Transnationalism, Diaspora and Migrants from the former Yugoslavia in Britain

Gayle Munro

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780367670528
• eBook ISBN: 9781315506074
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Geography
• Index: Geography

The geo-political area of what once constituted Yugoslavia has been a region of significant migration since the 1960s. More recently, the conflicts in the region were the catalysts for massive displacements of individuals, families and whole communities. Thus far, there has been a gap in the literature on the qualitative experience of migrants from the former Yugoslavia through the twin theoretical lenses of transnationalism and diaspora.

This book offers an ethnographic account of migration and life in diaspora of migrants originating from the former Yugoslavia and now living in Britain. Concepts such as the development of cultural beacons and diasporic borrowing are introduced through the ways in which migrants from the region form community associations and articulate - or avoid - such affiliations. The study examines the ways in which the experience of migration can be shaped by the socio-political contexts of departure and arrival, and considers how the lexicon associated with the act of migration can weave itself into the identities of migrants. The ways in which the transnational and diasporic spaces are dictated by certain narratives, for example the allegory of dreaming and the language of guilt, are explored. It also investigates migrants' ongoing connection with the homeland, considering social and cultural elements, their reception in UK, and British media representations of Yugoslavia.

Contributing to the knowledge on the experiences of migrants from a part of the world which has been under-researched in terms of its migrating populations, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Political Geography, Social Geography, Eastern European Politics, and Migration and Diaspora studies.

1 Contexts of departure

DOI: 10.4324/9781315506098-2

This chapter situates the contexts of departure in which migrants from the former Yugoslavia have made their decisions to make Britain their temporary or permanent home and discusses some of the multi-layered and mosaic-like motivations behind the migration decision. One of the aims of my research was to investigate the different conditions under which transnational expressions and affiliations of being and belonging can flourish (or not). The conditions in the country of origin prior to the point of initial migration and the context of departure are key variables to consider when exploring any transnational ties or affiliations. Those migrants from the former Yugoslavia who participated in my project arrived in Britain at different points over the period 1953–2010. My research participants demonstrated multiple and complex motivations for moving to and making their homes in Britain at different stages of their lifecycle and, depending on the period in which they made their journeys, have different experiences along and throughout their ‘stories’ of migration. The main aim of this chapter therefore is to begin to contextualise some of the varied experiences of the act of migration itself. It is beyond the scope of this book to provide an extensive history of such a complex region and that ground has been well covered elsewhere by others. I was more interested in exploring how the history of the region of origin was portrayed by my participants and how such portrayals have affected the transnational relationship. I therefore briefly refer to some key points as background which were foregrounded in the interviews and conversations with my research participants and signpost the reader who is looking for a more comprehensive historical narrative to other texts.

Leaving ‘home’: Migration from the former Yugoslavia

Migration scholars and particularly those with an interest in the former Yugoslavia have highlighted how the body of literature on migration from the region may not necessarily be as prolific as might be expected (Kupiszewski cited in Valenta & Ramet, 2011: 1; Pryke, 2003). Whilst it is true that migration from the former Yugoslavia has probably not attracted as much attention as migration from other parts of the world, there have been a number of publications on the experiences of migrants from the region within the contexts of different countries of reception, including inter alia: Bosnians (Behloul, 2011; Coughlan and Owens-Manley, 2006; Eastmond, 1998; Franz, 2002 and 2005; Halilović-Pastuović, 2007; Halilovich, 2011a, 2011b and 2013; Jansen, 2008; Kelly, 2003 and 2004; Mišković, 2011; Slavnić, 2011; Wight, 2000); Bosnian Croats (Povrzanović Frykman, 2011); Croats (Carter, 2007; Čapo-Žmegač, 2007; Čolić-Peisker, 2008) Croats and Slovenes (Skrbiš, 1999); Kosovars (Dahinden, 2005 and 2009; Kostovicova Prestreshi, 2003); and Serbs (Lerch et al., 2006; Procter, 2000; Pryke, 2003). Much of the literature considering the experiences of migrants from the region in Britain has been in the field of mental health and focuses on the experiences of refugees from Bosnia and Kosovo (Summerfield, 2003; Herlihy et al., 2002; Fozdar, 2009). The discussion has often been presented with a policy focus either on health (Turner, 2003) or on the experiences of refugees in the context of discussion around British immigration policies (Balicki and Wells, 2005).

The region of Southeast Europe has historically been one which has demonstrated high population movements, even prior to the conflicts of the 1990s with labour migratory patterns to countries in Western Europe a particular feature of the demography of the region in the post-WWII era and especially in the 1960s (Baučić, 1974; Kosińksi, 1978). The tracing of migration patterns in the region has been an area of interest to local ethnographers as the region has undergone the redrawing of borders and territorial boundaries. Indeed, in more recent times, the work of entire institutions in the region has been devoted to attempting to trace the lineage of a particular ethnicity within an area – in an arena of territorial gains and losses, evidence of an established ‘ethnic claim’ of a disputed area can be crucial and subject to wide interpretation, manipulation and revisionism.

Halpern (1975: 77) observes that ‘to understand fully the meaning of contemporary population movements a view of the past is essential’. This need for a historical context is no greater than across a geopolitical area that has been the site of considerable political and social flux for centuries, the effects of which are still being felt into the present day. The influence of myth, legend and historical story-telling on the identity-formation and collective consciousness of the various peoples of the region has been the subject of several studies both prior to and in light of the violent dissolution of the state of Yugoslavia (Ramet, 1996; Judah, 1997). The question of ‘whose history’ however is one which can be problematic in an area where versions of history have been moulded to fit the dominant political discourse and where the Orwellian ‘who controls the past, controls the future’ seems to sometimes be interpreted as an ideology to be aspired to.

