
51
50 46 46 Never
40 34 Sometimes
28 27 30 29
30 Often
Always
20 14

10 5 6
1 0
0
CST BA PA LAW PMT

Based on this chart, we can see that the students from BA Faculty pay less
attention to ethical norms, which is quite logical if we take into consideration that –
besides the Weberian approach to the close relation between ethics and economic
development – today’s economy excludes feelings and promotes skills and craftiness
to profit materially and maximize the capital.

The processing of the 4th question makes us conclude that only 20% of
students claim that teachers always obey morality norms and have a positive course
of behaviour, which is alarming. This implies that there are a lot of issues that need to
change in the teachers’ way of behaviour. The least satisfied in this aspect are
students from the Law Faculty and those from the Faculty of Languages, Culture and
Communication (i.e. 10% , 7.3% of which claim that their teachers never abide by the
ethical norms and principles). In this negative line, Business Administration comes
second with 6% and Public Administration with 4%. On the other hand, only 0.66%
of students from the Faculty of Contemporary Sciences and Technologies claim that
their teachers do not respect the principles of morality and ethics.

84
 d. The need for a subject on ethics!25

In terms of the question whether faculties offer courses on ethics, 66%

responded that ethics is not a part of their curriculum; 15% claimed that it is offered
only as an elective course. This tells that this discipline is not adequately represented
at SEEU, having in mind the fact it is a very actual topic in other countries in the
world.
Some quite interesting results came out from question number 6 (which is the
basis of our research). The question was if ethics should be payed more attention.
75% of respondents confirmed that it has to be more represented in the educational
process, which proves our second hypothesis that students support the expansion of
the ethical subjects in their institution. 19% were indifferent, whereas only 6% do not
support the idea on this matter. The students from the Faculty of Public
Administration and Political sciences strongly support the inclusion of this subject in
their curricula (78.7%); on the contrary, Business Administration students are the
least supportive in this respect with only 8.67%. See chart 3 for more details.

Chart 3.

Should ethics be paid more attention?

120 16 18 15 15
01
100

80
Yes
60
No
2
40 Do not
7 6 6 know!
1
20 3

0
CST BA PA LAW PMT

85
 e. The freedom of expression, intellectual property, anonimity and
information technology crime

Questions 7, 8, 9, and 11 served to investigate some of the ethical problems

which have to do with the freedom of expression, intellectual property and
information technology crime.
The data analysis for the seventh question reveals that only 6% of students are
categorical in terms of the violation of the freedom of expression, and this proves that
SEEU is an extra-territorial institution or a “mini open society”. The largest number
of dilemmas among students about theis issue is registered in the Pedagogical faculty
with 8.67%, followed by the Business Administration (8%) and Public
Administration and Political Sciences (6%).
The answers to the 8th question show that 78% of students have dilemmas
related to the respect of the intellectual property right. This could be connected with
the habit of student plagiarism or the sale of copies of copyrighted materials. At the
same time this shows their awareness in the sphere of research and academic world.
Question 9 (Is anonimity guaranteed within the SEEU network?) gives a
reflection about the insecurity of “university scholars” as regards the protection of
their privacy within the SEEU cyber network. 51% of respondents say that the are not
sure whehter thier privacy is guaranteed in the SEEU network; 20% claim that it is
not guaranteed at all, whereas 29% affirmatively answered this question.

86
Chart 4.

/ƐĂŶŽŶŝŵŝƚLJŐƵĂƌĂŶƚĞĞĚǁŝƚŚŝŶƚŚĞ^hŶĞƚǁŽƌŬ ?

29%

Yes
No
51% Do not
know

20%

51% of students said that they do not know what information technology crime
is whereas the rest answered positively. It was natural to receive an affirmative
response to this question from the students of the Computer Sciences Faculty.

8. Conclusion

In the ancient Greek literature, ethics referred to what we call today way of life
(modus vivendi). It offers answers to questions like: “How should we live?”, “How to
be good?”. It is a fact that nowadays, we do not present morality and ethics as
something which has to be learnt, but as something whose choice depends on us
meaning that people can live without it as well. As giles Lipovetzki says in “Le
crepuscule de devoir” (Duty twilight), “We are living the post-deontic era, where
human behavior is free from the last traces of “infinite duties”, “orders” and
26
“absolute obligations” ; it is a time which Baumann qualifies as the time of
worriless society, with “it is…” without a “must”, with human relations free of
obligations towards one another. All this generates a situation of post-modern crisis,
where everything is relative and without values, where axiology is not taken into

87
account, even though it is not only a necessity, but an obligation of social, cultural
and historical tendencies. The avoidance of this element means destruction of
morality and as a result, extermination of humanity. In order to protect ourselves
against anti-values and evil deeds we need more than merely education. This was best
proved by Albert Einstein who, among other things, says, “Education on its own is
not the solution, since as we saw in the case of fascism, some of the greatest crimes
27
were committed by the well-educated people.” Therefore, apart from education,
people should also take care of nurturing which today’s schools do not. Education
today offers scientific data, theoretical explanations, but when it comes to values, it
remains neutral. Our study represents the first empirical research at our university.
We believe that it will be the first chain ring in the series of others that will
scientifically deal with this social problem producing positive results in the so called
social craft.
The most important conclusions of this research are:
- Students enter universities with almost no knowledge in ethics;
- There is an unavoidable need for the implementation of subjects which deal
with morality and ethical issues. In this respect, the Ministry of Education
and Science and universities should undertake action in increasing the
number of subjects of this field;
- Students themselves are willing to acquire the code of ethics, even within the
framework of their curricula, as an upgrade to previously absorbed morality
culture in their families, secondary schools, etc.
- University staff and students should pay more attention to the behavioral
dimension.

88
 Endnotes:

1
Ali Pajaziti, Director of CRPA (Center for Research in Public Administration), sociologist,
SEEU; Mentor Hamiti, Pro-dean of FCST, SEEU; Murtezan Ismaili, Dean of Faculty of
Contemporary Sciences and Technologies, SEEU.
2
Radomir, Videnoviü, “The Need for Ethics”, Facta Universitatis, Vol. 2, No 10, 2003, p.
773.
3
Vuko Paviqeviq, Bazat e etikës, trans. Murteza Luzha, Rilindja, Prishtinë, 1981, p. 8.
4
Ekrem Murtezai, Fjalor i filozofisë, Prishtina, 1995, p. 462.
5
Milika Dhamo & Anila Sulstarova, Etika në këshillim, Logoreci, Tirana, 2006, p. 16.
6
Milan Vujaklija, Reþnik stranih reþi i izraza, Beograd, 1980, p. 585.
7
Ali Bullaç, Historia, shoqëria dhe tradita, Logos-A, Shkup, 2003, p. 263.
8
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1993/XI: 414-417. Ethics, Lexico Publishing Group. Retrieved
on 2008-03-27.
9
Ojvind Larsen, Administration, Ethics and Democracy, Ashgate Publishing Company,
Aldershot, Burlington, USA, 2000, p. 55-72.
10
Enciklopedia e përgjithshme e Oksfordit, trans. Abdurrahim Myftiu e të tjerë, Instituti i
Dialogut & Komunikimit, Tirana, 2006, p. 332.
11
Dhamo & Sulstarova, ibidem.
12
See: Encyclopedia Britannica, XI, p. 414-417.
13
Spahiü, p. 8-15.
14
http://www.klminc.com/ethics/ethical-crisis.html
15
Pajaziti (ed), f. 272.
16
Shqip Media, 16 April 2008. f. 9.
17
It is about the campaign organized by the Macedonian Government on 12 March ”Plant
your future”, where two million saplings were supposed to be palnted, one for every inhabitant in
Macedonia. It was a very good action in terms of ethics of survival or ecological ethics, but the
irresponsibility of nature distractors in the capital city showed its consequences .
18
Spahiü, Mustafa, Etika i društvo, Bemust, Sarajevo, 2006, p. 210; Koha, 23/24 September
2008, p. 2, 16 prill 2008, p. 5; TV A1, 18 April 2008.
19
Dushan Nedeljkoviq, Istorija na filozofijata, Makedonska Kniga, 1984, p. 306.
20
Pajaziti (ed.), f. 274.
21
The French scientist Stephane Courtois in the preface of his book “Black Book of
Communism” offers a chilling reflection on victims of the “Red Plaque” : Soviet Union – 20

89
million, China – 65 million, Vietnam – 1 million, North Korea – 2 million, Cambodia – 2 million,
Eastern Europe – 1 million, Latin America – 150 thousand, Africa – 1.7 million, Afghanistan – 1.5
million, etc. Fascism did the same.
22
Temkov, Etika, Skopje, 2004, f. 16-17.
23
England’s ex-football coach Steve McLaren’s statement given to the newspaper Inside
Sports that he wants war to happen in Balkans, between Croatia and Serbia, so that England will
have the right to take part in the European Championship in Switzerland – Austria 2008. (Shpic, 16
April 2008, p. 18.)
24
This branch was established on 22nd October 2007 and was included in the annual report
of UNESCO (International Network of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics Annual Report 2007).
Among its activities are the translation into Albanian of Informed Consent by Armon Carmi
and the project “Ethics and IT: Case of SEEU”. Further activities will be focused on regional
TEMPUS projects on ethics. http://www.seeu.edu.mk/english/news/events_read.asp?Event_ID=100
25
In our country, ethics is hardly ever included in the scope of school subjects. A specific
case was the experimental teaching in a kindergarten in Skopje during 2003-2005 as well as in four
secondary schools (Draçevo, Kriva Pallanka, Kavadarci and Skopje). This subject has been
adequately included in university curricula. One of the first to fight for this action is prof. Kiril
Temkov. [see: Pajaziti (ed.), Etika Publike, Logos-A, Skopje, 2005, p. 200-201).
26
Bauman, Postmoderna etika, trans. Zharko Trajanoski et. al., Templum, Skopje, 2005, f.
9-10.
27
The Future Of Higher (Lifelong) Education: For All Worldwide, A Holistic View
(http://ecolecon.missouri.edu/globalresearch/chapters/2-14.html)

90
 REFERENCES

BAUMAN, Zigmund, Postmoderna etika, Templum, Shkup, 2005.

BULLAÇ, Ali, Historia, shoqëria dhe tradita, trans. Ali Pajaziti, Logos-A, Skopje,
2003.
DENHARDT, Robert D. & GRUBBS, Joseph W., Administrimi publik, përkth. Blerta
Selenica, UFO University Press, Tirana, 2007.
DHAMO, Milika & SULSTAROVA, Anila, Etika në këshillim, Logoreci, Tirana,
2006.
Enciklopedia e përgjithshme e Oksfordit, përkth. Abdurrahim Myftiu e të tjerë,
Instituti i Dialogut & Komunikimit, Tirana, 2006.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1993.
HAXHI-MICEVA, Katerina, Kodeks na odnesuvanje kako samoregulatoren
mehanizam, Center for Strategic Research and Documentation “Forum” &
ECNL, Skopje, 2007.
HUDDLESTON, Lauren, "Morals, Ethics and Common Values", World Future
Society, Washington, DC, 1996.
LARSEN, Ojvind, Administration, Ethics and Democracy, Ashgate Publishing
Company, Aldershot, Burlington, USA, 2000.
MURTEZAI, Ekrem, Fjalor i filozofisë, Prishtina, 1995.
PAJAZITI, Ali (ed.), Etika Publike, Logos-A, Skopje, 2005.
PAVIQEVIQ, Vuko, Bazat e etikës, përkth. Murteza Luzha, Rilindja, Prishtina, 1981.
SPAHIû, Mustafa, Etika i društvo, Bemust, Sarajevo, 2006.
TEMKOV, Kiril, Etika, Prosvetno Delo, Skopje, 2004.
___________, "Zo¡to etikata vo javnata slu`ba e op¡ta i va`na tema?", Pravnik, no.
187, November 2007.
___________, “Dobri ljudi, dobri odnosi, za dobar život i dobro društvo”, Filozofska
Istraživanja, 93 (2/2004) http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?

