COMPETING STATE IMAGES ON THE FORMER YUGOSLAV SPACE: MACEDONIA VERSUS ILIRIDA

Authors : Abdullah Muhsin Yıldız

Pages : 619-653

Doi:10.30903/baed.1840232

View : 152 | Download : 176

Publication Date : 2025-12-16

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :During the disintegration of multinational federations at the beginning of the 1990s, existing political units within the Yugoslav political space declared independence and ethnic groups residing in them sought to establish separate autonomous entities. This study specifically focuses on state-building policies in North Macedonia during the Yugoslav turmoil of dissolution with a “state within society” approach. It examines how post-communist Macedonian political leadership attempted to build a dominant state image on the territories of the former Yugoslav socialist republic. The article argues that if an autonomous, united, and centralized state perception fails to resonate with society, alternative state images may emerge within the same national territory- possibly even transcending legitimate borders. This study applied the “states as images” approach to the Macedonian-Albanian relations in North Macedonia during a limited period, from the dissolution of Yugoslavia to the 2001 conflict. It is posited that post-communist Macedonian political elites projected a Macedonian state image through practices. However, Albanians of Macedonia implemented policies on behalf of revived Ilirida perception, where they could unite with Kosovar Albanians in the future. The 2001 conflict demonstrated that the Ilirida state image had reached a war-making capacity, challenging the Macedonian state’s monopoly on violence. As a result, Macedonian authorities were compelled to negotiate and eventually transform the state into a Macedonian-Albanian image.
Keywords : Yugoslavya, Makedonya, Devlet imajı, Arnavutlar, Makedonlar.

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