Ferdi Kamberi | Fehmi Agani (original) (raw)
Papers by Ferdi Kamberi
Participation of Youth in Non-Formal Education and Community Development in Kosovo, 2024
The purpose of the Study is to provide information about the importance of formal and non-formal ... more The purpose of the Study is to provide information about the importance of formal and non-formal education in developing human resources as the main important factor in the development of the society. The model to be used today on how it helps people, particularly the youth develop skills needed for the enhancement of the society by using the example of Kosovo. There is mix of different research methods used in this research. Library research, the contemporary publications related to topic. Comparative study, by comparing scientific theories and other data collected by other research methods. Quantitative method, by distributing questionnaires and making surveys. Qualitative method by making dep interviews and focus group discussions. Data have been processed on SPSS No 26. The research has shown that there is great number of youths that have participated in non-formal education which has contributed greatly in enhancing social capital and community development. The skills they have developed from their participation is as follows: soft skills; critical thinking; tolerance and diversity; voluntary work; health protection and philanthropy. The area that this study covers are important because it shows results on how human resources are developed by using other than formal education. It is useful for other disciplines that are related to this study, such as: history of education in the country; statistical analyses of youth participation in formal and non-formal education; new curricula needed for developing human being and society at large. This study is important for the development of skills of the young people, strengthening the cooperation within the community and the development of the society by creating a social capital. The study is new in the field of non-formal education which impacts youth; non-governmental organizations; local communities; central and local levels governments.
Keywords: The participation, youth, non – formal education, community, Kosovo.
Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2024
The inclusion of the study of the human 'body' in sociology abandoned the view that 'nature' cons... more The inclusion of the study of the human 'body' in sociology abandoned the view that 'nature' constitutes the absolute premise that explains human interactions and social phenomena. The sociological perspective offered a new project of conceptualising the body, which enabled its reshaping and modification. In the new context of understanding the body, "the life of the body" was transformed from a technical and reproductive mechanism into a way of living, as well as an identity. This paper will address the main theoretical approaches to the study of the body, which at the same time reveals the context of the social realities that built the epistemology of sociological and gender studies in researches related to the body. Further, the paper introduces the results of an empirical research carried out with women and girls in Kosovo regarding the understanding and appreciation of the body, including their position about the image of the body that will help deconstruct the standard of the idolised body of women and girls in Kosovo. The research methodology applied is focused in two main parts: the online survey with 350 women and girls aged between 16 and 65 coming from both urban and rural areas, through a structured questionnaire technique compose of three parts with a total of 42 questions. Data collection and processing were done through the application of the SPSS program No. 24 and Excel. The second part of the research included the qualitative approach, by utilization of two focus groups with 14 girls of different ages and coming from different geographical areas of Kosovo. The research will highlight their attention and sensitivity towards 'beauty' as predefined by social, cultural, and the economic context. The overall results of the research show that 55.5 percent of the respondents agree that beauty plays a roles in the success of a woman/girl's life in Kosovo, whereas 22 percent neither agree nor disagree with this, whilst 33 percent do not agree that beauty plays any role. Additionally, approximately 55 percent of the respondents indicated that beauty influences a woman/girl's success in life, 60 percent believe that beautiful women/girls find it much easier to get hired, and about 70 percent stated that beauty affects self-esteem in both women and girls.
EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES IN KOSOVO: THE VITAL ROLE OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN ADVANCING EDUCATION AND CURBING DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, 2024
Local communities play an essential role in developing and organizing their lives for joint bette... more Local communities play an essential role in developing and organizing their lives for joint betterment. Local self-government, through local democratic mechanisms, involves the community as part of the public policies, showing the sign of the development of the local democracy. This research aims to analyze the communication and collaboration between the local government and local communities in Kosovo, focusing on their role in the development of education and the reduction of deviant behavior, intending to create a better social environment for the community. The research methodology employed for this paper is as follows: library research, qualitative research, and the analysis of the laws in power related to the topic. There will be field research working with two focus groups belonging to the municipality of Prishtina, considering their ethnic component. General results show that communities are still in the development and organization phase, whereas their participation in the process of public policies is still under the average level. Social audits can be mechanisms for development, organizing the community, and involvement in local government policies.
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2023
Community development is vitalin networking and creating social capital. Local governmen... more Community development is vitalin networking and creating social capital. Local governments in Kosovo cooperate closely with their communities by offering public and social services, inclusivity, and social integration. This cooperation increases active citizenship, community development, social welfare, and local democracy. This paper aims to research and analyze the relationship between local governments and their communities, focusingon providingsocial services. The applied methodology included a quantitative survey of 300 respondents from three municipalities: Pristina, Fushe Kosove, and Obilic, targeting citizens aged 18 and above of both genders. The results show that local authorities in these municipalities offer community services and include their communities in policy-makingand decision-making. While they also offer social services, community-based services should be restructured, and local authorities should pay more attention to empowering the community more comprehensively.
Keywords: Local Government; Community; Social Services; Delivery; Kosovo
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2022
Democratic governance has to do with the majority's will, respecting the rights of communities an... more Democratic governance has to do with the majority's will, respecting the rights of communities and all citizens' well-being. In Kosovo, the rights of communities are regulated by the constitution and legislation, which guarantee the special rights of minority communities. One of the fundamental policies of governmental institutions was about decentralizing local self-government, designed to facilitate the creation of new municipalities of communities and their integration into the local institutions. Our purpose was to search and analyze the level of representation of communities in the local institutions, legal mechanisms that guarantee their rights, challenges in putting the rights of communities into practice, and the political steps that must be taken to achieve so. The methodology is based on quantitative research with 500 (five hundred) respondents in three municipalities: Pristina, Gracanica, and Dragash, where 59% of respondents are male and 41% are female. The results show that about 55% of the communities are somewhat satisfied with the constitutional guarantees, and 38% are represented in the institutional life of Kosovo. Implementing legal mechanisms has allowed the communities to have higher representation at institutional levels and be part of Kosovo society"s integrative processes.
