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R . Revue des Sciences Politiques No. 29 2011

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AncaParmenaOLIMID1

Thepoliticsofself-identityintheBalkans.Theroleofchurch-staterelationsinforming

anewcom-union *

AncaParmenaOLIM ID

UniversityofCraiova,FacultyofSocialSciences,PoliticalSciencesSpecialization,Craiova,Romania.

Email:[email protected]

Abstract:Thispaperaims at iden t i fy ing themaintalkingpointsoftheBalkans collective identity assumingthe hypothesis that recognizes its

character of a unique phenomenon. The orientation of the papertowardsabroadercontextofscientificanalysisallowsthepossibilityof

the avoidance of a political, historical, legal, and not least, religious

determ in ismfocusedontheyear1989:themomentofthecollapseofthe communist bloc. The working hypothesis starts from theobservation attributing to the changes ofthe socialpractices.In this

situation,thepaperallowsadetailedexpositionofthetheoreticaland

practicalelementsoftheevolutionandroleofChurch-Staterelationsinforming a collective identity in the Balkans. As to the structural

dimensionofthepoliticalmyth-makingtheanalysisconvergestowardsthe acceptance of the following components: social practices and

relations, national self-conscience and minority condition, religiousfreedomandmigrationexperience.

Keyw ord s: i d e n t i t y , Ba l k a n s , c h u r c h , sta te , com -union .

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R Politice. Revue des Sciences Politiques No. 29 2011

102

heories:

There are two extensive views

on the relationship betweenreligionandpoliticsofmyth-making,providing both either as

complementary to each other or asstructural tied with Balkans recent

democratization.

Furthermore, from our data, we

highlight two main domains of thepresentresearch:

(1) to outline the main

understandings of church, state,politics and religion developed

overthetwentyyears;(2)toarguethat,forourcontext,the

most significant role for arehabilitatedsearchoutofthemoral

and social order is a new collective

sp i r i t ;

Integration Without

Deconfessionalisation in the

Balkansreligiousarena

Over the last twenty years there

hasbeenanunusualproliferationofhistorical, religious and socialliterature, turning into a political

issue, among the Balkans public

o p i n i onaswellasamongacademics,surrounding thesourceof collectiveidentityconstruction.

Thepaperexaminestherelations

between Church and State both at

thetheoreticallevelandthroughtheexperience of the Balkans in the

contextoftheEuropeanintegrat ion.

The main purpose is to examinereligion and the politics of myth-makingwiththeregionalcollective

identityasauniqueunitofanalysis

fortheBalkans.

The nation-as-this and thepeople-as-onetheory

NikosChrysoloras(Departmentof

Government and Hellenic

Observatory, London School ofEconomics and Political Sciences)

suggests that there are, in fact, two

analytical theories surrounding the

constructionofnationalidentityinthe Balkans as particular way

perceivingreality2 .

N evertheless,thistheorypresentsthe dual legitimization of the

discourse analysis and ethno-sym bol ism.Moreover,itdifferentiatesnation as a mode of conceiving thepolitical identity based on the

reinterpretation of preliminary

observations of constructs such as

nat ion-as-this and the people-as-one 3 .

There are many academics that

encourage this framework. Steven

Majstorovic provides significantinsightsintotherelativepoliticization

of the relation between religion andcollectiveidentity.

In the preliminary stage, the

authorofferstothosewhostudythe

problem of institutional relations

between Church and State in theBalkansthepossibilitytoexaminethe

ethnonational identity, suggesting as

working hypothesis a new

interpretation within the context ofmodernizationofnation-staterelationin Europe: while Europe was

evolving the nation-state system,Eastern Europe, including the

Balkans,wasdominatedbyasystem

of empires that restricted the

political options of ethnonationalactors4 .

T

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The second part of its analysis

starts with presenting short data

related to the emergent

understandings of church andpolitics that can be used as a

necessary analysis limited to the

Balkans perception. Moreover, asTodorova writes, this conf igurat io ncreatesakindofbalancethat

prevents the establishment of

double standards concerning the

Balkansrevivalprocessspeech.

T heexperiencehasprovedthatinthe reality of national identities, therelation Church-State arbitrarilyselects symbols, memory,experiences, myths and creates

ideas5 ..

Figure1 .Thenation-as-thisandthepeople-as-onetheory

Respectively, this quite fragile

balance is not based on equalpossibilities of nations Essenti ally,the national issues appeals to

collective memory and traditional

values among which religiousidentificationunitedregionalpolitical

corpus and dealed with real

difficulties in the sense ofmethodologicaldimensions.Butwhat

exactly explains the difference

between nation-as-this andpeople-as-one? Two set of

arguments are generally offered to

explainbestthisapproach.- ( a) One set refers to

historical, political and legal

components onthe theorythatmost

of the Balkan state are analyzed asb elonging to Easter OrthodoxChristendom. The best synthesis of

this approach is found in BideleuxandJeffriessclaimthattoexplainthe

divergentpathofnation-as-thisandpeople-as-one 6 .