91
VIDENOVIû, Radomir, “The Need for Ethics”, Facta Universitatis, Vol. 2, No 10,
2003, f. 769 – 775.
VUJAKLIJA, Milan Reþnik stranih reþi i izraza, Beograd, 1980.
http://ecolecon.missouri.edu/globalresearch/chapters/2-14.html
http://www.seeu.edu.mk/english/news/events_read.asp?Event_ID=100
http://facta.junis.ni.ac.yu/pas/pas2003/pas2003-06.pdf
http://www.klminc.com/ethics/ethical-crisis.html

92
 INVESTIGATING CORRUPTION IN MACEDONIAN
HIGHER EDUCATION*

keywords: higher education, corruption, bribery, ethics, young’s values,

Republic of Macedonia

1. Abstract

Corruption (lat. corruptio, corrumpere, i.e., to distort, pervert) as phenomenon

very present in transitional countries, is abuse of public power for personal interests
that have negative impact on whole social dynamics. It is a well-known issue that is
present from political parties, police, judiciary, public officials, to education, on
global basis. There are no societies that are immune, even countries with the high
level of well-being (Norway-religious bodies, Denmark-private sector). Long-lasting
transition countries suffer more from this cancerous social fact: According Transparency
International, the global coalition against corruption, in Macedonia (FYROM) in 2011
corruptive issues increased for 46 %, in Bosnia 59 %, Croatia 57 %.
The empirical part of this research, done in April 2012, is based on semi-
structured interviews (21 basic questions) with 25 alumni of different private and
state universities in Macedonia, which answered our questions on their experience on
corruption throughout their higher education cycle. From the analytical approach we
concluded that other forms of corruption (favoritism, book buying, sexual services)
Ύ
 This paper was prepared in the framework of the regional project Education Specific Corruption in the
Western Balkans (Escoweb) supported by the Regional Research Promotion Programme in the Western
Balkans (RRPP), which is run by the University of Fribourg upon a mandate of the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation, SDC, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The views expressed in this
paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent opinions of the SDC and the University of
Fribourg. (“The Impact of Higher Education: Addressing the challenges of the 21st century”, EAIR 35th
Annual Forum 2013, 28-31 August 2013, Erasmus Universitait Rotterdam, the Netherlands).
93
are more present than bribery or direct payment in our universities, that reporting
corruption cases is not occurring from revenge fear and that all student declare that
corruption damages education and their future prospect.

2. Ethics and Moral Panic

The concept of ethics has a long history in different disciplines of social

sciences. Usually, ethics is understood as reflecting on and recommending concepts
of right and wrong behavior. Ethics can be defined as ‘‘the study of right and wrong;
of the moral choices people make and the way in which they seek to justify them’’
(Thompson 1999: 1). Ethics deals with right and wrong and reflects one's morals (R.
Klimes).
The core of ethics consists in values that describe desired states and behaviors
(Tušen & Žager, 2006:144 in Krasniqi, 140). Ethics can be defined as a an entirety of
moral rules and values (Tokiü 2003) which direct man’s act in certain conditions and
times. It deals with judging human acts as right, wrong, preferable or undesirable on
the ground of certain values and standards in a social environment or beyond. Its duty
is to show right and true values. Philosophers, religious organizations and other social
groups have their own definitions for ideal moral rules and values. (Krasniqi, 141)
Sociological theories and those about collective deviation today speak about
the risk society, moral panic, Thompson, moral breakdown, etc. Some analyzers of
the social context of our time use terms such as “the time of evil”, “of the wicked”,

94
“of the demoniac”. Various authors speak about a corrupted world, about a state in
which both the people and elites have lost the elementary ethical standards. (Eigen,
2003: 171) It is a global phenomenon, from our country (bank robbery, rapes,
increase of divorces etc.), to nearby countries like Montenegro (“Deep Moral Crisis”-
HGI, Radio Tivat), Slovenia (“Moral Crisis”, Dnevnik, 22.03.2012) to faraway ones,
like USA, “the country of dreams” about which one can find on the web articles like
this: “12 factors that are turning streets of America into a Living Hell” (Out Of
Control Gang Violence, Naked Criminals Going Crazy, Jersey Shore In Real Life,
Horrifying Abuse Of Children, Nightmarish Abuse Of Wives And Girlfriends,
Horrifying Abuse Of Animals, America’s Meth Epidemic, Mob Robberies etc.).
Albania sociologist G. Tushi says they are right when they say we are all in a
general social crisis that appears not only in the social chaos of human life, but also in
the great natural turmoil, as there are happening things which parallelly affect our
reality, while our society is being “poisoned”, nature is “perishing” and man is being
“corrupted. (Tushi, 2010)
We are living in the time of the seven social sins mentioned by Mahatma
Gandhi:
• Richness without work
• Entertainment without conscience
• Knowledge without character
• Business without morals
• Science without humanity
• Religion without sacrifice and
• Politics without principles (Eigen, 2003: 181)
The alarm appearing throughout the planet calls for the acute need for a “moral
framework” to save the world from a moral crisis that is graver than the global
financial crisis (Pope Benedict XVI), for a global enterprise to enliven the respect for
life and peace, solidarity and justice, tolerance and honesty, for the realization of
interests without violence, for social justice in economy, for fighting corruption and

95
other evils that are deepening the crisis every day, and for a new ethical framework
(H. Küng).

3. Higher Education & Bologna process in Macedonian Context

As Ortega Y. Gasset writes on his book The Mission of the University,

knowledge is the the biggest achievement of the human being, but bigger than that is
life itself, because it enables the realization of the knowledge. University, i.e. higher
education is spiritus movens of society. In 2009 RM had 7.2% of citizens with high
education, 25.000 unemployed with university diploma, while 15% of the employed
were university graduates. In Macedonia, the period of transition brought wide
liberalization of the market of higher education services (ɉɨɩɨɫɤɢ, 2010: 14), active
role of the private initiative and the birth of new universities, phenomena described it
as a “University boom”. The chart of the places of the high education in the Republic
of Macedonia brings in front of us these institutions:

Public Universities

• Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje

• St. Clement of Ohrid University of Bitola
• Goce Delþev University of Štip
• University for Information Science and Technology "St. Paul The Apostle" in
Ohrid
• State University of Tetovo

Private Universities and Faculties

• South East European University

• International Balkan University

96
 • Euro College Kumanovo
• International University Of Struga
• FON University
• University American College Skopje
• University of Tourism and Management in Skopje
• Slavic University
• European University-Republic of Macedonia
• University of Studies Struga "EuroCollege"
• MIT Faculties
• New York University Skopje
• University for Audiovisual Arts - Parisian European Film Academy ESRA -
Skopje
• International Summer University
• BAS - Business Academy Smilevski - Skopje

During the recent years new faculties and study programs were opened in
almost all cities of RM, a process known as dispersion, de-concentration, or simply
fragmentation of high education, as a tool for as great an inclusion of students as
possible. This phenomenon is accompanied by many problems, like the educational
staff (a traveling caravan from a city to another, lectures held mostly by assistants or
demonstrators), inadequate conditions for education (lessons held in kindergarten,
elementary and high schools, restaurants, cultural centers, malls, administrative
buildings etc.) and administration, finances, the lack of methods to increase the
number of students… (ɉɨɩɨɫɤɢ, 2010: 5-6)
Like other countries in transition, RM strives to catch with international trends
in high education, like that of the Process of Bologna. As it is known, on June 1999
the representatives of the Ministers of Education of 29 European countries signed a
contract in Bologna (Italy) to formulate the Bologna Declaration, in order to establish
a European area for the high education (EHEA-European Higher Education Area.
The liberalization of the enrollments in Macedonia especially during the academic
97
year 2010/2011 devastated the earlier criteria of enrollments and the positions of the
balance between the private universities and the public ones. The Government made
almost free the enrollment in the public universities, a step that harmed the private
universities and the competition.
The Republic of Macedonia became a member of the Bologna Process in 2003,
while it began the changes of the system of high education since 1999. In this
direction has been approved the Law of high education and the reforms that followed
made the Universities to begin the affirmation of the lifelong learning, the
implementation of ECTS, of the studying programs according to Bologna, integrated
universities, the use of IT (information technologies), the system of three cycles, the
implementation of the concept for good learning results, putting into practice the
supplement diploma, the joint degrees, the mobility of the students and the teachers,
the internal and external evaluation etc. (Programi nacional..., 2006:250-262) The
Government of the Republic of Macedonia has been making for a longer period of
time a medial campaign pro-education with the slogan “Education is force,
knowledge is power”.
In the meantime happened the changes in the Law of high education dealing
with accreditation and evaluation, which mingled with the academic circles. The
professors of the University of Skopje came out and protested in the streets to defend
the autonomy of the university and the dignity of the profession of the scientist. The
idea of these changes in the Law was to implement the so called already accepted
standards in the European area of education. These standards are implemented by
ENQA-European Network for Quality Assurance, and others as well. This evaluation
is made by commissions of different fields from at least three professors of
internationally recognized Universities. In the so far laws for the high education from
2000 and 2008 the process of evaluation and accreditation have been separated
procesess. There was the Accreditation Board and the Evaluation Agency. While on
one hand the Accreditation Board functioned on a permanent line, The Evaluation
Agency worked from time to time. It did not have any meeting, as is the case in 2004-
2007. In the new Law of 11 February 2011, is formed a new mutual Board for
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evaluation and accreditation, in order to establish a system of values and quality of
the high education.
According to the Decree of the Government for the regulations and standards
for the establishment of the activity of the institutions of the high education(Official
Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, nr. 168 from December 24, 2010 ):
• The existing institutions of the high education which realize studying
programs of the third cycle/PhD, the mentor should have: in 2010, at
least two reviewed works in scientific international magazines, in the
specific field; and at least one participation during the last five years in
an international conference;
• From the 1 January 2011, at least three revised works published in
international scientific magazines, in the specific field, at least two
participations in international conferences, and from January of 2012, 4
publications and 2 participations in international conferences.
• In 2015 are requested publications in international magazines with
impact factor.
The other changes have to deal with the criteria of realizing the third cycle of
studying programs. (The Official Gazette of the RM, nr. 168, December 24, 2010
and nr. 17, February 11, 2011, Pajaziti & Jashari, 2012: 13)
According to the State Statistical Office, there were 58 747 enrolled students in
the Republic of Macedonia in the academic year 2011/2012. The number of enrolled
female students was 31 233 or 53.2%. The highest number of students, or 84.6%,
were enrolled in public tertiary institutions, while 15.0% were enrolled in private
tertiary institutions. There were 18 152 students enrolled in the first year of studies,
which is 30.9% of the total (students that are enrolled in the first year for the second
time, third time or more are also covered here). (Pajaziti & Jashari, 2012)

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 4. Corruption and Higher Education