Balkan Social Science Review, 2021
Lately, the development of local government and community has taken new direction, especially in ... more Lately, the development of local government and community has taken new direction, especially in the countries of the Western Balkans, creating a partnership between these two parties. Local government is an important segment that has the legitimacy to organize local public affairs. Whereas community is regarded mainly as a social philosophy pertaining to the domain of communitarianism. More broadly, a community is a unit that includes the social networking, beliefs, values, norms and the social cohesion between its members, who are considered as social capital and are identified as part of the community. In Kosovo, the system of local government is one-tier type, central and local levels of government and municipalities are the basic unit of local government. Whereas the cooperation between the community and local government, although it is regulated by local self-government law, is still a needed practical implementation. It is important for the community to participate in public meetings, which are means used as local decision-making and policymaking mechanisms. The purpose of this study is a comparative analysis between the participation of the communities in the decision-making process in the municipalities of Pristina region (Pristina, Fushe Kosove, Obilic, Drenas and Gracanica) and the use of local decision-making mechanisms. The methodology uses analytical and comparative analysis, focusing on the communities in the Pristina region regarding their participation in public meetings. Additionally, the study analyses the empirical research conducted with the communities in the above-mentioned municipalities with a sample of 550 respondents. The results of this research show that the participation of the community in public meetings is low. About 50% of the study participants indicated that they do not attend public meetings for a number of reasons, such as the sense that their opinions and ideas were disregarded, the distance to the meetings, lack of timely information, and other influential factors.
Keywords: Collaboration, community, local government, case, Pristina region
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2021
Abstract The development of new technologies is considered a revolution because it has interconn... more Abstract
The development of new technologies is considered a revolution because it has interconnected micro and macro cultures, has influenced socioeconomic developments, and is gradually transferring our social life to the virtual one. Today, life without information technology is unimaginable and every communication is done through new technologies. On the other hand, the privacy and misuse of personal data are directly endangering personal freedom. The Balkan countries are as well part of this technological development but are also heavily challenged by different unidentified risks. Kosovo has a young population and is considered to have the youngest population in Europe. About 96.4% of households have access to the internet. This paper aims to analyze the development of new technologies in societies in transition, especially in Kosovo, the challenges, the issue of privacy, and the future of information technology. The methodology applied within this paper is the study of literature and the development of qualitative research. The findings demonstrate that Kosovo has quickly embraced information technology, digitized its public services, and installed some of the region's most cutting-edge technologies, such as 3D printers, but it is also highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Keywords:New Technologies; Challenges; Societies; Transition; Kosovo
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2021
Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could not exist today. In... more Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could not exist today. Intercultural communication is a form of global communication, which refers to intercultural interactions between different cultures that appear in a social group with different religious, social, ethnic, cultural, and social backgrounds. North Macedonia and Kosovo are considered multicultural states which have ethnic identities within them, which are part of the mosaic and the promotion of intercultural communication is a test of the democratic development of these states. Therefore, this study aims to research and analyze the role of intercultural communication between local communities in both countries, communication of local government with the community, and community participation in public meetings as part of local decision-making. The methodology applied in this paper is the study of literature and the development of quantitative research with local communities. The results show that even though the participation of local communities is low in both countries, due to various factors, intercultural communication has broken down barriers between communities and has influenced the initiatives for the organization and development of the community itself.
Keywords:Intercultural Communication; Multiculturalism; Participation; Decision Making; North Macedonia; Kosovo
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, Institute for Research and European Studies - Bitola, 2021
Abstract:Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could... more Abstract:Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could not exist today. Intercultural communication is a form of global communication, which refers to intercultural interactions between different cultures that appear in a social group with different religious, social, ethnic, cultural,and social backgrounds. North Macedonia and Kosovo are considered multicultural states which have ethnic identities within them, which are part of the mosaic and the promotion of intercultural communication is a test of the democratic development of these states. Therefore, this study aims to research and analyze the role of intercultural communication between local communities in both countries, communication of local government with the community, and community participation in public meetings as part of local decision-making. The methodology applied in this paper is the study of literature and the development of quantitative research with local communities. The results show that even thoughthe participation of local communities is low in both countries, due to various factors, intercultural communication has broken down barriers between communities and has influenced the initiatives for the organization and development of the community itself.
Keywords:Intercultural Communication; Multiculturalism; Participation; Decision Making; North Macedonia; Kosovo
Path of Science, 2020
The outbreak of COVID-19 and the quarantine affected Kosovo society by highlighting the media's r... more The outbreak of COVID-19 and the quarantine affected Kosovo society by highlighting the media's role and importance in informing and raising citizen's citizens in a pandemic situation. At a time like this, besides the information and citizen's awareness, this situation was accompanied by a lot of fake news, complicating the social and psychological problems of the audience/citizens, leading to fear, anxiety, and social insecurity. Many media were driven by the desire of material interests, especially the online portals, social networks, etc., offering fake or false news to the public for the sole purpose of their material gain. This study aims to research the Kosovar media's role and impact during the pandemic and quarantine time. For this research, we have used the online questionnaire (Google Form) during July and August 2020. The target group was the population over 15 (N=908) in Kosovo's entire territory. T-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and other methods were used to analyze the data. The study results show that 51% of Kosovar citizens informed about COVID-19 during the pandemic and quarantine had used social networks. More than 63.7% of citizens were heavily influenced and, on average, by fake news. Fake news and misinformation from the media in Kosovo society hurt specific society categories, especially those with lower levels of education and social and economic problems, causing fear, social anxiety, and social insecurity.
Keywords: media; role; impact; Kosovo; COVID 19; quarantine.
