Nation-building, masculinity and entrepreneurship: memories of the “liberation of Kosovo” in Switzerland

Author(s) : Romaine Farquet

Source : https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1318214

Abstract:

Since the end of the Kosovo War in 1999 and the “liberation” of the territory from Serbian forces, narratives about the “freedom struggle” have been crafted and defended both in Kosovo and abroad. The transmission of these memories forms part of a broader effort to create a “national” history of Kosovo and constitute an “Albanian imagined community”. This article scrutinizes the memories of the “liberation” produced by Albanian-speaking migrants who were active on behalf of their homeland in Switzerland. It explores the construction of masculinities within narratives collected via oral history interviews. In line with the literature on “nation” and gender in Kosovo, this research acknowledges the presence of two main forms of masculinity: the “heroic fighter” and the “pacifist”. However, it also demonstrates the crystallization of the “entrepreneur”, an alternative type who integrates the transnational “neoliberal” discourses and proposes a more positive image of “Albanian men” in Switzerland.

 

KEYWORDS: Nation-building, entrepreneurship, transnationalism, masculinity, Kosovo, Switzerland