"Corruption is the most controversial problem of the world", stated Cobus de

Swardt, managing director at Transparency International. It is a social disease that
cruses the body of the society, one of the most negative phenomena of the era in
which we live, the infection that attacks almost all societies.
The word corruption steams from Latin corrumpere, which means “to break”,
“to destroy”, “to annihilate”. “The most general meaning of corruption, as systematic
phenomena (Dinkovski, 20012: 12), is that of impurity, infection, or decay.
Corruption can happen to anything – a piece of fruit, a sporting event, a religious
community, or a university – but the term is now most commonly used to suggest that
there is something rotten in the government of the state”. (Hindes, 2007: 807)
Corruptive acts break the law, moral and human duties and norms, the basic
principles of honesty, that’s why some dictionaries have defined it as moral
deviation, foulness, baseness. Merriam-Webster defines it as impairment of integrity,
virtue, or moral principle, as “inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means
(as bribery)”. The World Bank defines it as “unlawful use of public resources for
personal gain”, similarly to Transparency International, which defines it as “the abuse
of entrusted power for private gain”. The Development Program of UN defines
corruption as “abuse of public power or authority for personal gain – through bribery,
abuse of duty, trading of influence, nepotism, deceit, and abuse of funds. IMF defines
this social cancer as “abuse of public authority or trust for personal gain”. (Danilet,
2011: 14-17) Transparency International has published the Corruption Perception
Index for 2012, which ranges 176 countries according to their levels of corruption.
Findings show that corruption continues to challenge societies throughout the world.
Macedonia remains at the same position as the last year, at 69. (zhurnal.mk)
The government of RM defines fighting against organized crime and
corruption as the highest priority. The term corruption as pertaining to the Law

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Against Corruption, means the use of public function and authorization, of official
duty and position to achieve any personal gain.
Education-specific corruption, defined by Rumyantseva (2005: 86) as
“corruption that involves students as agents and has direct affect on their values,
beliefs, and life chances”. There are some categories of corrupt practices in
education:
• Bribes and pay offs

• Embezzlement

• Criteria bypass

• Academic fraud

• Unethical individual behavior

• Favoritism and nepotism

• Traffic of influence (Fajfer, 2012)

According Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) there

are several forms of corruption in education: economic (bribery, embezzlement,
fraud, unethical procurement), abuse of power and preferential treatmenat (extortion,
favoritism, nepotism) and academic misconduct (teacher shirking, student shirking,
ghost teachers, academic dishonesty, academic bribery, grade inflation). (EDC, 2012:
11-13)
Corruption hurts students by:
9 Undermining educational quality
9 Reducing educational resources
9 Providing inequitable access to educational services
9 Diminishing student optimism about fulfilling their potential
9 Limiting career prospects
9 Devaluing degrees
Corruption hurts institutions by:
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 9 Leading to high dropout rates
9 Lowering the quality of education
9 Leading to lower prestige of institution
9 Devaluing degrees
9 Redirecting public resources to individuals

9 Creating a cycle of incompetence (EDC, 2012: 16-17)

Resource: Milovanovitch, 2012.

It is important to analyze and tackle corruption in education because it sets

negative standards and norms that shape the behavior of new generations.
Corruption in the higher education is neglected form of corruption, but that is the
most dangerous one, that affects whole social structure and system. Corruption in
education affects not only students but the entire society. In terms of the number of
people affected education is probably the worst hit sector. Undermines education
quality, equitable access to education services. Exacerbates social cleavages and,

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consequently, undermines social and national cohesion. Retards transition to or
consolidation of democracy and economic development (through decline of the
quality). (Fajfer, 2012)
We need to confront the corruption that most affect us and to try to
change and influence the reform of the education system to become better, more
efficient, transparent, with the possibility of control and hopefully no corruption, that
is not a utopian condition.
Corruption in higher education is the main obstacle to education reform in
Macedonia and South East Europe and the acceptance of European standards in
education - the full implementation of the Bologna Declaration and its core
principles.
In South East Europe there is a Anti-corruption Student Network that
contributes to decrease of higher education corruption level and influences higher
education reform. Members of this network are:
• Belgrade Open School -Serbia
• Youth Educational Forum - Macedonia
• Monitor Statistica - Croatia
• Youth Society for Peace and Development of the Balkans – Bulgaria
• National Center for Transparency and Human Rights – Moldova
The main goals of this Network are the research on presence and different
forms of corruption at universities and faculties; informing and raising awareness
across academic community target groups (students, professors and administrative
staff) and general public about presence of corruption in education; attract students,
professors and administrative staff to actively engage in anti-corruption activities;
motivating and training students to participate in the reform process; monitor higher
education reform process; create transparent higher education environment and its
institutional and legal framework; take transparent University regulation and inform
about its content; advocate introduction of regulations and mechanisms for stopping
corruption; exchange of experience and good practices with other activists within and
outside of the country. (bos.rs/cde-eng/higher-education)
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 A Postcard with anti-corruption message: Which one of these is yours? (Resource: Addressing
Corruption in Education, EDC, 2012: 12)

According to Transparency Zero Corruption in Macedonia, unfortunately,

corruption in education is still a taboo topic. Although there is a high level of
perception of corruption activities and fight for its elimination are very small or
invisible, or rather sensitive. Major problem according to them is that students are
afraid to report such cases which favor the silence of the professors and university
administrations. Because nobody protects 100 thousand students, according to
Transparency Zero Corruption, they care less to talk loudly about the corruptive
appearances. Current model of student Ombudsman, who exists only in Skopje and in
Bitola University, proved to be unsuccessful. The Ombudsman registered several
cases of complaints from students, but they are symbolic, Transparency Zero
Corruption added. (transparency.org.mk)
Very few are researches in Republic of Macedonia about the relation between
high education and corruptive acts, although behind curtains it is spoken about a great
spread of abusive acts by university lecturers, a part of whom have dishonestly
achieved Master and PhD degrees (as in the case of diplomas bought in neighbor
countries), or about politicians who “deal with problems in state universities) while
they graduate people in private universities (of coalition partners [Vankovska]).
Foundation Open Society Institute (2003), Center for Civil Communication (2006),
NGO – Youth Educational Forum (Ɇɥɚɞɢɧɫɤɢ ɨɛɪɚɡɨɜɟɧ ɮɨɪɭɦ), Anti Corruption
Student Network (2011) etc. have dealt with the problem of corruption.

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 From the research realized form Foundation Open Society Institute was
concluded that 30 % of the students said that professors’ signatures can be obtained
through “connections” and acquaintances. 26 % of the respondents said that they had
been requested to pay a bribe to take an exam. 79% Pedagogy, 90% Economic
Faculty mentioned “hearsay” on bribe. 55% of students declared that some professors
sold books and 23 % that majority of university professors sell their books to their
students; 86% of the respondents did not heard about heard of a student having
initiated a procedure because of bribe requested, 11% had heard of procedures that
had been completed. (2003: 2-4)
Press in RM time after time reports cases like the arrestment of a 59 years old
professor from Philology Faculty of Saint Cyril and Methodius University, suspected
for having demanded bribe from a third year student in order to pass the English
exam. (ȼɟɱɟɪ, 2009)
At the time of minister Todorov, the Ministry of Education and Science, in
cooperation with student associations in five state universities, began a campaign for
fighting corruption in high education. The campaign consisted in opening offices for
students to report cases of corruption or any other irregularity in the work of faculties,
a website through which students and other persons involved in high education would
be able to denounce corruption cases anonymously or with their full name.
(netpress.mk, 6.6.2010)
About 60% of respondents in a research by the Institute for Sociological and
Political-Juridical Researches, have admitted that corruption is spread throughout the
education system in RM, especially in high education, while only 10.8% have
declared that there is no corruption at all in the education system. (TV Orbis,
25.05.2010)
The research by Youth Education Forum, conducted with 330 students of Ss
Cyril and Methodius University, shows that corruption makes up the fourth problem
in weight in high education, after unserious approach by students, weak formation of
educational staff, and low educational level in general. According to the same
research, 23% of students have expressed readiness to give money in order to pass the
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exam, and 20% for a bed at the dormitory. 91% of them would not denounce
corruption cases if they would be to their advantage. (Nova Makedonija, 29.06.2011)
According to the same organization, students complain about corruption. Most often
professors demand they buy their books and ask for bribery. Such complains have
reached the student ombudsman. (Jovanovska, 2011)
According to a research by Transparency International, OSCE mission to
Skopje and Rating Agency, with 1800 citizens (September 26-30, 2012) from 84
communes in Macedonia, 55.1% of respondents believe corruption in much spread,
while 56% think there is too much corruption in high education. According to this
research, 26% of students in the survey have given or have been asked for bribe to
pass a faculty exam. (portalb.mk)
The press has registered specific cases like that of sponsoring professor’s book
for a grade (Lobi, 2003), of the “macro-method” (with intermediary), of three tools
for passing “the chair, the pocket or the bed”, of “the gun method” (Fakti, 2005) etc.
5. Alumni Narratives on Corruption Affairs in Universities
in Republic of Macedonia

“One of my friends payed electricity bills of

professor’s household” (25 years, student of economy, 2012)

Our empirical research (realized in cooperation with our university colleague

Shqipe Gërguri), based on a semi-structured questionnaire (21 questions), conducted
in March-April 2012 with 24 former students of the two Albanian universities in
Tetovo, and of Ss Cyril and Methodius University and FON, in Albanian and
Macedonian language. The respondents were selected randomly.

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 Table 1. No. of interviewees by Department:

University Departments F

Machinery 1
Art 1
Pedagogy 2
Veterinary 1

Political Science 2

Law 5

Diplomacy 2

Economy 3

Architechture 1

Sociology 1

Geography 1

Work and Social Policy 1

Public Administration 2

Philology 1

Total 24

As it is seen in the table, students of various departments of high education, of

social as well as exact sciences, have been included. After pressing the questionnaire
and selecting the persons to be included, we made the appointments and with a
dictaphone recorded their answer which then we transcribed.

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 Table 2. Interviewees by year of graduation
Year of graduation
2006 1
2007 3
2008 4
2009 3
2010 4
2011 8
2012 1
Total 24

From this research we have reached the following main findings:

• Other forms of corruption are more widespread than bribery or direct

payment.
• Ethnic Macedonians perceived to use more relations and gifts,
Albanians bribing with cash or payment in kind.
• Buying books from professors as authors, sometimes appears as
conditional upon exam pass and/or higher grades.

Table 3. Did you ever by yours e lf or do you k now

s om e body w ho has any e xpe rie nce about the obligation
to buy the book from profe s sor?

20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
YES NO

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• Favoritism: with various forms occurring in all departments.
• Ethnic affiliation has impact on forms of corruption e.g. ethnic
Macedonians perceived to use more relations and gifts, Albanians
bribing with cash or payment in kind.
• Another form is using family relations of professors to get unfair help.
• In some high education institutions students act/peform as intermediates
for bribing.
• There are some says about students sexual services to pas exam or to get
better grades.
• Some professors offer private courses, sometimes compulsory.
• They usually ranked the university corruption as lower occurring than
the government.
• Most corrupted departments of pedagogy, medicine, economy and law.
• Professors are more corrupted than Dean’s office and Secretary.
• Reporting the abuse is not occurring, because of fear of revenge by the
professors.
• Assistants have better reputation than their tutors, more transparent. “In
cases of senior choose interventions, the younger gave us the chance to
learn!” . “Assistants were more transparent. The result was positive” (31
year old teacher). “An old professor disrupted my notebook. You have
the book, no need for notes.” (24 years old student, graduated in 2011)
• Increasing a grade by intermediary in 100 % is considered as act of
injustice, as non-appropriate behavior.