Path of Science, 2020
Like many other countries in the world, Kosovo has faced a severe public health situation as a re... more Like many other countries in the world, Kosovo has faced a severe public health situation as a result of COVID-19. Kosovar society has been quarantined to protect it from the spread of COVID-19. Putting the community into quarantine has had a positive effect on stopping the spread of COVID-19; however, it has harmed domestic violence in Kosovar society, increasing the number of cases. This study aims to show the extent of violence and the causes of domestic violence in Kosovar society. The survey results show that domestic violence in Kosovo has increased (by 19.75 %) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the same months in the previous year (2019). The leading causes of domestic violence are stress (18.9 %), socioeconomic insecurity (11.4 %), and a lack of physical space in the house/apartment (4.4 %).
Keywords: COVID-19; quarantine; violence; family; causes; Kosovo.
Path of Science, 2020
In recent years, the development of local government in the most developed countries has been ori... more In recent years, the development of local government in the most developed countries has been oriented toward creating a new kind of partnership with the community, giving to the community an important role in policymaking and decision-making, something that is recommended by the European Charter of Local Government. Communication between the local government and the community through different communication channels/means, also in Kosovo, is an important alert or signal that the community to become an important part of public policies, although the participation of the communities in public meetings is still low, and the data derived from relevant local and international studies, also this study as well proves that the participation of the communities in drafting and developing the policies is very low. By seeing the role and importance of communication in the dialogue, cooperation, promotion and empowerment of an active community in local decision making, the goal and aim of this paper is to analyze the forms/ways of communication between the community and local government in the Pristina region, respectively in 5 municipalities: Pristina, Fushë Kosovë, Obiliq, Gllogoc dhe Gracanica, then the sources of information through which ones the community is being informed about various public meetings, also another aim is to make comparisons between the above-mentioned municipalities regarding the use of local mechanisms in decision-making. The methodology used in this paper has focused on the analysis of various studies and reports on local government and community, as well as on quantitative research to measure community opinion in the municipalities of the Pristina region. The overall results of this paper emphasize that the community is mainly informed by the local government through social networks, the municipality's website, local TV, the announcement board in municipalities, and other sources. Whereas, the local decision-making mechanisms used so far by the community are: petitions, civic initiatives, consultative committees, public meetings, but no initiatives to remove/step out mayors, although in principle some communities in some municipalities are not satisfied with their work.
Keywords:community; communication; local government; decision making; democracy.
Centrum 7, 2017
The phenomenology of sexual harassment dates back in the history and it is considered very old, o... more The phenomenology of sexual harassment dates back in the history and it is considered very old, old as humanity itself. Sexual harassment has been manifested in many various ways and has gone through some stages of evolution altogether with the evolution of mankind. Therefore, this phenomenon has to do with putting someone in a very bad position no matter if that person is male or female and also has to do with his or her sexual exploitation. Nowadays this is being considered as a global issue that can attack any age, race, ethnicity, gender. It is present in all cultures and societies. Even so, many companies and organizations today at a worldwide level, lose huge amounts of money and social prestige as result of sexual harassment that occurs in their companies/organizations/institutions. Therefore, there is a range of the factors that leads to this, some of these factors are: image or portrayal of women in the media as sexual object, sexual connotations, domination of one or other gender at workplace, disregard.
Keyword: Sexual harassment, phenomenon, legislation, causes,
consequences.
International Review of Social Sciences , 2015
The sexual harassment at the workplace is among the oldest phenomenon of the society, from the an... more The sexual harassment at the workplace is among the oldest phenomenon of the society, from the ancient times to the present. Sexual revolution of the 70's of the last century, made this phenomenon to be expand due to the fact that in the name of the sexual freedom they made many things to be imposed starting from harassment in the street up to the conditioning to offer sexual pleasures on exchange for other favors such a job or promotion, money and other forms. Today, this phenomenon is focusing more attention to sexual harassment in the workplace. Studies have shown that the sexual harassment is widespread in all cultures and in most cases is more prevalent in cultures with higher democracy then in societies in transition where there is a lack of law enforcement. Types of sexual harassment as the "Quid pro quo" and the other type such creating a bad atmosphere in fact, have produced other forms of sexual harassment both verbal and non-verbal as well as physical ones. These forms of sexual harassment have been derived as a result of many factors; among them we can mention the factor of socioeconomic development. As a result of bas socioeconomic situation, especially when talking about females, we can mention that often they are urged to offer sexual favors in exchange for a job or promotion at work. However, there are so many the consequences of sexual harassment mostly of psychological and social nature. In general, sexual harassment is one of the forms which is contradiction with the sexual freedom of the individual and as such violates the moral and physical integrity of the individual and it does represent violation of human rights. Kosovo is among the countries where sexual harassment is still present. This phenomenon has shown an increase in number in the recent years, but at the same time also the awareness of the society has shown a raise d the awareness of society to denounce such cases to the authorities responsible for gender issues. This study, through the use of analytical, comparative and observational methods has aimed to do a research on the spread of sexual harassment at the workplace in Kosovo, about the types of harassment, causes and consequences of sexual harassment and finally to come up with some recommendations.
Key Words: Sexual Harassment, Workplace, Public Sector, Private Sector, Causes, Consequences.
Path of Science, 2016
Family is considered as a nucleus, cell of the society, which is created by the sexual union of t... more Family is considered as a nucleus, cell of the society, which is created by the sexual union of two partners (heterosexual)-marriage with the purpose of biological reproduction, approved by the society. Divorce is the opposite of marriage, it represents a social and legal problem, and is part of the society itself. This phenomenon is being considered as one of the oldest, old as humanity itself. In Kosovo, as in other parts of the world, divorce exists from very old times, and it was passed from a generation to another and still remains one of the social problems of Kosovo society. In the past this phenomenon was less present in our society because of political, economical social and cultural circumstances. After year 1999 we see that number of cases of divorce grow in comparison with previous years. The data taken from different researches and studies show that in year 2004, in Kosovo there were 16.989 marriages and 1.293 cases of divorce, so with 7.6% at national level, whereas the average age of divorced people is 29.5% women ans 31.8% men. Some of the factors that have influenced the growth/development of divorce are: transition period, crisis of the system of values, socio-economical factors, migration and immigration, emancipation of women, and other factors. The consequences of divorce are: individual, familial, economical, cultural and in general-social consequences. Therefore, this study does analyze the phenomenology of divorce in Kosovo in the period between 2004-2014 years, causes and consequences.