This theoretical explanationconcerns religion and the so-called

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civilizational process in terms of

particular characteristic and

independent values in the Balkans.

Robert Bideleux and Ian Jeffriesargue that rather than being

fundamentallyalienoressentially

different, the post -communistBalkans have been a microcosm of

Europe as a whole and a very

revealing mirror in which Western

and Central Europeans have beenuncomfortably reminded of the

dangerous current.7 . On the

backgroundofthesegeneralremarks,today there is the interest in the

aesthetic attachment of religiousexpression of Orthodoxy seeking to

bringintofocustwoelements:- (1) what religion offers as moral

supporttopeopleand

- (2) perceptions of the Orthodoxreligion as it is practiced in theBalkans. Furthermore, the strong

b on dbetweentheChurchandthenation of Orthodoxy is based on

the principle which gives theOrthodox Churchthecharacterof

nationalChurch. In such a volatile atmosphere,

eventsandpossiblescenariosforthe

comingyearscouldgoinanynumber

of directions. The conflicts that

marked and followed the territorialfragmentation of former Yugoslavia

betrays an exalted and isolationist

view of the general agreement over

the fundamental rethinking of peaceagreements, borders of emerged

states, process of ethnic

reconciliation.Inthesamecontext,afiner analysis of the political and

religious phenomena in Europe

would point a more nuanced

perception of the encounter ofOrthodoxywiththemulticulturaland

plural perspective of the European

society.

Before analyzing a public

discourserelatedtotheimpactofthenat ion-as-this and people-as-onein the context of the European

multiculturalism,letusreflectbrieflyon the particular evolution of the

church-state in the Balkans. In thiscontext,themainstreamdiscussionof

Balkan collective identity followsHarakas argument according to

whichthistopichastobedeveloped

under five headings: EuropeanMultiformity, Cultural Values and

European history, Fears and Hope,InsightsfromtheOrthodoxChristian

social ethic, and recent orthodoxapproaches to European religious

p lu ra l i sm 8 .A strict position on these five

matters is impossible in practicalterms. Theoretically thinking it is

possible to suggest some factors

whixhcontributetotheredefiningof

Europesculturalandpracticalimagein this perspective: type of political

collective identity and the tendencytoreplaceexistinggeo -politicisationwithgeo-culturalisation of Europeani d e n t i t y 9 . In this context,thesis about the collective identity

and the challenge of an axiologicalpluralism in new Europe

establishes an associative European

dem ocr acy viable to the spiritualrealities of current Balkans. Thispositiontriestosettleawaybetween

t h e poles represented by state,

church and ind iv idua ls ; it reaffirmsthe primordial character of group

identity and considers the

organization of Church as essential

feature of contemporary Europeansociety.

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105

- ( b ) The second set ofexplanations focuses on stat e-building problems and the role of

political actors. Based mainly on thework of Richard Farkas, this

theoretical approach looks at the

public opinion polls suggesting thatCentral and East European argue

they have some trust or a lot of

trust in government (around 40%)

significantly below the Churchaverage(around60%)10 .Formuchof

the past twenty years analysts and

academics have argued whetherBalkans suffers from a crisis of

identity combined with a

institutional deficit. Regarding the

t r ends in citizens satisfaction withtheir political, social, legal and

religious institutions, avarious framework emerges from the

Western Balkans. Gallup Balkan

Monitor releasedin November 2009shows that while in Albania, Kosovo

and Montenegro between 18%

(Albania) and 50% (Albanian in

Kosovo) of the citizens havea lot ofconfidence in their church;

concerning the governments

performance the level of confidenceisaround20%-30% 11 .

Chart1.Levelofconfidenceingovernmentsperformance(Gallu pBalkanMonitor2009)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Poor Only fair Good Excellent

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Recent understandings of

collective identity and axiological

pluralism the Balkans. The we-

identitytheoryOther account of different

strategies and points of view of

political condition of the church inthe Balkans comes from the

intellectuals which preferred the

public discourse and the impact of

EUs fundamental institutionalreformofassubjectsofanalysisfor

theessentialistpatternofcollective

identityconstructioninthenewEUmembers. Not surprisingly, this

theoretical framework reinforce theimportance of the first theory

nat ion-as-this and the people-as-one, providing a pluralistic

argument in the context of the

arguesthatthereis,infact,astrongtendencydisplayedbybothnewand

oldEuropeanstoidentifythemselves

toalargeextentaccordingtoawe-identity perception12 . Europeanintegration is, without any doubt, a

process implying an exam of themeeting inmentalities,eventsand

terms between the old Europanre g io n al democracy and thecosmopolitan imprint1 3 . Practically,

onemightwonderwhether,followingthe collapse of communist collapse,

there is a new state of spirit, a new

mentality,ascharacteristicfeatureof

theEuropeaninstitutionalreform1 4 .While not necessarily embracing

other skeptical assumptions, t h i s

points t w o basically normative levelsas provocations to recent empirical

researches:- (1)toindicatethemainpatterns of European integration in

connectionwithotherstypesofsocialandpoliticalrepresentation15 ;