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 Table 4. Example of alumni narrative

29 years old. Working. Graduated on law, 2008. Do you have a good feeling
about your time at the university? Not at all. Undergraduate studies were a very bitter
experience with low quality; I was autodidact (self-educated), with a very poor
(weak) staff. Mos difficult course, first year: Roman law. We were beginners, and the
subject was complicated. I pushed this subject for later. Contact with lecturer: not,
he was an authoritative person, socialist. No contacts via friends. They have
contacted. "I am not corrupted, but he was also corrupt," but he had a sexual affair.
Private courses, no, my friends, yes. English language, Macedonian language
(student from Kosovo, Albania). Books bought, yes. First year. He (the professor)
went around with the conversation (indicated indirectly) that we should buy it (the
book). “You’ll have questions from there on the exam.” – but there weren’t any
questions! He only wanted to sell the book. The classmates also have bought it. He
was not very authoritative, not very professional. First year. After the lecture, the
window (Window Server Administration) was filled with students, we could not
even take the turn (in the line). Book sells, before the exam, during the lectures.
They’ll pass better (easier). I felt bad, he was obliging us (doesn’t leave us an
option) financially. ... I do not buy book , neither his books, nor those of the other
ones (professors). If the book had quality, I would have bought it. Intervention: no.
Mediator: no. Others yes: 50 Euros per grade. It is like he has put the students in a
market - to find consumers (buyers). In the evening he (a student) went to the
professor’s apartment, had a cup of coffee, the transcript has been signed, he (the
professor) has taken the money. It was the third year of study. He was around 50
years old. I felt bad. We showed solidarity with other students. You cannot avoid
hearsays. Gift, not, nor have I heard friends ... I have heard, for the registering-
injustice. Favors: I have heard. According to me increasing grades is unfair. Distorts
the quality of studies. It happens too often in the administration. ... Some would pay
200, 130 Euros per semester-various fees. In peripheral universities... Money and
books. There were also sexual affairs. Monopolization of assistants by professors.
You will be discriminated, if you are a dissident. Teachers most corrupted.
Complaint: They are an entire line, chain (they come one after another). Prosecutors,
police-need complaint. Most corrupted - the ministries. Economic status: 3. No doubt
on interview, all of it true.

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 5. Conclusions and recommendations

Corruption is an anomaly, a great evil of our time that shows its face
everywhere. It is the foundation of all problems and has a destructive effect on the
social structure (Eigen, 2003). Ethics is a factor of tremendous importance in building
healthy men and societies with stable development and a bright future. Our
universities are in a crisis that is moral among other things. By this research our
intention was to tackle the mechanism behind the various forms of abuse of power in
universities in Republic of Macedonia. From our research we conclude that:
• We don’t dare to talk about corruption in education and everywhere
else, as if it were a taboo or an off limits issue, because it touches all
of us. It is a pick that digs the ship we are on so we all must take
action against it.
• From interviews with former students of various universities in the
country, we conclude that students did not seem to have a very
pleasant university experience, that corruption is present in academic
circles.
• Corruption has involved a part of the intellectual elite and of students
as well, who because of unconsciousness seek to establish ties with
some professors through money and various gifts.
• Students’ fear to declare corruptive acts and the lack of consciousness
for the detection and recognition of more sophisticated forms of
corruption and protectionism, continues to be characteristic for the
new system too in high education (“if we speak studies are over”).
• All of the graduates think that these forms of corruption at the
university most certainly damage the education system but also their
future prospects.
• Most frequent in Pedagogy, Medicine, Law, and Economy. The worst
image: Pedagogy (Skopje).
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 We suggest that universities in RM should approve ethical codes or codes of
conduct which would determine the basic principles of conduct and relations between
students and pedagogues and which would serve as a moral framework of academic
life. Other measures to mitigate the corruption are transparency & communication in
decision process, effective legal and judicial frameworks and institutions, etc. On 31
December 2012, a NGO made a very significant action, by offering citizens in Tetovo
diplomas which at their bottom had a seal that contained the words “Let your
conscience seal”. We hope the message has been conceived by those with a living
conscience.

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 6. References
• Adressing Corruption in Education, Education Development Center, Boston,
2012.
• Altbach, P. G. (2004). The question of corruption in academe. International
Higher Education, 34, 8–10.
• Corruption in Higher Education in the Republic of Macedonia, FOSIM,
Skopje, 2004.
• Danilet, C. (2011). Korrupsioni dhe antikorrupsioni në sistemin e drejtësisë.
Tiranë: Konrad Adenauer & Fondacioni Civitas.
• Ⱦɢɧɤɨɜɫɤɢ ȼ. (2012) ȼɥɢʁɚɧɢɟɬɨ ɧɚ ɬɪɚɧɡɢɰɢʁɚɬɚ ɢ ɨɞɢɜɨɬ ɧɚ ɦɨɡɨɰɢ ɨɞ
ɊɆ, ȳɂȿɍ.
• Eigen, P. (2003). Rrjeti i korrupsionit. Frankfurt/Nju-Jork: Campus.
• Fajfer, L. (2012). “Corruption in Education”, Transparent Education Forum,
March 19-21, Skopje.
• Halimi, Sh. (2012) “Kriminaliteti akademik”, Koha, 08.04.2012.
• Hindess, B. (2007). “Corruption” in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology,
ed. Geroge Ritzer, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• ȳɨɜɚɧɨɜɫɤɚ, E. (2011). “Ʉɚɤɨ ɞɚ ɫɟ ɫɩɪɟɱɢ ɤɨɪɭɩɰɢʁɚɬɚ ɜɨ ɜɢɫɨɨɤɨɬɨ
ɨɛɪɚɡɨɜɚɧɢɟ? ”. in www.fakulteti.mk/15.09.2011
• “Korrupsion, jo më!”, Multikultura & Civica, Tetovë.
• Krasniqi, J. (2009). “Etika e revizorit”, Trendi Global. Prishtinë: Kolegji
Universitar Victory.
• Milovanovitch, M. (2012). “Integrity of Education Systems (INTES): A
Framework for Assessment”, Transparent Education Forum, March 19-21,
Skopje.
• Millçin, V. (2004). Maqedonia dhe korrupsioni. Skopje: FOSIM.
• Pajaziti, A. (2012). Culturological Studies: Education, Politics, Identity.
Skopje: Dauti Foundation & ISPN.
• Pajaziti A. & Jashari, H. (2012). “Higher education in the Republic of
Macedonia: The challenges and the perspectives of the information society and
the Bologna Process”, in Social Studies / Studime Sociale, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2012,
pp. 91-17.
• ɉɨɩɨɫɤɢ, T. (2000). Ʉɜɚɥɢɬɟɬ ɧɚ ɜɢɫɨɤɨɬɨ ɨɛɪɚɡɨɜɚɧɢɟ ɩɨ ɩɪɚɲɚʃɟɑ
Ⱦɢɫɩɟɪɡɢʁɚɬɚ ɤɚɤɨ ɦɚɤɟɞɨɧɫɤɢ ɮɟɧɨɦɟɧ, ɋɤɨɩʁɟ: ɎɂɈɈɆ.
• Radio Evropa e Lirë, 25.09.2009.
• Radio Tivat, 26.07.2012.
• Tokiü, S. (2003). Etiþki kodeks sekcije internih revizora. Zagreb: HEP.
• Thomspon, K. (1998). Moral panic. London: Routledge. 1-22.
• Thompson, M. (1999) Ethical Theory. Hodder & Stoughton, London.
• Tushi, G. (2010). “Njeriu dhe kriza e shoqërisë sonë”, Korrieri, 13.01.2010.
• TV Orbis, 25.05.2010
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• http://www.vecer.com.mk/default.asp?ItemID=4EBB9FBBD8C38345BF7FE7
D3873DC5F6/02.05.2009
• http://www.transparency.org.mk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=vie
w&id=331&Itemid=30
• http://www.netpress.com.mk/mk/vest.asp?id=72898&kategorija=1
• http://www.bos.rs/cde-eng/higher-education_-students-activism-and-
anticorruption
• http://zhurnal.mk/content/?id=1212592646/05.XII.2012
• http://www.pressonline.com.mk/default-
al.asp?ItemID=FD435BFEFB295F4A85C3BD2367B197E1
• http://portalb.mk/CategoryContent/RenderSingleContent/3-Lajme/10406-cdo-
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• http://www.stat.gov.mk/pdf/2012/2.1.12.24.pdf
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Komuna/13668-Urime-diplomimin-Tetove

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 TRANSITION, EDUCATION AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE*

keywords: social transition, education, life conditions, Albanians of Republic

of Macedonia

1. Introduction

Ortega Y. Gasset in his book The Mission of the University says that
knowledge is the biggest achievement of the human being. Today’s society is that of
the third wave, when school and university are the main institutions of social fabric.
Looking from a sociological perspective, education is the determinant of social
mobility and achievement in a micro and macro context in a globalised world.
The Republic of Macedonia is a small Balkan country that is passing through a
long period of transition, where unemployment, vulnerability and social exclusion are
typical elements of social reality. The number people living below the national
poverty line increased from 4% of the population in 1991 to 20% in 1996. According
to State Statistical Office data, in 2008 the percentage of poor people in the Republic
of Macedonia was 28.7%, which is more than a fourth of the whole population. The
survey findings of research done in 2010 (UNDP) show that 40 % of respondents said
that their financial situation was worse than average.

The empirical part of this study is based on a survey (546 respondents) done in
June-July 2012 in three regions inhabited mostly by the Albanian population, aiming

*
Paper presented at 5thWorld Conference on Educational Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 05-08
February 2013, Rome, Italy.
115
to give a real picture about correlation between two indicators, education and life
conditions.

2. Macedonia: From Social Transition towards Europeanization

The term transition means passage from a condition to another, it defines the
process of democratization or the practice of non-democratic regimes turning into
democratic ones. This process was first witnessed in Latin America and then in
southern Europe, followed by central, eastern and southeastern Europe and the so-
called Western Balkans. A characteristic of the transition of ex-socialist countries of
Europe is the passage from the state-directed economy into the market economy and
modern civilization values like free enterprise, competition, private property,
pluralism, open society. The Republic of Macedonia has been coping with these
transitional problems for a period lasting two decades, during which the majority of
the population got poorer (middle class transformed into poor or lower class), when
unemployment, vulnerability and social exclusion are social graves while life
satisfaction is a dream. The instability of the region as a result of the “balkanization
process” and a situation that created a challenging climate for investment contributed
to the rise of social instability.
Corruption is another serious problem that obstructs natural development and
the integration of the country into Euro-Atlantic structures. Some have called the
transition of Macedonia as a transition with “factory defect”. (Vajdenfeld , 1999, pp.
257-278).
Macedonia faces high unemployment (35%) (Pajaziti, 2010, p. 45),
disagreements with neighbors (Cowan, 2000, p. 122-139), absurd antiquisation of
Macedonian identity, the church issue with Serbia, that of language with Bulgaria,
broken inter-ethnic relations (between Macedonians and Albanians), a chapter that
was thought to be over with the interethnic conflict of 2001 and the Framework

116
Agreement which implied constitutional changes in favor of non-Macedonian ethnic
groups and communities that however failed to bring conclusive peace. From 2006
onwards, the country has been living under the turbulence of permanent provocations
by Macedonian state nationalism which showed itself in the most refulgent way in the
case of the Macedonian Encyclopedia, that of the fertility law, in the case of the
castle church in Skopje, the anti-urban project “Skopje 2014” and other irrational
projects costing Macedonian citizens more than one billion Euros in new debts in an
era of global crisis. The transition process was accompanied by low economic growth
compared to neighboring countries. A recession was seen during the early 1990s,
while after the conflict, 2001-2004 there was a growth which in the period up to 2007
was at 4% (nbrm.mk). In 2008, 28.7% of the population was estimated poor (SSO,
2009). The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 32.4% and in the
first quarter of 2010, 33.5%. CNN states that Macedonia's economy is among the
worst in the world (on the same rate with that of Congo, Sudan and Belarus), with a
high rate of unemployment (31.2%) (forum.kajgana.com).