Keywords: Family, Marriage, Divorce, Causes, Consequence, Cultural, Urban, Rural
The community nowadays is defined as a group with a social affiliation, shared value, and interac... more The community nowadays is defined as a group with a social affiliation, shared value, and interaction that links these members together. Participation of the community in decision making is considered essential characteristics of democracy and particularly of the local government. Thus local governments, through various democratic forms, seek to involve the community to be part of the decision-making process. Various studies and reports in Kosovo do emphasize that participation of the community in policy design and development is low. For this purpose, this paper aims to analyse the community's participation of the community in the decision-making process with a particular emphasis on the municipality of Pristina. The research provides a holistic approach to community development in the municipality of Pristina, the level of participation in decision-making processes, forms of communication between local government and the community, and the impact of community development in drafting public policies at the local level. The methodology used here is focused on the different studies and reports on local government and community, and also on quantitative research on public opinion measurement as well. The overall results of this paper emphasize that although there are institutional mechanisms for participation in decision-making, there is a decrease in community participation in decision-making and in the process of drafting and developing local public policies.
Books by Ferdi Kamberi
Political communication with the public - effective methods and techniques for success in political elections, 2023
SUMMARY Two months before the early national elections on 17th October 2021, while talking to on... more SUMMARY
Two months before the early national elections on 17th October 2021, while talking to one of my colleagues, he suggested me to give a speech on communication and planning activities for election campaign. I accepted this with pleasure and while checking the literature for preparation of lectures, I came across many materials, studies, analysis, researches, from different authors, researchers, civil societies, professors and other scientists, but nothing was written about Kosovo elections. From that day and until now, when I finished this book, I have been focused mainly reading local and foreign literature, including a large number of researches in the field of sociology of communication, mass communication, science of communication and political sociology, in order that readers to have a more clearer picture about such topics.
Therefore, the idea behind this book, is a research of socio-political analysis and a critical overview at communication in general and at the domain of political communication, focusing in the Kosovar society. In fact, communication is an exchange of information between two or more involved parties, with purpose of conveying a message. The birth and development of communication, with no doubt, that have played a good role in elevating the society and different cultures, also have helped in diminishing or avoiding prejudices and stereotypes toward different cultures and diversities, and the most important, has created ‘connection bridges’ between different cultures and societies.
Today, the world, not that is a ‘global village’ as McLuhan said, it has become a world with variety of colours, cultures, ethnicities, religion and societies. In this aspect, the language is a mean of communication, through which people communicate daily, they create social distancing, create differences, disagreements, also often and conflicts Therefore the purpose of communication should be the opposite; dialogue and overcoming disagreements and misunderstandings.
In other hand, we live in a democratic state, which many people call it ‘liberal state’, which is focused on individuals freedom, which has often produced ambiguous situations and raised philosophical questions about where one’s freedom ends and when other one’s starts. This question is raised especially after the appearance of televisions debates, hateful and sexist language in media, used by politicians in many countries, including Kosovo.
Nowadays, the democracy is considered as something greater than modern, i.e. a postmodernism, which has led to different cultures, diversities, ethnicities, religions, but also different political parties. Political parties are groups of people who compete in elections and hold power in government. They coordinate certain public policies and programs for society in order to promote the common good or the collective good. Politicians are considered public people, who have an extremely high role and influence in relation to the citizens, and are even the image of a society and a state. Therefore, the communication they develop and show has an impact on their social modeling by the new generations and for this purpose their communication during debates or social discourses, body language, sitting position, gestures, authority, their charisma, clothing, combination of cloth colours, eloquence and culture of communication are undoubtedly those characteristics which help increase or decrease their reputation.
This book tries to analyze deeply and more precisely these characteristics in the context of language and political communication in Kosovar society, interlacing the theoretical aspect with that practice in Kosovo, also comparisons with developed countries and their current stages. With modesty, we can say that this book is one of the rare books that deals with political communication from a socio-political point of view. It is often said that the ABC of philosophy is precisely the question. Therefore, the questions that are posed on the sociological level in this book are: What is the role of communication, especially the political one? How much does the culture of debate affects the shaping and rise or fall of a politician? What do the studies say about the colour combination of world famous politicians or what signal do they give? What do they say about body language? How should we prepare for an election campaign? What is the meaning of the slogans of political parties, including Kosovo? Do the colours of slogans matter? What is the election campaign team and what should be focused on? What will be the future of election campaigns in the worldview of the 'metaverse'?!
The book is focused also in some other details, which also play and important during an election campaigns, typology of communication culture, public speeches, public relations and other relevant topics, which readers may find worthy.
This book can be useful to political parties, to the politicians, civil societies, scholars, students, all citizens and professionals who aim to be accepted and to attract audiences when speaking in public.
This book is organized in three parts: First part is primarily focused on communication and public relations, respectively on the ontology of development of communication, its role and importance, its typology, elements of communication, communication culture and media education, and communication barriers as well.
In the second part of the book, we talk about political parties and political education, respectively about the relationship between democracy and political pluralism, political parties and political culture, these topics are quite actual in our social environment, in this part we also talk about the role of political communication with citizens, communication and body language including illustrated examples according to recent studies, the dress code in politics and the psychology of colours, nuances and reflection before the public, as well as public speaking and interpersonal spaces, these spaces which also present an important role during communication with citizens.
