Albanian Nationalism and the State of Kosovo

Abstract

This article deals with the conceptual, ideological and historical relationships that have existed between Albanian nationalism and the state of Kosovo, created in 2008. These relationships are subject to different theoretical and ideological views. A group of views regard the state of Kosovo as a historical and political finalization of the nation-building project initiated by Albanian nationalism in the second half of the 19th century. While another set of views sees this state as a project motivated by contemporary views of multiethnicity and multiculturalism. The contradiction between these two views today constitutes a contradiction within the constitutional and symbolic format of the state of Kosovo. The first part of the article presents the main theories of nationalism. In the second part, these theories are contextualized in the breakdown of the main features of Albanian nationalism, while the third part analyzes the relations between this nationalism and the state of Kosovo, especially from the standpoint of its basic laws