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D. I. Kosovo, Resisting Serbian Oppression 1988-1998

Volume One -> D. Resisting Authoritarianism in Post-Communist and Post-Soviet Regimes -> D. I. Kosovo, Resisting Serbian Oppression 1988-1998

Kosovo, with a large and growing Albanian population suspected of separatist leanings, suffered serious repression in Tito’s Yugoslavia until 1966, when the powers of the political police were significantly curbed and the province gained greater autonomy, albeit still within the republic of Serbia. In 1981, however, protests erupted in which Kosovo Albanians demanded a republic, and for the rest of the decade tensions increased between the Serbian minority and Albanians within Kosovo, and between the rest of the republic and the province. A revived and aggressive Serbian nationalism was translated into a policy of oppressing the Albanians and suppressing their institutions from 1988 onwards. There was an impressive disciplined nonviolent mass struggle by the Albanian population from 1988 until 1998. But a group committed to guerrilla warfare (the Kosovo Liberation Army) began attacks in 1996, which led to a Serbian military offensive involving brutal retaliation in 1998, international condemnation of Serb actions and NATO bombing of Serb forces and Serbia in 1999.

For an insightful series of essays, which may not, however, be easily available, see:

Clark, Howard, Civil Resistance in Kosovo, London, Pluto Press, 2000, pp. 266

This study, whilst explaining the historical and political context of the civil resistance, focuses primarily on the strategy, institutions and weaknesses of the nonviolent struggle.

Also Clark, Howard , Kosovo: Civil Resistance in Defence of the Nation – 1990s In Bartkowski, Recovering Nonviolent History: Civil Resistance in Liberation Struggles (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements)Boulder CO, Lynne Rienner, 2013, pp. 279-296 , pp. 279-96, and Clark, Howard , The Limits of Prudence: Civil Resistance in Kosovo, 1990-98 In Roberts; Garton Ash, Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements)Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 277-293 , pp. 277-94.
Farnsworth, Nicole, History is Herstory Too: The History of Women in Civil Society in Kosovo, 1980-2004, Prishtina, Kosova Gender Studies Centre, 2008, pp. 391

Gashi, Shkelzen, Adem Demaçi Biography: a Century of Kosova’s History through One Man’s Life, Prishtina, Rrokulia Publishing House, 210, pp. 240

Biography of long-term prisoner and human rights campaigner who was increasingly critical of Rugova’s ‘passive’ approach.
Kostovicova, Denisa, Parallel Worlds: Response of Kosovo Albanians to Loss of Autonomy in Serbia, Keele, Keele European Research Centre, 1997, pp. 109

Kostovica’s commentaries also appeared frequently in the on-line journal Transitions: http://www.tol.org.
Kostovicova, Denisa, Kosovo: The Politics of Identity and Space, London, Routledge, 2005, pp. 322

Primarily a study of education and on ethnic segregation.
Krasniqi, Gezim, ”For Democracy – Against Violence”: a Kosovar Alternative, In Jankovic, Bojan ; Jankovic, Vesna , Resisting the Evil: [Post-]Yugoslav Anti-War Contention Baden-Baden, Nomos, , 2012, pp. 83-102

Maliqi, Shkelzen, Kosova: Separate Worlds: Reflections and Analysis, Peja/Pec, Dukagjini, 1998, pp. 261

Mertus, Julie, Kosovo: How Truths and Myths Started a War, Berkeley CA, University of California Press, 1999, pp. 378

Interviews with both Serbs and Albanians about key episodes in the escalation from 1981 to 1990 are juxtaposed with a written history. See also: Mertus, Julie, ‘Women in Kosovo: Contested terrains – the role of national identity in shaping and challenging gender identity’ in Sabrina P. Ramet (ed.), Gender Politics in the Western Balkans, University Park PA, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999, pp. 171-86.
Waller, Michael ; Drezov, Kyril ; Gokay, Bulent, Kosovo: The Politics of Delusion, London, Frank Cass, 2001, pp. 190

Main focus on developments after 1996, the role of the Kosovo Liberation Army and the NATO war on Serbia (including documents such as the Rambouillet Text and the UN Security council Resolution of June 1999). But chapter two (pp. 11-19) discusses Albanian schooling in Kosovo, 1992-98, and chapter 19 ‘The limitations of violent intervention’ raises questions about nonviolent alternatives.