In the third and last part of the book, we expand and goes deeper by analyzing and giving suggestions about the organization of the election campaigns and the model plan of elections activities, necessary for political parties and pluralism. In this part, of high important are topics about elections and the election campaigns as a test for democracy, the election campaign teams, roles and responsibilities, the brainstorming method as a necessary method during the election campaign period, then the steps for the campaign plan , including: various researches and their relevance, setting goals and objectives for the campaign, the target group, the development of campaign messages, namely the slogans of political parties in developed countries and comparisons with Kosovo, the communication/contact of voters from political parties, the importance of voter protection, as well as the “metaverse” and future of election campaigns.
Participation of Youth in Non-Formal Education and Community Development in Kosovo, 2024
The purpose of the Study is to provide information about the importance of formal and non-formal ... more The purpose of the Study is to provide information about the importance of formal and non-formal education in developing human resources as the main important factor in the development of the society. The model to be used today on how it helps people, particularly the youth develop skills needed for the enhancement of the society by using the example of Kosovo. There is mix of different research methods used in this research. Library research, the contemporary publications related to topic. Comparative study, by comparing scientific theories and other data collected by other research methods. Quantitative method, by distributing questionnaires and making surveys. Qualitative method by making dep interviews and focus group discussions. Data have been processed on SPSS No 26. The research has shown that there is great number of youths that have participated in non-formal education which has contributed greatly in enhancing social capital and community development. The skills they have developed from their participation is as follows: soft skills; critical thinking; tolerance and diversity; voluntary work; health protection and philanthropy. The area that this study covers are important because it shows results on how human resources are developed by using other than formal education. It is useful for other disciplines that are related to this study, such as: history of education in the country; statistical analyses of youth participation in formal and non-formal education; new curricula needed for developing human being and society at large. This study is important for the development of skills of the young people, strengthening the cooperation within the community and the development of the society by creating a social capital. The study is new in the field of non-formal education which impacts youth; non-governmental organizations; local communities; central and local levels governments.
Keywords: The participation, youth, non – formal education, community, Kosovo.
Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2024
The inclusion of the study of the human 'body' in sociology abandoned the view that 'nature' cons... more The inclusion of the study of the human 'body' in sociology abandoned the view that 'nature' constitutes the absolute premise that explains human interactions and social phenomena. The sociological perspective offered a new project of conceptualising the body, which enabled its reshaping and modification. In the new context of understanding the body, "the life of the body" was transformed from a technical and reproductive mechanism into a way of living, as well as an identity. This paper will address the main theoretical approaches to the study of the body, which at the same time reveals the context of the social realities that built the epistemology of sociological and gender studies in researches related to the body. Further, the paper introduces the results of an empirical research carried out with women and girls in Kosovo regarding the understanding and appreciation of the body, including their position about the image of the body that will help deconstruct the standard of the idolised body of women and girls in Kosovo. The research methodology applied is focused in two main parts: the online survey with 350 women and girls aged between 16 and 65 coming from both urban and rural areas, through a structured questionnaire technique compose of three parts with a total of 42 questions. Data collection and processing were done through the application of the SPSS program No. 24 and Excel. The second part of the research included the qualitative approach, by utilization of two focus groups with 14 girls of different ages and coming from different geographical areas of Kosovo. The research will highlight their attention and sensitivity towards 'beauty' as predefined by social, cultural, and the economic context. The overall results of the research show that 55.5 percent of the respondents agree that beauty plays a roles in the success of a woman/girl's life in Kosovo, whereas 22 percent neither agree nor disagree with this, whilst 33 percent do not agree that beauty plays any role. Additionally, approximately 55 percent of the respondents indicated that beauty influences a woman/girl's success in life, 60 percent believe that beautiful women/girls find it much easier to get hired, and about 70 percent stated that beauty affects self-esteem in both women and girls.
EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES IN KOSOVO: THE VITAL ROLE OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN ADVANCING EDUCATION AND CURBING DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, 2024
Local communities play an essential role in developing and organizing their lives for joint bette... more Local communities play an essential role in developing and organizing their lives for joint betterment. Local self-government, through local democratic mechanisms, involves the community as part of the public policies, showing the sign of the development of the local democracy. This research aims to analyze the communication and collaboration between the local government and local communities in Kosovo, focusing on their role in the development of education and the reduction of deviant behavior, intending to create a better social environment for the community. The research methodology employed for this paper is as follows: library research, qualitative research, and the analysis of the laws in power related to the topic. There will be field research working with two focus groups belonging to the municipality of Prishtina, considering their ethnic component. General results show that communities are still in the development and organization phase, whereas their participation in the process of public policies is still under the average level. Social audits can be mechanisms for development, organizing the community, and involvement in local government policies.
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2023
Community development is vitalin networking and creating social capital. Local governmen... more Community development is vitalin networking and creating social capital. Local governments in Kosovo cooperate closely with their communities by offering public and social services, inclusivity, and social integration. This cooperation increases active citizenship, community development, social welfare, and local democracy. This paper aims to research and analyze the relationship between local governments and their communities, focusingon providingsocial services. The applied methodology included a quantitative survey of 300 respondents from three municipalities: Pristina, Fushe Kosove, and Obilic, targeting citizens aged 18 and above of both genders. The results show that local authorities in these municipalities offer community services and include their communities in policy-makingand decision-making. While they also offer social services, community-based services should be restructured, and local authorities should pay more attention to empowering the community more comprehensively.
Keywords: Local Government; Community; Social Services; Delivery; Kosovo
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2022
Democratic governance has to do with the majority's will, respecting the rights of communities an... more Democratic governance has to do with the majority's will, respecting the rights of communities and all citizens' well-being. In Kosovo, the rights of communities are regulated by the constitution and legislation, which guarantee the special rights of minority communities. One of the fundamental policies of governmental institutions was about decentralizing local self-government, designed to facilitate the creation of new municipalities of communities and their integration into the local institutions. Our purpose was to search and analyze the level of representation of communities in the local institutions, legal mechanisms that guarantee their rights, challenges in putting the rights of communities into practice, and the political steps that must be taken to achieve so. The methodology is based on quantitative research with 500 (five hundred) respondents in three municipalities: Pristina, Gracanica, and Dragash, where 59% of respondents are male and 41% are female. The results show that about 55% of the communities are somewhat satisfied with the constitutional guarantees, and 38% are represented in the institutional life of Kosovo. Implementing legal mechanisms has allowed the communities to have higher representation at institutional levels and be part of Kosovo society"s integrative processes.
