Dissent and Civil Society in the Balkans

Abstract

The code name "Balkanization" has many aspects, but in all cases it is quite negative. Belated modernization in the region--the transition from traditional to modem society--has been subject to a constellation of contradictory factors externally dependent on the Great Powers' clashing geopolitical interests. Following World War II, this region, except for Greece and Turkey, became part of the Soviet Empire and the communist project. Totalitarian states are in radical opposition to civil society, and this incompatibility is evident even in the comparatively mild case of Tito's Yugoslavia. The implosion of communist totalitarianism represents a unique precondition for post-communist development, especially for the Balkans. One of the main tasks is the building and consolidation of civil societies, which involves surmounting various degrees of ethnic autism, suspicion, and hostility between neighboring countries. Paradoxically, former Yugoslavia of all countries went from implosion of the totalitarian system to an explosion of typical Balkanization. However, this does not apply to other Balkans countries and the reguion as a whole. The opening of Balkan societies to one another, and especially to Europe and the democratic world, is closely linked with the constmction of open societies, a process that is perhaps irreversible.