Census taking and inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia

Abstract

A census is not only a public policy tool to classify and enumerate the population but also to construct social reality. Establishing a particular vision of social reality during census taking is important because public resources are granted and denied to ethnic groups depending on their numbers. In principle, the bigger the number of an ethnic community, the bigger share of public resources and jobs its political representatives can claim. The Macedonian census conflict is directly related to ethnic rivalry for public resources. Since the Macedonian economy is weak and there is a high unemployment rate, public administration jobs are coveted assets. The failed 2011 census reveals that the ethnic Albanian and Macedonian elites had fears that their kin had declined in absolute numbers, and in relation to the other ethnic group, and that this decline could lead to potential loss of their political influence and power. The principle of ‘equitable and just representation of non-majority communities’, enshrined in the public policies of the country since 2002, has direct implication on census taking in Macedonia. The paper argues that reforming the affirmative action policies to focus on economically disadvantaged instead of ethnic groups would be a good first step to eliminate some of the tensions in conducting a census in Macedonia.