3. Education and Quality of Life

Education is the basis and the main criteria of the progress of every single
community. It means a thorough mastery of the system of knowledge, the creation of
abilities and practical habits, the development of our forces and cognitive capacities,
the development the scientific attitudes about the world, connecting knowledge with
practical and professional activities. Education encompasses all the means,
instruments and the methods which are oriented toward “the change of the behavior
of the people, either through the enlargement of the knowledge, or through the
changes of the attitudes”. Different research done in economy and sociology have
shown that the highest level of knowledge influences positively productivity,
innovation, democratization and social cohesion (Arsenijeviü & Andevski, 2010, p.
32, 36).

117
 Quality of life is an area of study that has attracted an ever increasing amount
of interest over the past two decades, particularly in the areas of health, rehabilitation,
disability studies and social services, but also in medicine, education, and other
fields. Quality of life is in close connection with an individual’s satisfaction and
happiness. People with a higher life standard are more disposed to be part of a
healthy and stable society. According to Lipovcan et.al (2004) QoL is moderated by
the degree of control that an individual perceives to have, and by opportunities for
improvement in specific areas of life (Lipovcan et.al., 2004). In quality of life
research, one often distinguishes between the subjective and objective quality of life.
Subjective quality of life is about feeling good and being satisfied with things in
general. Objective quality of life is about fulfilling the societal and cultural demands
for material wealth, social status and physical well-being.

4. Empirical Research: Education’s Impact on Life Conditions of Ethnic

Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia

Our research is based on 546 questionnaires applied in three important regions of

RM, Skopje, Kumanovo (Northeast region) and Polog, putting under scrutiny the
correlation between education and the quality of life, how education influences the
improvement of life conditions, from individual, subjective (feeling good and being
satisfied with things in general), to societal-objective satisfaction items (fulfilling the
societal and cultural demands for material wealth, social status and physical well-being).
The general conclusions of our research are that the Albanian citizens of Macedonia live
have lower incomes than the average in the country, facing existential difficulties, that
citizens see their social situation as stagnant, with a worsening tendency. Almost half of
the surveyed people expressed low levels of subjective satisfaction. Albanian citizens
express dissatisfaction with public services provided by local governments. The opinion
of respondents demonstrated a graver situation of the Albanian community compared to
the majority community. The vast majority see the political factor as the main one for

118
the general negative climate and living standards. There is a perception that Albanians
have a quality of life much lower than Macedonians.
Our thesis in this research is that education has a positive impact on people’s
individual and family well-being, i.e. schooling improves individual well-being and
affects subjective quality and objective life conditions (Ross & van Willigen, 1997, p.
275), that education means better jobs, better earnings and better life conditions and
vice versa, low levels of education mean low level of quality of life. This fact is
proved by our finding that 70 % of respondents that had not finished elementary
school, with elementary and secondary school earn less than average salary – less
than 350 € (1/3 of the group with higher education earns more than 601 €, 17 % more
than 801 €), that 60 % of them find themselves very unhappy (1, 2 from 1-10 scale)
with their life (this percentage is much lower than those with university education,
MA and Ph.D.-5.6 %). 16 % of the latter group are very happy (8, 9, 10 from 1-10
scale), noting that there is no respondent from the low-educated category that is
satisfied with life conditions. On the question “How satisfied are you with your life
standard?”, 30 % of poorly educated and only 9.4 % of highly educated respondents
declared that live with bad life conditions (0%-9.4% very satisfied). From low-
educated 260 participants, only 20 (7 %) declared that they make ends meet very
easily or easily (21 % of respondents graduated in universities).

Illustration 1. Has your household at any time during the past 12 months run out of money to
pay for essential food for daily meals?

17.8%
Univ. (MA, PhD) 65.7%
16.4%

21.2%
Secondary
59.9%
education No answer
18.5%
No
20.0% Yes
Primary
44.3%
education
35.2%

30.0%
Uncompleted
20.0%
primary
50.0%

119
 45% of the people with university education and only 20 % of them with unfinished elementary
school declared that they are very satisfied with their family life. The research findings showed a
correlation between education and social life: more educated people were more satisfied (21.3% very
satisfied) with this important component of life than them with low level of education (10%).
Low educated citizens felt more the consequences of the economic crisis: in
the last 12 months, the life of the people with low level of education deteriorated
most (50% vs 17.8% at the respondents with higher education). The same observation
was evident also in the collective aspect. Within the Albanian community
deterioration was present mostly in the first category (60% of them declared that their
status as ethnic Albanians was decreasing, despite 35% of university-educated
respondents). This category expressed the biggest complaints about the municipality
where they lived (70%) compared with the group of intellectual elites (35%), about
changes in life in general in Macedonia in the past 12 months (100% - 62%). While
the group with higher education saw the political situation as the main cause of
deterioration (30.8%), the group without primary education (40%), primary school
(20.5%) and high school (19.1%) saw unemployment.
36.6% of respondents with low education and 61% of those with university
education lived in flat /house of 81 or more m². 25% of low educated respondents coped
with lack of space as a serious problem (undergraduate/MA/PhD’s 9.8%). Only 6.6% of
respondents with higher education expressed dissatisfaction about housing, despite 20%
of primary school. The same trend was related to the environment or the neighborhood
(18.2% -40%). The first category lived with problems as rot in windows, floors, damp
walls or floors, inadequate heating etc. house.

Table 1. Do you have problems with rot in windows, doors or floors in your accommodation?
Education level Very serious Some No Refuse to answer
problems problems problems
Uncompleted primary 30.0% 20.0% 50.0% 0.0%
Primary education 22.7% 28.4% 39.8% 9.1%
Secondary education 8.6% 22.8% 58.0% 10.5%
Univ. (MA, PhD) 4.2% 15.0% 63.6% 17.1%

120
 The traditional extended family is more present with people with less education
(60% of them live with 5 or more family members), and the phenomena of a separate
room for any children is specific for people advanced in the educational pyramid
(48% of respondents in this category stated that in their families every child had their
own room). Computer (87% -40%) and the Internet were more prevalent in educated
families (83.9%). 16.6 of the three groups with the lowest educational level were not
able to buy a phone and % and 44% LCD TV. 18% of poorly educated citizens within
the last 12 months had managed to buy household appliances such as furniture, TV,
washing machine (those with higher education, MA and doctorate, 34.6%).
While none of the group of respondents who had not completed primary
education could allow himself a one-week vacation per year (not including family
visits), about 40% of those with undergraduate/ MA/PhD degree had the possibility to
realize such a thing. A trend with significant difference was observed also regarding
the consumption of meat, poultry or fish every second day (35% of people with low
education, and 52% with higher education) and regarding the chance to call friends
for a lunch/dinner at least once a month (38% -53%). Problems were evident for the
first category regarding the payment of electricity, water, phone bills, municipal taxes
etc..

121
 5. Conclusions

Balkan countries live in a stadium of long-lasting transition. Problems of life

conditions are very present in the general societal chart of RM. Education is power
(Scientia potestas est-Bacon),is one of the tools for vertical mobility, is a social
elevator, improver of the quality of life and a great provider of opportunity for self-
realization.
From our research conducted in the middle of this year, we come to the
following general conclusions:

• Educational achievements affect both objective and subjective satisfaction,

they are a generator of pleasure of the citizens, psychological eudaimonia and
material conditions of life.
• People with low-level education feel more the consequences of the economic
crisis.
• Education, quality of life affects the stability of individual and family life.
• Nine categories of material deprivation (EUROSTAT) are present at all
citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, but especially more vulnerable groups,
which include illiterate and those with low education.
• Macedonian ethnic Albanians, compared with the past, have greater
opportunities for educational and economic advancement (and overall quality
of life), at the time when they have established higher education institutions in
their mother tongue and opportunities for access in global competition.

122
 6. References

• Pajaziti, A. et.al. (2010). People Centred Analyses: Quality of Social Services.

Tetovo: SEEU & UNDP.
• Ross C. & van Willigen M. (1997). Education and the Subjective Quality of
Life, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Vol. 38 (September).
• Cowan, Jane K. (Ed.). (2000) Macedonia: The Politics of Identity: The Politics
of Identity and Difference. London: Pluto Press.
• Arsenijeviü J. & Andevski M. (2010). Menadžment obrazovanja za društvo
koje uþi. Novi Sad: Filozofski Fakultet.
• Lipovcan K., et.al. (2004). Quality of life, life satisfaction and hapiness in
shift- and non-shiftworkers”, Rev Saude Publica, 38 (supl);3-10. in
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rsp/v38s0/a02v38s0.pdf
• Estes R. J. (ed.). (2007). Advancing Quality of life in a Turbulent World.
Springer.
• http://www.nbrm.mk/retrieved on 25.09.2012
• http://www.utoronto.ca/qol/retrived on 15.10.2009
• http://forum.kajgana.com/threads/cnn/retrieved on 12.10.2012

123
124
 ISLAM AND MUSLIMS IN BALKAN: ISSUES AND
SOLUTIONSȗ

Balkan is a geographical space, a world of life, which the flow of centuries has
brought most tragic stories to, une civilization par les déchirée conflits; it is a
metaphor of permanent deconstruction, of troubles that have generated a
terminological ignominy: ƒŽƒ‹œƒ–‹‘ǡ which marks misunderstandings,
uncertainties, ethnic and religious antagonisms, the shattering tendencies as the result
of exaggerating and excommunicating mythologies against the other and otherness,
genocide, culturcide etc. Another feature of inter-Balkan communication is
subjectivism, from the political dimension to the scientific rhetoric which must be
grounded on impartial exploration and factography. It is a fact that ƒš ƒŽƒ‹…ƒ
today remains a verbal image which requires efforts to be built in the future. The
corpus of Balkan Muslims, of this “still non-European part of Europe” (P. Rau) made
up by Albanians, Bosnians, Turks, Romani’s, Pomaks and others, has been going
through e real Calvary since 1912, facing the question of physical survival and
having been threatened a number of times especially by pan-Slavic and pan-Orthodox
tendencies which imagine a pre-Ottoman Balkan. Today, at the time of “Balkan
farce” (L. Starova), in this geography dazed by aggressiveness, the islamophobic
spirit is present everywhere, from Greece to Serbia, from Macedonia to Bosnia,
instilling uncertainty among Muslims in these lands.

1. A little demography and history of Islam in Balkan

According to UN data, of 75 million inhabitants of Balkan, 1/5 are Muslims.

The same is asserted by Zentrak-Institut Islam Archive (SOEST). Islam is the second
*
Paper presented at 9th Youth Conference of UNIW, 30 January -03 February 2013, <LJƌĞŶŝĂ͕EŽƌƚŚLJƉƌƵƐ͘ 
125
religion by bulk in Southeast Europe. The most numerous representatives of Balkan
Islam are Albanians and Bosnians. The greatest communities of Muslims in these
lands live in Albania (70%), Bosnia-Herzegovina (40%), Kosovo (89.6%) and
Macedonia (33.3%). According to some futuristic data based of the actual
demographic tendencies, five countries are expected to have a Muslim majority in the
future (Montenegro and Macedonia besides Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia). Islam in
Balkan is very heterogenic, with representatives of local origins, as well as a minority
of comers (businessmen, workers, students from various parts of the Muslim world).
The representatives of Islam are made by various ethnic groups, like Albanians,
Bosnians, Turks, Pomaks, Torbeshs and Romani’s. They speak various languages:
Albanian, Turkish, Slavic (Bosnian, Macedonian, Serbian and Croatian), Romani etc.
They adhere to various theological traditions, the traditional mainstream Sunni Islam
being the absolute dominant, Bektashi order in Albania and a minority of it in
Macedonia, Alawite communities in Bulgaria and a number of Salafi groups
throughout the Balkan. The number of Muslims in certain European countries also
determines the level of Islamic revival (Alibašiü, 2012).