Balkan Social Science Review, 2021
Lately, the development of local government and community has taken new direction, especially in ... more Lately, the development of local government and community has taken new direction, especially in the countries of the Western Balkans, creating a partnership between these two parties. Local government is an important segment that has the legitimacy to organize local public affairs. Whereas community is regarded mainly as a social philosophy pertaining to the domain of communitarianism. More broadly, a community is a unit that includes the social networking, beliefs, values, norms and the social cohesion between its members, who are considered as social capital and are identified as part of the community. In Kosovo, the system of local government is one-tier type, central and local levels of government and municipalities are the basic unit of local government. Whereas the cooperation between the community and local government, although it is regulated by local self-government law, is still a needed practical implementation. It is important for the community to participate in public meetings, which are means used as local decision-making and policymaking mechanisms. The purpose of this study is a comparative analysis between the participation of the communities in the decision-making process in the municipalities of Pristina region (Pristina, Fushe Kosove, Obilic, Drenas and Gracanica) and the use of local decision-making mechanisms. The methodology uses analytical and comparative analysis, focusing on the communities in the Pristina region regarding their participation in public meetings. Additionally, the study analyses the empirical research conducted with the communities in the above-mentioned municipalities with a sample of 550 respondents. The results of this research show that the participation of the community in public meetings is low. About 50% of the study participants indicated that they do not attend public meetings for a number of reasons, such as the sense that their opinions and ideas were disregarded, the distance to the meetings, lack of timely information, and other influential factors.
Keywords: Collaboration, community, local government, case, Pristina region
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2021
Abstract The development of new technologies is considered a revolution because it has interconn... more Abstract
The development of new technologies is considered a revolution because it has interconnected micro and macro cultures, has influenced socioeconomic developments, and is gradually transferring our social life to the virtual one. Today, life without information technology is unimaginable and every communication is done through new technologies. On the other hand, the privacy and misuse of personal data are directly endangering personal freedom. The Balkan countries are as well part of this technological development but are also heavily challenged by different unidentified risks. Kosovo has a young population and is considered to have the youngest population in Europe. About 96.4% of households have access to the internet. This paper aims to analyze the development of new technologies in societies in transition, especially in Kosovo, the challenges, the issue of privacy, and the future of information technology. The methodology applied within this paper is the study of literature and the development of qualitative research. The findings demonstrate that Kosovo has quickly embraced information technology, digitized its public services, and installed some of the region's most cutting-edge technologies, such as 3D printers, but it is also highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Keywords:New Technologies; Challenges; Societies; Transition; Kosovo
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2021
Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could not exist today. In... more Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could not exist today. Intercultural communication is a form of global communication, which refers to intercultural interactions between different cultures that appear in a social group with different religious, social, ethnic, cultural, and social backgrounds. North Macedonia and Kosovo are considered multicultural states which have ethnic identities within them, which are part of the mosaic and the promotion of intercultural communication is a test of the democratic development of these states. Therefore, this study aims to research and analyze the role of intercultural communication between local communities in both countries, communication of local government with the community, and community participation in public meetings as part of local decision-making. The methodology applied in this paper is the study of literature and the development of quantitative research with local communities. The results show that even though the participation of local communities is low in both countries, due to various factors, intercultural communication has broken down barriers between communities and has influenced the initiatives for the organization and development of the community itself.
Keywords:Intercultural Communication; Multiculturalism; Participation; Decision Making; North Macedonia; Kosovo
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, Institute for Research and European Studies - Bitola, 2021
Abstract:Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could... more Abstract:Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could not exist today. Intercultural communication is a form of global communication, which refers to intercultural interactions between different cultures that appear in a social group with different religious, social, ethnic, cultural,and social backgrounds. North Macedonia and Kosovo are considered multicultural states which have ethnic identities within them, which are part of the mosaic and the promotion of intercultural communication is a test of the democratic development of these states. Therefore, this study aims to research and analyze the role of intercultural communication between local communities in both countries, communication of local government with the community, and community participation in public meetings as part of local decision-making. The methodology applied in this paper is the study of literature and the development of quantitative research with local communities. The results show that even thoughthe participation of local communities is low in both countries, due to various factors, intercultural communication has broken down barriers between communities and has influenced the initiatives for the organization and development of the community itself.
Keywords:Intercultural Communication; Multiculturalism; Participation; Decision Making; North Macedonia; Kosovo
Path of Science, 2020
The outbreak of COVID-19 and the quarantine affected Kosovo society by highlighting the media's r... more The outbreak of COVID-19 and the quarantine affected Kosovo society by highlighting the media's role and importance in informing and raising citizen's citizens in a pandemic situation. At a time like this, besides the information and citizen's awareness, this situation was accompanied by a lot of fake news, complicating the social and psychological problems of the audience/citizens, leading to fear, anxiety, and social insecurity. Many media were driven by the desire of material interests, especially the online portals, social networks, etc., offering fake or false news to the public for the sole purpose of their material gain. This study aims to research the Kosovar media's role and impact during the pandemic and quarantine time. For this research, we have used the online questionnaire (Google Form) during July and August 2020. The target group was the population over 15 (N=908) in Kosovo's entire territory. T-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and other methods were used to analyze the data. The study results show that 51% of Kosovar citizens informed about COVID-19 during the pandemic and quarantine had used social networks. More than 63.7% of citizens were heavily influenced and, on average, by fake news. Fake news and misinformation from the media in Kosovo society hurt specific society categories, especially those with lower levels of education and social and economic problems, causing fear, social anxiety, and social insecurity.
