OBCT Occasional Paper

Since 1999 the Albanian community in Kosovo has been facing a radical process of social transformation while experiencing for the first time the pluralisation of public life. The paper explores these dynamics overshadowed, both locally and internationally, by the issue of the country’s political status, which has monopolised the public sphere. Looking in particular at the consequences of the decade-long ethnic segregation during the 1990s, the essay analyses the development of civil society, media, political parties, as well as the phenomena of rapid urbanisation and the changes in family relations.The paper stresses how the Albanian community is hostage of unrealistic expectations for political, economic and social developments that should result from Kosovo’s independence. In this contect the democratisation process is hindered by the call for unity against external ‘enemies’ and in particular the Serbian minority and the foreign administration.