Table 1. Ethno-linguistic diversity of the Muslim population in Southeast Europe


Based on Bourgarel and Clayer (2001: 19) and expanded with fieldwork material. (Öktem, 2010: 10)

126
 The first encounter between Balkan and Islam occurred in the VIII-th century
(Ibrahimi, 2003) while the relationship intensified and was institutionalized with the
arrival of Ottomans in the XIV-XVth centuries. According to Bosnian scholar Smail
Baliü, the continuous history of Islam in Southeast Europe starts with the Ottomans,
marking a tranquil process of massive conversion to Islam, as a reaction to the
pressure by two great churches (Orthodox and Catholic), with a note that the process
among Albanians was also pushed by assimilation threats by Slavs and Greeks. The
thesis about the conversion of Balkan people to Islam due to fear are not true. Prof.
Muhiü says the acceptance of Islam has implied bravery since it required an
investment in human souls (participation in Œ‹Šƒ†), while the retaining of the old faith
implied a tax or tribute (jizya).
Up to the XX-th century Balkan was marked by Muslims. There was no city
without Muslims. Great cities had many mosques, ƒ†”ƒ•ƒ, inns, caravanserai etc. In
his ‡›ƒŠƒ–ƒ‡ of 300 years ago, ˜Ž‹›ƒ.‡Ž‡„‹ says Valjevo has 10 mosques and 1
Turkish bath, Smederevo had 24 mosques, two ƒ†”ƒ•ƒ, one dervish lodge and one
Turkish bath (besides which each house had a Turkish bath of its own). According to
the same author, Mitrovica of Srem had 12 mosques, 6 ƒ•Œ‹† and 5 ƒ†”ƒ•ƒ,
Chachak had 7 mosques, 3 ƒ†”ƒ•ƒ, 3 ƒ•Œ‹†, 10 dervish lodges, 2 Turkish baths
and a caravanserai where dwellers stayed the night for free. He also notes that
Belgrade has 270 mosques, 12 ƒ•Œ‹†, 7 inns, 3 mausoleums, 160 palaces, 6
caravanserai, 7 rooms for bachelors and an ‹ƒ”ƒ– inn (where one could stay for a
months without paying anything and praying for benevolent’s soul instead).
According to the same source, at the time of ˜Ž‹›ƒ .‡Ž‡„‹ ”—•Š‡˜ƒ… Šƒ† ͻ
‘•“—‡•ǡ ‡— Šƒ† ‘‡ ‘•“—‡ ƒ† ͸ ƒ•Œ‹†ǡ ‘œŠ‡‰ƒ ‘ˆ œŠ‹…‡ Šƒ† ͳͲ
‘•“—‡•ǡ ”‹ ȋƒ ˜‹ŽŽƒ‰‡ ‡ƒ” ‘˜ƒ
”ƒ†‹•Šƒ –‘†ƒ›Ȍ Šƒ† ʹͳ ‘•“—‡•ǡ ‘‡
†‡”˜‹•ŠŽ‘†‰‡ƒ†‘‡—”‹•Š„ƒ–ŠǤ—‘˜ƒ”Šƒ†ͷƒ•Œ‹†ǡƒƒ––”ƒ…–‹˜‡‘•“—‡ǡ
•‹Œ‡Šƒ†͸͸‘•“—‡•ǡͳͶ‡‹‰Š„‘”Š‘‘†‘•“—‡•ǡͶ†‡”˜‹•ŠŽ‘†‰‡•ǡƒ„‡ƒ—–‹ˆ—Ž
—”‹•Š„ƒ–Šƒ†ƒ…ƒ”ƒ˜ƒ•‡”ƒ‹Ǥ‡”œ‡‰‘˜‹Šƒ†Ͷ͸‘•“—‡•ǡͶͶƒ•Œ‹†ƒ†ʹ
ƒ†”ƒ•ƒǤ (Ahmedi, 2010) Today: urban space of the mentioned cities totally

127
changed, the are no - or a very low percentage of (as Bayrakli Mosque) - islamic
cultural and civilizational elements.
In the judicial and doctrinary aspect Muslims in Balkan belong to the Hanafi-
Maturidi school and to the Ottoman cultural space in the cultural-civility aspect.
Islam and Muslims offer a culturological treasure for Europe, making it special.
Those who view Europe as a hotbed of Christian nations, have no answer to the fact
that Muslims have not disappeared even in the face of most barbaric acts and
persecutions against them.

2. From Pax Ottomana to the century of Balkanization

The Ottoman state remained for more than five centuries under the Balkan sky.
Thanks to the social system called ‹ŽŽ‡– (religious communities) which defined the
cultural and religious rights of non-Muslim communities (Christian and Hebrew), a
tolerance prevailed throughout the empire at that period where ethnic diversity did
not pose a problem but a gift. This system enabled the regulation of ethnic, religious
and linguistic issues through promoting tolerance for all. (ɂɜɚɧɨɜ, 2004: 67-77)
The revival of nationalism and of the exclusionary feeling towards the other,
associated with the contemporary term of “balkanization”, became a feature of this
geography along the XX-th century, reaching its peak with the Serbian barbarism of
the 90’s when the living space of Muslims became a slaughterhouse of modernity.
During the post-Ottoman period Muslims became a community hated and
persecuted by new Balkan states. They were percieved as remains of the Ottoman
state, to be eliminated or expelled. This was the strategy which various
establishments designed to carry out through various means, like cultural, economic
and political pressure. Each new Christian state in Balkan had its own method of
oppression against Muslims in order to make them leave. (Öktem, 2010: 5)
According to Justin McCarthy from Louisville University in USA, the various wars
and agreements for population exchange resulted in about 1.5 million Muslims being
expelled, mostly to Turkey (McCarthy, 1995). According to the study of this

128
historian, before Balkan wars 3.242.000 Muslims in total lived in this area, namely
51% of the total population. This wars changed the demography of the region,
something that can be observed to this day. A considerable part of Muslims were
victims of these wars, a good part dying from famine and various diseases. According
to McCarthy the Balkan wars were one of the greatest tragedies in the world. 27% of
Muslims were victimized in various ways, while 1/3 of them found refuge in Anatolia
(Hodžiü, 2012). He says one can find books which describe the violence against
Bulgarians or Greeks while it is hard to find a relevant source speaking about the
suffering of Muslims in Balkan, this situation being “a result of prejudices on
Muslims”.
Being an entirety before, with the dissolution of the Ottoman state Balkan
broke into new states which separated Muslim communities with unnatural
boundaries that rendered normal life impossible by artificially separating organisms.
This is best described by the words below:
DzŠ‡ „‘”†‡” •‡’ƒ”ƒ–‡† –Š‡ ˆƒ”‡” ˆ”‘ –Š‡ ˆ‹‡Ž†ǡ –Š‡ …ƒ––Ž‡ ˆ”‘ –Š‡
’ƒ•–—”‡ǡ–Š‡˜‹ŽŽƒ‰‡ˆ”‘–Š‡‹ŽŽǡ–Š‡•‡ŽŽ‡”ƒ†„—›‡”ˆ”‘–Š‡ƒ”‡–’Žƒ…‡ǡ
–Š‡•—””‘—†‹‰•ˆ”‘–Š‡–‘™ƒ†–Š‡™Š‘Ž‡Š‹‰ŠŽƒ†’‘’—Žƒ–‹‘ˆ”‘–Š‡
‡…‘‘‹… …‡–‡”• ƒ† …‘”ˆ‹‡Ž†•ǤǤǤ –Š‡ •‘—”…‡• ‘ˆ Ž‹ˆ‡ ™‡”‡ …—–dzǤ (—…‘˜‹©ǡ
ͳͻ͹ͷǣͻͳȌ
Crimes against Balkan Muslims did not end with that; eleven genocides
committed by Serbs were recorded on the dark pages of history. The first was carried
out from 1683 to 1699 while the last two were committed against the Muslims of
Bosnia between 1992-1995 and against Albanian Muslims of Kosovo between 1997-
1999 by Milosevic’s barbarian hordes. About 250.000 Muslims were killed and 1500
mosques, as well as hundreds of other Islamic-Ottoman infrastructure objects, were
destroyed.
The Christian-Slavic military policy has used the most inhumane methods
during its campaigns to finish with the orphaned Muslims. We can illustrate this with
two examples: Debar in Macedonia and Šahoviüi in Sanjak:

129
 
ƒ„Ž‡͸ǤŠ‡…‘•‡“—‡…‡•‘ˆ–Š‡‡”„‹ƒ…ƒ’ƒ‹‰‘—•Ž‹‡„ƒ”‹
ͷͿ͸Ͷ.
men women children total
Stabbed 263 69 75 407
Fusilladed 341 78 65 484
Burnt 109 256 138 503
Total 713 403 278 1. 394
Source: Xhafa, 2001: 222

"Babies were taken from the arms of mothers and sisters and slaughtered in
front of their eyes... The beards of Muslim religious leaders were torn out and crosses
were carved on their foreheads. In one village a group was tied around a haystack and
fire was set to it. Later some observed that the flames of burning men were purple".
(Djilas, on 1924 Šahoviüi case)
Bllaca, Tetova tobacco monopoly, Kërçova, Tivar massacres during the WW2
also offer examples of tendencies for the annihilation of Muslims…
That’s how an old inhabitant of Saraj village of Skopje, Haji Metush (age 85)
describes the suffering of Muslims:
“Almost half of the village has gone to Turkey due to forcing by Slavs…
Bulgarians came in 1917 and burnt my three uncles in the oven… Haji Zenun who
guarded the cattle was beaten by Slavs and buried in the ground with head out and
stayed like that for 24 hours until he became conscious again… In 1921 my
grandfather was killed at the door of his house. In order to emigrate we took
Abdullah Presheva as lawyer who registered us as Turks because Turkey would not
accept us as Albanians. Those who took the documents left while we remained here.
In 1951 they took our land and tried to force us to work with them. We gave our land
but didn’t associate with them. After three years they gave us back our land.”͹ʹ

72
An interview made in November 2012.
130
 Photo 1. The Prilep Mosque burnt down at the time of the 2001 conflict in Macedonia and
Bayrakli Mosque (Belgrade) burnt down in 2004

A symbol of the suffering endured by Muslims in Balkan is Srebrenica where

the Serbian genocide project committed the gravest crime since World War II by
executing about 8000 Muslims, most of whom civilians, within a couple of days. This
case revealed the “sleep” of the international community in front of an annihilating
war against Muslims, a Slavic barbarism •—‹ ‰‡‡”‹• (Izetbegoviq, 2008: 241-252).
The fact that the anti-Islamic sense with Serbs is still alive is best shown by the
slogan heard in football matches throughout Serbia: Nož-Žica-Srebrenica (The knife-
the wire-Srebrenica), which tells of the tools by which the genocide was committed
and of the toponym of “the Bosnian cry from the grave” (Srebrenica).͹͵
Besides such annihilating tendencies, there have always been efforts by state
instances during the last 100 years for the expulsion of Muslims. Sometimes this has
been realized through agreements like that of 1938 or 1954 (between ex-Yugoslavias
and Turkey), but also through pressure and provocations by narrowing the vital space
through nationalism and expropriation of lands, outlawing of facial veil (hijab,
farajah), torturing religious personalities, efforts to interfere in the religious life of
believers (e.g. by breaking their fasting), recruiting Muslim women for military
service, atheistic policies hurting the feelings of believers, tearing down their
courtyard walls (avlu) and traditional doors of Muslim houses (kapi), forced change
of surnames with the Slavic suffix –‘˜, -•‹, or –˜‹© (e.g. Musliov, Shabanovski,
Arifoviü) etc.