Keywords: media; role; impact; Kosovo; COVID 19; quarantine.
Path of Science, 2020
Like many other countries in the world, Kosovo has faced a severe public health situation as a re... more Like many other countries in the world, Kosovo has faced a severe public health situation as a result of COVID-19. Kosovar society has been quarantined to protect it from the spread of COVID-19. Putting the community into quarantine has had a positive effect on stopping the spread of COVID-19; however, it has harmed domestic violence in Kosovar society, increasing the number of cases. This study aims to show the extent of violence and the causes of domestic violence in Kosovar society. The survey results show that domestic violence in Kosovo has increased (by 19.75 %) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the same months in the previous year (2019). The leading causes of domestic violence are stress (18.9 %), socioeconomic insecurity (11.4 %), and a lack of physical space in the house/apartment (4.4 %).
Keywords: COVID-19; quarantine; violence; family; causes; Kosovo.
Path of Science, 2020
In recent years, the development of local government in the most developed countries has been ori... more In recent years, the development of local government in the most developed countries has been oriented toward creating a new kind of partnership with the community, giving to the community an important role in policymaking and decision-making, something that is recommended by the European Charter of Local Government. Communication between the local government and the community through different communication channels/means, also in Kosovo, is an important alert or signal that the community to become an important part of public policies, although the participation of the communities in public meetings is still low, and the data derived from relevant local and international studies, also this study as well proves that the participation of the communities in drafting and developing the policies is very low. By seeing the role and importance of communication in the dialogue, cooperation, promotion and empowerment of an active community in local decision making, the goal and aim of this paper is to analyze the forms/ways of communication between the community and local government in the Pristina region, respectively in 5 municipalities: Pristina, Fushë Kosovë, Obiliq, Gllogoc dhe Gracanica, then the sources of information through which ones the community is being informed about various public meetings, also another aim is to make comparisons between the above-mentioned municipalities regarding the use of local mechanisms in decision-making. The methodology used in this paper has focused on the analysis of various studies and reports on local government and community, as well as on quantitative research to measure community opinion in the municipalities of the Pristina region. The overall results of this paper emphasize that the community is mainly informed by the local government through social networks, the municipality's website, local TV, the announcement board in municipalities, and other sources. Whereas, the local decision-making mechanisms used so far by the community are: petitions, civic initiatives, consultative committees, public meetings, but no initiatives to remove/step out mayors, although in principle some communities in some municipalities are not satisfied with their work.
Keywords:community; communication; local government; decision making; democracy.
Centrum 7, 2017
The phenomenology of sexual harassment dates back in the history and it is considered very old, o... more The phenomenology of sexual harassment dates back in the history and it is considered very old, old as humanity itself. Sexual harassment has been manifested in many various ways and has gone through some stages of evolution altogether with the evolution of mankind. Therefore, this phenomenon has to do with putting someone in a very bad position no matter if that person is male or female and also has to do with his or her sexual exploitation. Nowadays this is being considered as a global issue that can attack any age, race, ethnicity, gender. It is present in all cultures and societies. Even so, many companies and organizations today at a worldwide level, lose huge amounts of money and social prestige as result of sexual harassment that occurs in their companies/organizations/institutions. Therefore, there is a range of the factors that leads to this, some of these factors are: image or portrayal of women in the media as sexual object, sexual connotations, domination of one or other gender at workplace, disregard.
Keyword: Sexual harassment, phenomenon, legislation, causes,
consequences.
International Review of Social Sciences , 2015
The sexual harassment at the workplace is among the oldest phenomenon of the society, from the an... more The sexual harassment at the workplace is among the oldest phenomenon of the society, from the ancient times to the present. Sexual revolution of the 70's of the last century, made this phenomenon to be expand due to the fact that in the name of the sexual freedom they made many things to be imposed starting from harassment in the street up to the conditioning to offer sexual pleasures on exchange for other favors such a job or promotion, money and other forms. Today, this phenomenon is focusing more attention to sexual harassment in the workplace. Studies have shown that the sexual harassment is widespread in all cultures and in most cases is more prevalent in cultures with higher democracy then in societies in transition where there is a lack of law enforcement. Types of sexual harassment as the "Quid pro quo" and the other type such creating a bad atmosphere in fact, have produced other forms of sexual harassment both verbal and non-verbal as well as physical ones. These forms of sexual harassment have been derived as a result of many factors; among them we can mention the factor of socioeconomic development. As a result of bas socioeconomic situation, especially when talking about females, we can mention that often they are urged to offer sexual favors in exchange for a job or promotion at work. However, there are so many the consequences of sexual harassment mostly of psychological and social nature. In general, sexual harassment is one of the forms which is contradiction with the sexual freedom of the individual and as such violates the moral and physical integrity of the individual and it does represent violation of human rights. Kosovo is among the countries where sexual harassment is still present. This phenomenon has shown an increase in number in the recent years, but at the same time also the awareness of the society has shown a raise d the awareness of society to denounce such cases to the authorities responsible for gender issues. This study, through the use of analytical, comparative and observational methods has aimed to do a research on the spread of sexual harassment at the workplace in Kosovo, about the types of harassment, causes and consequences of sexual harassment and finally to come up with some recommendations.
Key Words: Sexual Harassment, Workplace, Public Sector, Private Sector, Causes, Consequences.
