33 / 2011
Zala Volčič, Karmen Erjavec

Hidden Minorities in Kosovo: “We Feel like Ghosts in our Own Community”



This article presents an analysis of the self-representation of the smaller (non-Serbian and non-KosovoAlbanian) minorities in Kosovo. On the basis of in-depth interviews with representatives of diff erent minorities living in Kosovo such as Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Bosniaks, Gorani, Croats and Turks, we reveal the ways in which they express their perceptions of living in the “new” Kosovo. The main contention of the article is that while these minority groups openly express that they are subject to discrimination and acknowledge how Kosovo Albanians and Serbs frame them as the “Other”, they want to remain “hidden”.
Keywords: hidden minorities, nationalism, communication, Kosovo, former Yugoslavia