73
On which a documentary was recorded, A Cry from the Grave (1999).

131
 Thanks to the activity of Muslims scholars, a good part of believers have
remained in their places and a ”second Andalusia” and new reconquista did not occur
in Balkan. There have been such activists that have sacrificed everything for the sake
of Islam, like Ataullah Efendi Kurtishi, whose lives passed in prisons, like Hafiz
Ibrahim Dalliu, Hafiz Sabri Koçi, Husejin Djozo, such who have turned the corn field
into a Koran school (maktab) in order to escape communist repression (Rafiz Efendi
of Rashçe), such who have educated more than 100 memorizers of Quran-hafiz,
(Mahmut Arsllani of Tetovo), such who have resisted in not taking their fez-turban
off in face of greatest communist threats of the time (Hafiz Idriz of Skopje) etc.


Photo 2. Hafeez Idriz Efendi’s ID card with the lifelong fez that challenged communist Yugoslavia

However, in one way or another displacement has continued. During my

studies (1993-2000) we have been witnesses to a bus with Turks from Dojran (tr.
Doyuran) who were emigrating to Turkey with their families, taking with them their
furniture like tables (sofras), wooden chairs etc. Another form is that of brain drain.
Many young people who study various sciences remain in Turkey after their studies
where one can find them in Istanbul, Bursa, Ankara etc.

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 3. Islamic revival, neo-Ottomanism and Islamophobia

During the last three decades, as throughout the world, in Balkan as well a
religious revivalism is being witnessed, a phenomenon called as “the return of the
sacred”. Noteworthy in this context is the Islamic revival too which has its start with
the symbol of Balkan Islam Alija Izetbegoviü, or to put it better at his imprisonment
alongside his friends in 1983 and the echo of his getting out in 1990. The revival of re-
ligious feelings also owes to the fall of communism as an ideology that ruined the
dreams of many people and brought about a situation of search for an alternative (espe-
cially in the only self-proclaimed atheist state in 1967 - Albania), to the crisis of mo-
dernity, the Yugoslavian crisis and the genocides against Bosnians and Albanians etc.
This revivalism is observed in various spheres, from individual religiousness
(Pajaziti, 2003) to the massive building and rebuilding of religious buildings and
mosques, education (the opening of new ƒ†”ƒ•ƒ, about 23 in Balkan from 3 at the
communist era), the publishing of various Quran translations, of Islamic source
works, of classical and modern authors of Islamic thought (Ibrahimi, 2012), from
Bukhari, Nawawi, Ibn Khaldun, to Ismet Özel, al-Attas, T. Ramadan etc.
With the strengthening of religious feelings, the influence of ’s Turkey too
has been on the rise in Balkan since 2002. Lately this power has been developing in
global dimensions, transforming its from statist into one of the main actors of the
universal scene, in the political as well as economic and cultural aspect. Turkey’s
economy impresses with its high growth which exceeds the European average;
between 2002-2012 this growth has been at 7%. At the moment it is the sixth
economy in Europe and the sixteenth in the world. As the most influential element in
neighborhood, its most influential element in Balkan is its soft power: commerce,
foreign investment, education, construction sector, humanitarian assistance etc.
(Balcer, 2011: 2). Turkey’s impact in all these spheres is quite visible. Turkey’s
hyper-activism is seen in ‹›ƒ‡–’s and TIKA’s activity, in the Gòlen movement etc.

133
 This rise of Turkey also generated fears and psychosis among various circles in
various Balkan areas, especially in Serbia and in albanophone spaces, as well as in
Montenegro and Greece which raise the alarm about the re-Ottomanization of
Balkan. “New Rumelia at the doors of European Union” is an article by a Serbian
intellectual, former ambassador of Serbia to Turkey, Darko Tanaskoviü, in which he
alarms Europe about the danger on neo-Ottomanism. In this context the Islamic-
Muslim danger has been discussed about for a long time, with scenarios for a new
”‡…‘“—‹•–ƒ, for the deislamization of Balkan having been designed. There are such
who attack Islamic symbols, like adhan, mosques, veil and the close relationships of
Balkan Muslims with the Muslim world. A clime of pathological fear from Islam and
Muslims is appearing. Names from politics, culture, science etc. have been involved
in this context who blame Balkan Muslims for being inheritors of the Ottoman
treasure. One of the ottomanophobes is director Emir Kusturica who has expressed
sympathy for Miloševiü, has called Karadjiü a hero and has minimized the number of
victims and muslim women raped in Bosnia.
Among those who sow fear from the “green line”, who cultivate islamophobia
in Balkan, are people of these lands, like Miroljub Jevtiü, Sonja Jekiü, Srÿa Trifkoviü,
Tatijana Laziü, Ioannis Michaletos, Kastriot Myftaraj, Pirro Misha, Ismail Kadare,
Aurel Plasari, Veton Surroi, Mirela Bogdani, Enver Robelli, as well as foreigners like
Cristopher Deliso, Elizabeth Kendal, Sam Vaknin, Johnathan Widel, Russell Gordon,
Kevin McCoy etc.
As examples of islamophobia in albanosphere we can mention the anti-Ottoman and
pro-Catholic propaganda in Albanian schoolbooks, which hold the thesis that
Albanians converted to Islam because of pressure and forcing, where Christian
figures like Scanderbeg (Athlet of Christ), Mother Theresa, Pjetër Bogdani, Pjetër
Budi, Marin Barleti etc. are affirmed and exaggerated. In Albanian literature the Turk
is named as “Anatolian” which implies the criminal, passionate, ignorant, sword-in-
hand man and the term “sultan” and “harem” are manipulated as well. There have
been cases in various TV debates where minarets have been described as “Iranian
rockets”, while in newspaper articles there have been maniac and immoral persons
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who called adhan “dog barking” and have demanded the outlawing of Islam. The
caravan of Islamophobes has been joined by Arben Xhaferi too, who is his article
“Ottoman Challenge” says that through Davuto÷lu’s new paradigm Turkey aims to
revive the role of Ottomans in Balkan (Xhaferi, 2009). Another article with
islamophobic and ottomanophobic colors is that of Robert Papa who says that “From
a time (Turkey) aims to regain its influence in Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania. We want
to detach ourselves from the Islamic civilization but were hindered by the “old
scoundrel”.” (Tema, 16.01.2013) Xhevat Lloshi’s article “The unwanted
orientalisation of Albanian language” also contains anti-Ottoman colors. In that
article he contests words of Turkish and Arabic origin in Albanian, demanding that
words like ŽŽƒŠ—‡„‡”ǡƒŽŽƒŠ”ƒœ‘ŽŽƒǡ‡ŠŽǦ‹œ‹‡–ǡ‡•–ƒ‰ˆ‹”—ŽŽƒŠǡ–‘„‡•–ƒˆ‹”—ŽŽƒŠ
„‡ …Ž‡ƒ•‡† ˆ”‘ Ž„ƒ‹ƒǤ ‘Ž†‹‰ –Šƒ– Ž„ƒ‹ƒ —•– „‡ †‡–ƒ…Š‡† ˆ”‘
—”‹•ŠǡŠ‡•ƒ›•–Šƒ–Ž„ƒ‹ƒ‹•ƒ†‘Ǧ—”‘’‡ƒŽƒ‰—ƒ‰‡ƒ†‘–ƒ—”ƒ‹…
‘‡ ƒ† –Šƒ– Ž„ƒ‹ƒ• ƒ”‡ ƒ —”‘’‡ƒ ƒ–‹‘ ƒ† ‘– —”‡ǤǤǤ ȋŽ‘•Š‹ǡ
ʹͲͳ͵ȌǤ”‡…‡–›‡ƒ”•Ž„ƒ‹ƒ’”‡••Šƒ•’”‘†—…‡†‹•Žƒ‘’Š‘„‹…–‹–Ž‡•Ž‹‡DzŠ‡
•Žƒ‹… †ƒ‰‡” ˆ‘” Ž„ƒ‹ƒdzǡ Dz•Žƒ Šƒ• •’”‡ƒ† –Š”‘—‰Š –‡””‘” ƒ† ˜‹‘Ž‡…‡ ‹
Ž„ƒ‹ƒdzǡ DzŽ„ƒ‹ƒǡ ƒ †‡’‘– ‘ˆ •Žƒ‹… ƒ—‹–‹‘dzǡ DzŽ„ƒ‹ƒ —•Ž‹• ƒ”‡
†‡•…‡†ƒ–• ‘ˆ •—Ž–ƒ•ǯ Šƒ”‡•dzǡ DzŽŽƒŠ †‡•–”‘›• …Š—”…Š‡•dzǡ DzŽŽƒŠǯ• †‹˜‹†‡†
•‘•dz‡–…(Jazexhi, 2008). In Ferizaj, Kosovo graffiti have appeared which threaten
PM Thaçi with bullets calling him “You Turk Hashim...”. Another says “Down with
the New Mosque!”. Articles have appeared which describe Muslims with beards like
corn moustache, with short pants and ŠƒŒ‹ hats” (E. Robelli).
Last year in Bulgaria representatives of ATAKA Party attacked the congregation of
the Mosque of Sofia. The “Golden Dawn” in Greece runs a fascistic and neonazy
policy by declaring that it aims the elimination of the foreign and Islamic element
from the country. It is interesting that reactions against the Turkish influence have
appeared among Bosnians too. F. Radonþiü of the Party for a Better Future says there
can’t be any reincarnation of the Ottoman Empire, that Bosnians must save
themselves from colonialist mentality; that the Central Committee (Communist Party

135
of Yugoslavia), Vienna, Istanbul have decided for them earlier and now it is time for
them to decide about themselves. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, namely in Sarajevo
described as “the center of islamophobia in Balkan” (F. Alispahiü) a anti-Islam media
campaign is active, led by newspapers like •Ž‘„‘†Œ‡Œ‡, ‡œƒ˜‹•‡ ‘˜‹‡ and
Ž‘„‘†ƒ‘•ƒ, targeting the Muslim community, the head of Muslim scholars (rais
al-ulama’) and other Islamic symbols. A music band (Dvadesetorica) says in one of
its songs:

›ˆ”‹‡†„”ƒŠ‹
Š‡ˆ‹”•–„‡ƒ”†ƒ––Š‡†‘‘”
ƒ•ƒ•‘ˆ‘—”›‡ƒ”•‘Ž†
Š‘Š‡–‡ƒ…Š‡•Š‘™–‘’”ƒ›
‘–Š‡–”ƒ†‡…‡–‡”Š‡Šƒ•‰‘‡
ƒ‰‡”‘—•Ž›™‹–Š–™‘„‘„•

A case that caused reactions in Macedonia was the Vevchani carnival (2012), a
combination of the pagan with the modern way of celebrating, in which mocking and
irritating attacks occured against Islamic values such as the Quran, the hijab, the fez,
the gown, the prayer, the prayer rug, transgressing the red line of a carnival. It was a
degrading defilement, a pervert and unnatural alloy of the sacred and pornography
that caused the reaction of the Muslim population throughout FYROM. Graffiti
expressing anti-Islamic rancor and crosses on mosque doors have been often noted.
Another case was the declaration of the interior minister who after the execution of
five Macedonians at Smilkovci Lake (2012), ignoring the principle of innocence
presumption, said it was an act by Islamic radicals. This declaration caused strong
protests by the Muslim youth in Skopje. In the same waves was also the statement of
Minister for Information Society, Ivo Ivanovski, that “‡‘—‰Š ™ƒ• ͷͲͲ›‡ƒ”• —†‡”
—”‹•Š •Žƒ˜‡”›dzǡ ƒ† –Šƒ– Dz‹– ‹• –‹‡ ‹•–‡ƒ† ‘ˆ —”‹•Š  •‡”‹‡• –‘ •–‹—Žƒ–‡
ƒ…‡†‘‹ƒ‘‡•dzǤȋͳ‘ǡͳͲǤͳͳǤʹͲͳʹ) Macedonia also has journalists like Milenko

136
Nedelkovski (in Kanal 5 and facebook) and Latas (“Malcolm X”, ‡­‡”, 12.03.2012)
and “intellectuals” like Toni Naunovski who have a clear islamophobic discourse
(saying the flag with the Islamic testimony belongs to Al-Qaeda, speaking about the
need to abrogate the Framework Agreement, for founding a uninational government,
for annulling the citizenship of a good part of Albanians/Muslims of FYROM).

