THE ROUNDABOUT OF BALKAN MULTICULTURALISM

Abstract

From Thucydides to Machiavelli, from Ranke and Mlichelet to Toynbee and Braudel all sought to illustrate the final picture, the compelling and unifying concept of culture and its place in society. In any society, one can identify a dominant culture that is cherished by the majority of citizens and one or more cultures or subcultures that partially or not at all accept the dominant values. Multiculturalism as an idea has been present since the epoch of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. Since antiquity, thinking about politics has been a question of living together: how to create a society, how to reconcile the unity and plurality of values and cultures? Should we even out or bring awareness to the differences? Long-standing debates that constantly refresh these questions. This is where the idea of multiculturalism, the project of fair recognition of different “cultures” in the public space, is put forward. Europe is a symbol of multiculturalism, although often this rich content has been abused. The Balkans as a multicultural microcosm is an example of the parallel existence of numerous cultures, ethnicities, nations, faiths and religions. What evolution did multiculturalism experience until the creation of the last independent state, the Republic of Kosovo?