Stagnation and Drift in the Western Balkans: The Challenges of Political, Economic and Social Change (Interdisciplinary Studies on Central and Eastern Europe)

This volume allows a new generation of scholars, from the Balkans and beyond, to shed light on some of the struggles the region faces. The combination of post-communist and post-conflict transition, together with the current economic and financial crisis, pose difficult challenges for the Western Balkans. What is the state of democracy in the region? Are the countries of the Western Balkans stuck somewhere between authoritarianism and genuine democracy? What are the remaining obstacles to state building? What effect has the crisis had on young people in the Western Balkans? These are some of the questions the authors of this volume seek to answer. The studies look at different countries and combine methods from various disciplines ranging from political science, history, economics and law to sociology, anthropology and cultural studies. Cover Table of Contents Claire Gordon, Marko Kmezic and Jasmina Opardija - Introduction: The Challenges of Political, Social and Economic Change in the Western Balkans - 7 Jasmina Opardija - Building Social Science Research Capacities in the Western Balkans: RRPP Experiences and Perspectives in the Light of EU Integration - 25 Ana Stojanova - Defective Democracies: Challenges to Democratic Consolidation in the Western Balkans - 49 Snjezana Milivojevic - High Tech Low Pay: Journalism and Journalists in Serbia - 75 Mina Petrovic and Jelisaveta Vukelic - The Transformation of the Governance Regime in Serbia: Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making - 93 Predrag Cveticanin, Jasmina Nedeljkovic and Nemanja Krstic - Social Space in Serbia - 117 Marius Calu - What Makes Kosovo A ‘Weak’ State? - 145 Aisling Lyon - Municipal Decentralization: Between the Integration and Accommodation of Ethnic Difference in the Republic of Macedonia - 173 Simonida Kacarska - The Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities in the EU Accession Process – the Case of the Republic of Macedonia - 195 Vladimir Turjacanin and Danijela Majstorovic - Construction of Ethnic and State Identity among Youth in Postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina - 217 Dragan Stanojevic and Smiljka Tomanovic - Getting on their Feet? Changes in Economic Status of Young People in Serbia between 2003 and 2011 - 245 Jana Korunovska Srbijanko, Neda Korunovska Avramovska and Tanja Maleska - The ‘Getting Nowhere’ Generation: The Transitions of Unemployed Youth in Transitional Macedonia - 269 Neda Milevska-Kostova - Equity in Health in Macedonia: Socio-Economic and Financial Aspects and Effects of Policy Changes on Access to Prescription Medicines in Primary Healthcare - 297 Notes on Contributors - 317 What is the state of democracy in the region? Are the countries of the Western Balkans stuck somewhere between authoritarianism and genuine democracy? What are the remaining obstacles to state building? What effect has the crisis had on young people in the Western Balkans? This title deals with these questions.