In listening to the body of narratives of those who made their journeys from different parts of the former Yugoslavia, and in particular the ways in which stories were (re)interpreted and (re)told, it was possible to discern historical ‘hooks’ around which were formed individual and collective identities. The Battle of Kosovo at Kosovo Polje in 1389 was referred to, for example, by a number of respondents (Bieber, 2002) and also features in the discourse of British parliamentarians. Historical antagonisms between the different ethnic groups were referred to in vague detail by respondents from all parts of the region, especially men, of any age. It was from WWI onwards however where the history of the region seemed to have taken firmer root in the consciousness of my (particularly Serb) respondents. The beginning of WWI saw heavy losses on the part of the Serbian army, already depleted from the Balkan Wars just a few years previously. In October 1915 full-scale invasions on the part of German and Austro-Hungarian forces, combined with the Bulgarians entering the war forced a retreat of the Serbian army south through Montenegro into Albania and then by allied boats to Corfu and eventually Salonika. The conditions on the retreat and the suffering experienced by the Serbian army are well documented and have ‘found a permanent place in popular historical memory’ (Lampe, 1996: 104).

During the tumultuous events of WWI, we can see evidence of formalised and intense relationships between Serbia and Britain which have taken firm root in the collective consciousness of British Serbs. Accompanying the Serbian army on its retreat to Salonika was Flora Sandes, the only British woman to have officially served as a soldier on the front-line during the conflict, and a number of medical staff stationed in units established by British relief agencies in Serbia during the war (Miller, 2012). The Serbian Relief Fund (SRF) from its London base was operating to raise awareness and funds to come to the assistance of the plight of the Serbs. The SRF established a number of medical units within Serbia and provided funds for other missions sent from Britain, including the Scottish Women’s Hospitals (Aldridge, 1916; Berry & Berry, 1916). The work of those British medical units and the sacrifice made by the doctors and nurses who lost their lives to typhus or other diseases is remembered in Serbia and by British Serbs up until the present day with significant transnational links remaining between medical communities in Britain and Serbia (Foster, 2013; Mikić, 2007; Liddington, 2011; Leneman, 1994). A number of Serb respondents made reference in their narratives to this period of history as evidence of the close relationship between Britain and Serbia – some in the context of disappointment expressed at later involvement by Britain in military action against the Serbs. British–Serb relations during WWI continue to be the focus of commemorations in Serbia to the present day (Miller, 2012; Mikić, 2007) as well as fundraising initiatives in Britain.

References to Britain’s relationship with Yugoslavia in the years before and after WWII also featured in the personal narratives of migrants from the region to Britain and (as discussed in the following chapter) within British political discourse surrounding the more recent Yugoslav conflicts of the 1990s. Ties between the British monarchy and Serbian royal family and British allegiances at different times of the war were also referenced by Serb respondents.¹ It is well documented how nationalist elites within Yugoslavia drew upon historical and popular narratives of the extreme violence around the actions of chetniks and ustaše during WWII in their nationalist rhetoric and their manipulations of the emotions of the local populations, many of whom would have had family members or friends who had been affected by the violence, in the years leading up to and during the conflicts and the more recent conflicts of the 1990s (Silber & Little, 1996).

Following the war, a number of Serbs in prisoner of war camps in Italy and other parts of Europe were recruited for unskilled labour in Britain. The common perception of these post-war Serbs amongst my research participants is that they were loyal to Draža Mihailović² and the royalists and reflections of these affiliations can be seen in the names of some Serbian organisations in Britain today.³ Bosnians who had been interned in camps in Austria, Italy and Germany were also recruited by the British labour commission (Fazlić, 2009).

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) remained a union until 1991 under the slogan of ‘Brotherhood and Unity’ (bratstvo i jedinstvo), for the majority of that time under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito. Following a split with Stalin in 1948, Yugoslavia underwent a period of reforms and decentralisation of power. A version of market socialism was introduced with the relaxation of borders. Following the Croatian Spring of 1971 a new constitution was adopted giving greater autonomy to the republics, a move not welcomed by Serbia who viewed the reforms as concessions to Albanian nationalists in Kosovo. One characteristic of the regime was the agreements made with European governments, Germany in particular, to the sending of gasterbeiter or guest workers, seen as a means of boosting the Yugoslav economy whilst addressing the German labour shortage (Baletić, 1982).

Following Tito’s death in 1980, Yugoslavia was fraught with undisguised ethnic politics, an unstable federal foundation, high levels of unemployment and an accumulation of economic problems.⁴ A rising sense of nationalistic fervour within Serbia in the form of political discourse and popular culture was channelled through calls by Milošević to centralise power, details of which he propounded during a series of large public meetings throughout Serbia. Increasingly nationalist rhetoric was expressed in both Croatia and Serbia. References were made on television and in the press to the ‘genocidal’ threat to the Serb nation on the part of Albanians in Kosovo and Croatian ‘ustaše’. In Croatia in turn, people were once again encouraged to fear a chetnik force.

The short and relatively bloodless conflict on Slovenian soil (also known as the ten-day war) following Slovenia’s secession from Yugoslavia was the beginning of years of the most traumatic conflicts seen in Europe since WWII. In Croatia, areas such as Krajina, Vukovar, Osijek and Dubrovnik were savaged with wide-spread atrocities committed and charges of war crimes. The first reports of armed conflict in Bosnia were received in April 1992, following a referendum on independence in February 199...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Contexts of departure
• 2 Contexts of arrival and reception
• 3 The lexicon of the migration experience
• 4 Intangible transnationalisms: The allegory of dreams
• 5 Cultural banks and beacons
• Conclusion
• Appendix
• Index