A Different Kind of 'Us': National Identity Dynamics in Albania and Kosovo

To what extent does the long term institutionalization of state borders create identity differences between residents and political elites of partitioned states from ethnic groups outside state borders? This question touching upon the durability of national identities, state’s impact on identity shifts and identity differences amongst perceived co-ethnics has been previously researched (Todd forthcoming; Verdery 1991: Boerman 1991). The limited extant literature points to cases like Romania which found it difficult to integrate co-nationals who lived in the territories of Hungary which were assigned to Romania by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 (Brubaker 2004) but there are also cases of relatively successful integration like the unification of Germany where the existence of two German states did not have a significant impact on identities (Alter 1994). This paper looks uses the partition of Albania as a key case to elucidate the successes and failures of top down state and international projects for the construction of national identity between citizens of the Republic of Albania and ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo. While previous research has looked at the homogenizing effects of the state policies on partitioned identities (Germany, Hungary, Ireland), the Albanian case is a key case because while in previous cases partition has been preceded with a history of a shared statehood (Germany before FDR and GDR), intermittent phases of political unification (Hungary before Trianon ) or un-interrupted interaction between partitioned Irish, Albanians of Republic of Albania and Kosovo have never shared a common state and did not enjoy freedom of movement until 1999. This research will analyze elite discourse and public opinion on identity repertoires of Albanians and show the extent to which top down attempts for creating identity differences are embraced or rejected by the larger sections of population.