Ethnic Conflicts and Civil Society Proposals for a New Era in Eastern Europe

Published in 1997. After the collapse of the communist system, the political systems in Eastern Europe were unable to cope with increasing tensions between ethnic majorities and minorities. These tensions led to violent ethnic conflicts and civil wars, in particular in former Yugoslavia. In this phase of transition and nation-(re)building, ethnic groups strove for more political autonomy and even territorial secession. The newly independent states lacked democratic structures and traditions as well as civil manners that could be used for regulating ethnic conflicts. The idea of Civil Society provides both basic democratic mechanisms for a lasting co-existence in an ethnically plural society. The theoretical part of this book discusses the issues of conflict anatomy, causes for conflict, and democratic conflict resolution. The empirical part describes experiences of ethnic conflicts in former Yugoslavia (especially Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia) in Ukraine and Romania. Experiences from Switzerland and the United States demonstrate successful examples of ethnic conflict management and illustrations of the political culture within a Civil Society.

Part 1: Introduction 1. Ethnic Conflicts and Cooperation Among and Within States, Andreas Klinke, Ortwin Renn and Jean-Paul Lehners Part 2: Theoretical Approaches 2. Conflicts Between Different Nationalities: Chances for and Limits to Their Settlement, Ursel Schlichting 3.Reducing Ethnic Conflicts: Contemporary Approaches to Conflict Resolutions in Western Europe, Albert F. Reiterer Part 3: Case Studies: Domestic Experiences of Ethnic Conflicts 4. Temptations of Transition and Identity Crisis Post-Communist Countries: The Example of Former Yugoslavia, Nadia Skenderovic Cuk 5. Autonomy as One of the Means of Minorities’ Protection: The Case of Slovenia, Silvo Devetak 6. Ethnic Conflicts in Croatia?, Drago Roksandic 7. Ethnic Politics in Ukraine, Zenovia A. Sochor 8. The Relationship Between the Majority and the Minority in Composed Region: The Case of Vojvodina, Mirijana Morokvasic 9. The Media: Social Constructions in Inter-EthicCommunication in Romania, Carmen Dumitriu-SeuleanuPart 4: Case Studies: Democratic Experience of Successful Management 10. Ethnic Coexistence and Cooperation in Switzerland, Kurt R. Spillmann 11. Conflict and Integration: The Main Principles of Social Cohesion in the United States, Ortwin Renn Part 5: Synopsis 12. Ethnic Cooperation and Coexistence: International Mediation, International Governance, and Civil Society for Ethnically Plural States, Andreas Klinke and Ortwin Renn.