- (2) to emphasize a commonperceptionofpoliticaltransition:a

growingsenseofvulnerabilityand

fear, dreams of a new Europeanreligious policy as a given

prefigurative interactionism at

theindividualandcollectivelevel.F u r t hermore, according to Detrez

and Plas it is interesting to observe

thatintheBalkans suchdivergences

are tobe individualizedatthe levelof the intellectual building of the

nationalidentity,notonlyintermsof

an alterity vis--vis other nationalg ro u p s16 .

Atthesametime,thewe-identitytheory contributes to the

understanding of the Balkansspiritualitycharacterizingthe2000s,

by reconstructing the importance of

national and regional

transformations,butmostofallofthecultural and religious ones. As this

stage of our study, Klaus Eder

pointed the particular commonness

as a major condition of a collectivei d e n t i t y 17 .Inadditiontothefeatures

outlined by Detrez and Plas, Ederreflects a theoretical/practicalreality, an idealistic-abstract hopeand social differences arguing the

balancebetweentheneedofnational

identity unity and danger offragmentation. As mentioned before,

the we-identity theory emphasizesthe differences of the main ethnic

criteria origin, language andr eligion in the context of theEuropean integration18 . The current

tendency of we-identity finds theright measure ( le juste milieu)betweentheperspectiveofEuropean

integration and Balkans mythical

exper ience1 9:pollsshowthatreligionisgainingimportanceformostethnic

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107

groupsintheWesternBalkans.Thus,

the new tendency of we-identitytheory fights the millenary ideas of

western church on two generalcharacteristics: a theoretical one,

whichseesthehumanbeingdenying

its relation with the traditional axle

andap r a c t i c a l one,whichsubstitutesthetraditions,excludes thepresence

of religion which no longercorresponds to new tendencies of

culturalandpoliticalworld.

Figure2.Thewe-identitytheory

ConclusionsThe consequence of this

orientation is the spiritual crisis of

Christianity, of individuals wish to

discoverspiritualfreedomtocreatea

postulatedculture,solelycenteredontherationalego.

A Gallup Poll (Gallup Balkan

Monitor)releasedin2010found,forexample, that Serbia was one of the

countries where religion played the

major role in everyday life (more

thanhalfofrespondents)20 .

At the same time in Bosnia andHerzegovina, religious institutions

remained the most trusted

institutions for individuals (6 % in

2 0 1 0 ) 2 1 .The same survey witnesses an

increasing interest regarding the

religious organizations and,especiallyinreligion,aspartoftheir

dailylife(from33%in2006to44%

in2010)22 .

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108

Chart2.SummaryofFindings(GallupBalkanMonitor- comparativeanalysis

2 0 0 6 / 2 0 1 0 )

Ackn ow ledgem ent This work was supported by the strategic grant POSDRU/89/1.5/S/61968,Project ID61968(2009), co-financedbytheEuropeanSocialFundwithintheSectorialOperationalProgramHumanResourcesDevelopment 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 1 3 " .

NOTES:1 Partsofthispaperhavebeenpresentedat the International Conference M Y T H SOF T H E OT H ER I N T HE BALKANS.REPRESENTATIONS, SOCIAL PRACTICESAND PERFORMANCES, 24-26 February2011. Organisers: University of

Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece underthe title Anca Parmena Olimid, Religionand the Politics of Myth-Making in the

Balkans: the Role of Church-StateRelationsinformingaCollectiveIdentity.2 NikosChrysoloras,OrthodoxyandGreek

NationalIdentity.AnanalysisofGreek

Nationalism in light of A. D. SmithsTheoretical Framework , KokkalisProgramonSoutheasternandEast-

Central Europe available at

ht tp :/ / w w w .hk s.harv ard .edu/ k ok kali s/ GSW 7/ GSW % 206 / N ik os% 20Chr ysolor as%20Paper.pdf,pp.1- 1 0 .3 Ibi dem ,pp.7 - 8 .4 Steven Majstorovic, Religion andCollective dentity: The EthnopoliticalBarriers to Democratization in the

B a l k a n s in Willian Safran (ed.), The

Secular and the Sacred. Nation, Religionand Politics, London, Frank Cass, 2003,

pp.169-187.5 MariaTodorova(ed.),BalkanIdentities.NationandMemory,London,C.Hurst&Co.,2002,p.9.