4. The main problems of Balkan Muslims and their solutions

Islam in Balkan is not confined to just its role as a religion. It is also a moral
code, a way of life, art and culture making up an aspect of values in many Balkan
states and beyond (AIITC, 2006). Balkan Muslims face many problems and this
makes them life continuously under the stress of doubt about their future. Some are
external problems, coming from the non-Islamic factor, while some others are
internal. Among the external factors are the various Christo-centric and Slavo-centric
governments which apply anti-Islam and segregationist policies; the popular
prejudices and stereotypes about the believers of Islam who are perceived as
“remains of the old occupator”, as the post-September 11 terrorists, as the —ŒƒŠ‹†
who are waiting for the moment to start their Œ‹Šƒ† against Christians. Balkan
Muslims have very serious problems with ™ƒ“ˆ lands, with their properties occupied
by the state. They have problems with discrimination by the state; Christian
communities being privileged (Christan iconography at the Macedonian parliament,
building of churches with state money, priests in state ceremonies). Another problem
is the very little place that Islam holds in media (during Ramadan or Eed only),
especially on TV. When Islam is spoken about, it is in the negative aspect. Other
important problems are the weakening of family authority because of modernization
process, education which “forces” girls to be educated according to the fashion,
poverty as incentive for migration of youth to European countries, “marriages for
documents” which visibly decrease the number of Balkan Muslims.
Internal factors are diversity in the perception of Islam by Muslims, especially
the recent divisions imposed by various circles about the traditional, soft, Ottoman,

137
European Islam (Euroislam) on one hand and the purist Islam cleaned from local and
•—ˆ‹ beliefs, or the Salafi Islam, called as Wahabism too, on the other hand. This
division has culminated in conflicts within mosques, as happened in Sanjak (Arab
Mosque, Novi Pazar, 2006) or at the Isa Beg Mosque in Skopje (2010), as well as
daily conflicts within congregations about the manner of prayer, innovations,
ƒ™Ž—† etc. An irrational division is that between “Arabic Islam” and “Turkish
Islam”.
Another internal problem in this respect is the passiveness of Islamic
communities, their indolence and unwillingness to cooperate with non-governmental
organizations, with Islamic cultural humanitarian organizations and Islamic
publishing houses which are considered as rivals by official institutions instead of
being viewed as a different voice and a support for the Islamic call. This is tragic if
we consider that different Islamic foundations and societies have made a very
important work in the sphere of humanitarian aid and publication, especially in
Albanian areas where private publishers have left religious communities fairly
behind. Another internal problem of Muslims is the secularist concept of the political
leadership of Muslims which has no sense for the Islamic identity and which tries to
hide behind a mask that gives themselves a non-Islamic appearance.

5. Conclusion

ƒŽƒ ‹• –Š‡ …”‘••”‘ƒ†• ‘ˆ ‰”‡ƒ– ’‘™‡”•ǯ ‹–‡”‡•–•ǡ ™‹–Š ‹–• ‹Šƒ„‹–ƒ–•
„‡‹‰ ‘„Œ‡…–• ”ƒ–Š‡” –Šƒ ”‡ƒŽ ƒ…–‘”•Ǥ ƒŽƒ ‹• ƒ ‰‡‘‰”ƒ’Š› ‘ˆ Dz‹•–‹…–‹˜‡
’ƒ–”‹‘–‹•dz™‹–ŠDzŠ‹•–‘”›ƒ•–Š‡‘Ž›–Š‹‰‹–‡š’‘”–•dzȋ Ǥ‡ƒ…ŠȌǡ™Š‹Ž‡—•Ž‹•
ƒ”‡ ‹–• ˆƒ‡ †ƒ‰‡” ƒ† ”‡ƒŽ •ƒ…”‹ˆ‹…‡•Ǣ –Š‡ Dz—™ƒ–‡† „‘†›dz ‹ –Š‹• ‰‡‘‰”ƒ’Š›
–Šƒ– Šƒ• „‡‡ ’”‘„Ž‡ƒ–‹… ˆ‘” …‡–—”‹‡•Ǥ Ž–Š‘—‰Š ƒ—–‘…Š–Š‘‘—•ǡ –Š‡ Žƒ•– ͳͲͲ
›‡ƒ”• Šƒ˜‡ „‡‡ ƒ
‘Ž‰‘–Šƒ ˆ‘” –Š‡Ǥ ‘†ƒ› –Š‡› ˆƒ…‡ ’”‘„Ž‡• ‘ˆ †‹ˆˆ‡”‡–
–›’‡• ™Š‹…Š –Š‡› –”› –‘ •‘Ž˜‡ –Š”‘—‰Š –Š‡‹” Ž‡‰ƒŽ ‘”‰ƒ‹••ǡ –Š‡ •–ƒ–‡ ƒ†
‹–‡”ƒ–‹‘ƒŽ‘‡•ǤŽ–Š‘—‰Šƒ‹‰—’ƒ…‘•‹†‡”ƒ„Ž‡—„‡”ǡ–Š‡›†‘ǯ–Šƒ˜‡
ƒ†‡•‡‹–‡”ƒ…–‹‘ƒ‘‰–Š‡•‡Ž˜‡•ƒ†ˆ‘”–Š‹•”‡ƒ•‘–Š‡›‡‡†–‘ˆ‘—†ƒ
138
ƒŽƒ •Žƒ‹… ‘”—Ǥ Š‡”‡ —•– „‡ ‘”‡ …‘—‹…ƒ–‹‘ ƒ‘‰ —•Ž‹• ‹
–Š‡•’Š‡”‡‘ˆ’‘Ž‹–‹…•ƒ†‡†—…ƒ–‹‘–‘‘ǡ‡•’‡…‹ƒŽŽ›ƒ‘‰›‘—‰’‡‘’Ž‡ǡƒ‘‰
—‹˜‡”•‹–› ›‘—–Š ™Š‹…Š •Š‘—Ž† „‡ ‘”‡ ƒ‰‹Ž‡ ‹ ƒ˜‘‹†‹‰ –Š‡ ‹•–ƒ‡• ‘ˆ –Š‡‹”
’”‡†‡…‡••‘”• ™Š‘ ™‡”‡ ƒ‹’—Žƒ–‡† „› ƒ–‹‘ƒŽ‹•–‹… ’‘Ž‹…‹‡• –Šƒ– –”‹‡† –‘ ‹ŽŽ
–Š‡—ƒŠ•’‹”‹–‹–Š‡Ǥ˜‡•–‡–•ƒŽ•‘ƒ”‡‡‡†‡†‹‡†‹ƒǤ…‘‘ǡ
…‘‘ ‡™•’ƒ’‡”• ƒ† ƒ‰ƒœ‹‡• —•– „‡ ˆ‘—†‡†Ǥ Š‡ …‘•‡”˜ƒ–‘”›
’‘Ž‹–‹…ƒŽ •’‹”‹– ™‹–Š •Žƒ‹… …‘Ž‘”• —•– „‡ ‘”‡ ƒ…–‹˜‡ ‹ Ž„ƒ‹ƒ ƒ† ‘•‘˜‘
ȋ–Š‡”‡ƒ”‡–™‘•—…Š’ƒ”–‹‡•‹‘•‘˜‘ǢŠ‡ —•–‹…‡ƒ”–›ƒ†–Š‡Dz‹–‡dz•Žƒ‹…
ƒ”–›Ȍǡ–Š”‘—‰Š›‘—‰•–ƒˆˆ™Š‘™‹ŽŽ„‡ƒ„Ž‡–‘”‡’”‡•‡––Š‡˜‘‹…‡‘ˆ„‡Ž‹‡˜‡”•
‹–Š‡Š‹‰Š‡•–’‡ƒ•‘ˆ’‘Ž‹…›ƒ‹‰ǤŠ‹•‹•‡‡†‡†ˆ‘”—•Ž‹„‡Ž‹‡˜‡”•‘––‘
”‡ƒ‹ ƒŽ™ƒ›• ƒ –‘‘Ž ‘ˆ ˆ‘”‡‹‰ ƒ‰‡†ƒ•ǡ ‘ˆ ’‘Ž‹–‹…ƒŽ ˆƒ…–‘”• ™Š‹…Š …‘•‹†‡”
•’‹”‹–—ƒŽ ˜ƒŽ—‡• ƒ• –‡”–‹ƒ”› ‘” ‘ˆ –Š‘•‡ ™Š‘ †‘ǯ– Ž‡ƒ† ƒ •Žƒ‹… Ž‹ˆ‡ ƒŽ–Š‘—‰Š
–Š‡› –ƒ‡ –Š‡ ƒŒ‘”‹–› ‘ˆ ˜‘–‡• ˆ”‘ „‡Ž‹‡˜‡”•Ǥ  –Š‹ –Š‡ ƒœ› •‹–—ƒ–‹‘ ‘ˆ
ƒŽƒ—•Ž‹•‹•„‡•–•Š‘™„›–Š‡ˆƒ…––Šƒ–ƒ––Š‡„‡‰‹‹‰‘ˆ–Š‹•›‡ƒ”–™‘
…‘–”ƒ†‹…–‘”› –Š‹‰• Šƒ’’‡‡† ™‹–Š‹ ƒ ˆ‡™ †ƒ›•ǣ ‘‡ ’‘•‹–‹˜‡ –Šƒ– ™ƒ• –Š‡
ƒ’’”‘˜ƒŽ „› –Š‡
”‡‡ ’ƒ”Ž‹ƒ‡– ˆ‘” ƒ ‘•“—‡ –‘ „‡ „—‹Ž– ‹ –Š‡• ƒ† –Š‡
‘–Š‡”†‹•…‘—”ƒ‰‹‰ǡ–Š‡„‡‰‹‹‰‘ˆ™‘”ˆ‘”„—‹Ž†‹‰–Š‡…‹–›Š‘—•‡ƒ†ƒŠ‘–‡Ž
ƒ– –Š‡ •‹–‡ ‘ˆ —”ƒŽ‹ ‘•“—‡ ‹ ƒ…‡†‘‹ƒ …ƒ’‹–ƒŽǡ ‘’Œ‡Ǥ ‘ǡ ƒŽƒ ‹•
ƒŽƒǤ

139
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• Š––’ǣȀȀ™™™Ǥ•Š‡—ŽŽ‹Ǥ…‘ǤƒŽȀʹͲͳͳȀͲͷȀͲͷȀ—‹˜‡”•‹–‡–‹Ǧ‹Ǧ•Š’‡”–Š‹‹–Ǧ
ƒ–‘‹ǤŠ–Ž
• Š––’ǣȀȀ™™™Ǥˆ‹•Ǥ‡†—Ǥ”•Ȁ‹†‡šǤ’Š’ǫ‘’–‹‘α…‘̴…‘–‡–Ƭ˜‹‡™αƒ”–‹…Ž‡Ƭ‹†αͻͳ
Ψ͵„—†—‘•–Ǧ‹•ŽƒƒǦƒǦ„ƒŽƒ—Ǧ‹Ǧ•—‹˜‘–Ƭ–‡‹†αͶͳ
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