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

1 0 0

2 0 0 6 2 0 10

Macedonia Albanians Macedonia Macedonians Kosovo Albanian

Kosovo Serbs BIH Serbs BIH Croats

BIH Bosniaks Croatia Montenegro

Serbia Albania

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109

6 Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries, The

Balkans. A Post-Communist History, NewYork,Routledge,2007,pp.5- 1 0 .7 Ib idem,p.5.8 Stanley Samuel Harakas, E ur opeanM u l t i f o r mityandDimensionsofOrthodoxChristian Social Ethics in George P.

Liacopulos (ed.), Church and Society,Boston, Ma.,Somerset HallPress, 2007,

pp.265- 2 6 7 .9 Grzegorz ollective identityandthechallengeofaxiologicalpluralisminthenewEuropeinMagdalenaGraand

Collective Identity

and Democracy. The Impact of EUEnlar gem ent , ARENA Report No 4/10,RECON Report No. 12, Oslo, October

2010,pp.64- 6 6 .1 0 Richard P. Farkas, Democratization inthe Balkans. Prescription for a Badly

Scarred Body Politic, Northeastern

UniversityPress,UPNE,2008,pp.40- 4 5 .1 1 Gallup Balkan Monitor. Insights and

Perceptions: Voices of the Balkans in

partnershipwiththeEuropeanFundforthe Balkans,2009 Summary of Findings

available at ht tp :/ / w w w .balkan-m oni t or .eu/ f i les/ BalkanM onit or -2009_Summary_of_Findings.pdf, pp. 25-2 7 .1 2 Grzegorz op.cit.,pp.63- 6 5 .1 3 Ib idem,p.61.1 4

Georgescu,

securitateastatelornspatialeuropean nActele Simpozionului

Peur opean, Ed i tu ra Libertatea, Panciova,2009,pp.66- 7 5 .15Ibi dem .1 6 Raymond Detrez, Pieter Plas (eds.),Developing Cultural Identity in the

Balkans. Convergence vs. Divergence,

Brussels,P.I.E.-PeterLang,2005,pp.214- 2 1 5 .1 7 Klaus Eder, Remembering National

Memories Together: The Formation of a

TransnationalIdentityinEurope inKlausEder, Willfried Spohn (eds.), Collective

Memory and European Identity. The

Effects of Integration and Enlargement,

Burlington,Ashgate,2005,pp.198- 1 9 9 .18 For a comparative analysis, see

Tsvetana Georgiev, The Balkans An

ethnic andcultural crossroadsin Councilof Europe Press, The Balkans ethnicand cultural crossroads: educational and

cultural aspects, Strasbourg, Council ofEuropePublishing,1997,pp .29-31.19 Fo r a general overview, seeDeclaration on European Identity(Copenhagen Summit, 14 December1 9 7 3 ) , December 1973,No. 12, pp. 118-122. The Declaration introduces the

concept of a common identity in theEuropean diplomacy, Bulletin of the

European Communit ies. It also

contributes to the establishment ofcherishedvaluesbasedontherespectoflegal, political and moral order and

preservationofnationalcultures.20 Gallup Balkan Monitor. Insights andPerceptions: Voices of the Balkans in

partnershipwiththeEuropeanFundfor

the Balkans,2010 Summary of Findingsavailable at http://www.balkan-m oni t or .eu/ f i les/ BalkanM onit or -201 0_Sum m ary _of_Fin din gs.pd f, pp. 16-2 8 .21 Ib idem,p.28.22 Ib idem,p.10.

REFERENCES:

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GreekNationalisminlightof A.D.Smiths

Theoretical Framework , KokkalisProgram on Southeastern and East-Central Europe available at

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DETREZ, Raym ond , PLAS, Pieter(eds.),Developing Cultural Identity in the

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Gallup Balkan Monitor. Insights andPerceptions: Voices of the Balkans in

partnershipwiththeEuropeanFundforthe Balkans,2009 Summary of Findingsavailable at ht tp :/ / w w w .balkan-m oni t or .eu/ f i les/ BalkanM onit or -20 09_Sum m ary _of_Fin di ngs.pdf

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the Balkans,2010 Summary of Fin d in g savailable at ht tp :/ / w w w .balkan-m oni t or .eu/ f i les/ BalkanM onit or -20 10_Sum m ary _of_Fin di ngs.pdf

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of Europe Press, The Balkans ethnicand cultural crossroads: educational and

cultural aspects, Strasbourg, Council ofEuropePublishing,1997

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MAJSTOROVIC, Steven, Rel igion andCollective dentity: The EthnopoliticalBarriers to Democratization in the

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