Path of Science, 2016
Family is considered as a nucleus, cell of the society, which is created by the sexual union of t... more Family is considered as a nucleus, cell of the society, which is created by the sexual union of two partners (heterosexual)-marriage with the purpose of biological reproduction, approved by the society. Divorce is the opposite of marriage, it represents a social and legal problem, and is part of the society itself. This phenomenon is being considered as one of the oldest, old as humanity itself. In Kosovo, as in other parts of the world, divorce exists from very old times, and it was passed from a generation to another and still remains one of the social problems of Kosovo society. In the past this phenomenon was less present in our society because of political, economical social and cultural circumstances. After year 1999 we see that number of cases of divorce grow in comparison with previous years. The data taken from different researches and studies show that in year 2004, in Kosovo there were 16.989 marriages and 1.293 cases of divorce, so with 7.6% at national level, whereas the average age of divorced people is 29.5% women ans 31.8% men. Some of the factors that have influenced the growth/development of divorce are: transition period, crisis of the system of values, socio-economical factors, migration and immigration, emancipation of women, and other factors. The consequences of divorce are: individual, familial, economical, cultural and in general-social consequences. Therefore, this study does analyze the phenomenology of divorce in Kosovo in the period between 2004-2014 years, causes and consequences.
Keywords: Family, Marriage, Divorce, Causes, Consequence, Cultural, Urban, Rural
The community nowadays is defined as a group with a social affiliation, shared value, and interac... more The community nowadays is defined as a group with a social affiliation, shared value, and interaction that links these members together. Participation of the community in decision making is considered essential characteristics of democracy and particularly of the local government. Thus local governments, through various democratic forms, seek to involve the community to be part of the decision-making process. Various studies and reports in Kosovo do emphasize that participation of the community in policy design and development is low. For this purpose, this paper aims to analyse the community's participation of the community in the decision-making process with a particular emphasis on the municipality of Pristina. The research provides a holistic approach to community development in the municipality of Pristina, the level of participation in decision-making processes, forms of communication between local government and the community, and the impact of community development in drafting public policies at the local level. The methodology used here is focused on the different studies and reports on local government and community, and also on quantitative research on public opinion measurement as well. The overall results of this paper emphasize that although there are institutional mechanisms for participation in decision-making, there is a decrease in community participation in decision-making and in the process of drafting and developing local public policies.
Political communication with the public - effective methods and techniques for success in political elections, 2023
SUMMARY Two months before the early national elections on 17th October 2021, while talking to on... more SUMMARY
Two months before the early national elections on 17th October 2021, while talking to one of my colleagues, he suggested me to give a speech on communication and planning activities for election campaign. I accepted this with pleasure and while checking the literature for preparation of lectures, I came across many materials, studies, analysis, researches, from different authors, researchers, civil societies, professors and other scientists, but nothing was written about Kosovo elections. From that day and until now, when I finished this book, I have been focused mainly reading local and foreign literature, including a large number of researches in the field of sociology of communication, mass communication, science of communication and political sociology, in order that readers to have a more clearer picture about such topics.
Therefore, the idea behind this book, is a research of socio-political analysis and a critical overview at communication in general and at the domain of political communication, focusing in the Kosovar society. In fact, communication is an exchange of information between two or more involved parties, with purpose of conveying a message. The birth and development of communication, with no doubt, that have played a good role in elevating the society and different cultures, also have helped in diminishing or avoiding prejudices and stereotypes toward different cultures and diversities, and the most important, has created ‘connection bridges’ between different cultures and societies.
Today, the world, not that is a ‘global village’ as McLuhan said, it has become a world with variety of colours, cultures, ethnicities, religion and societies. In this aspect, the language is a mean of communication, through which people communicate daily, they create social distancing, create differences, disagreements, also often and conflicts Therefore the purpose of communication should be the opposite; dialogue and overcoming disagreements and misunderstandings.
In other hand, we live in a democratic state, which many people call it ‘liberal state’, which is focused on individuals freedom, which has often produced ambiguous situations and raised philosophical questions about where one’s freedom ends and when other one’s starts. This question is raised especially after the appearance of televisions debates, hateful and sexist language in media, used by politicians in many countries, including Kosovo.
Nowadays, the democracy is considered as something greater than modern, i.e. a postmodernism, which has led to different cultures, diversities, ethnicities, religions, but also different political parties. Political parties are groups of people who compete in elections and hold power in government. They coordinate certain public policies and programs for society in order to promote the common good or the collective good. Politicians are considered public people, who have an extremely high role and influence in relation to the citizens, and are even the image of a society and a state. Therefore, the communication they develop and show has an impact on their social modeling by the new generations and for this purpose their communication during debates or social discourses, body language, sitting position, gestures, authority, their charisma, clothing, combination of cloth colours, eloquence and culture of communication are undoubtedly those characteristics which help increase or decrease their reputation.
This book tries to analyze deeply and more precisely these characteristics in the context of language and political communication in Kosovar society, interlacing the theoretical aspect with that practice in Kosovo, also comparisons with developed countries and their current stages. With modesty, we can say that this book is one of the rare books that deals with political communication from a socio-political point of view. It is often said that the ABC of philosophy is precisely the question. Therefore, the questions that are posed on the sociological level in this book are: What is the role of communication, especially the political one? How much does the culture of debate affects the shaping and rise or fall of a politician? What do the studies say about the colour combination of world famous politicians or what signal do they give? What do they say about body language? How should we prepare for an election campaign? What is the meaning of the slogans of political parties, including Kosovo? Do the colours of slogans matter? What is the election campaign team and what should be focused on? What will be the future of election campaigns in the worldview of the 'metaverse'?!
The book is focused also in some other details, which also play and important during an election campaigns, typology of communication culture, public speeches, public relations and other relevant topics, which readers may find worthy.
This book can be useful to political parties, to the politicians, civil societies, scholars, students, all citizens and professionals who aim to be accepted and to attract audiences when speaking in public.
This book is organized in three parts: First part is primarily focused on communication and public relations, respectively on the ontology of development of communication, its role and importance, its typology, elements of communication, communication culture and media education, and communication barriers as well.
In the second part of the book, we talk about political parties and political education, respectively about the relationship between democracy and political pluralism, political parties and political culture, these topics are quite actual in our social environment, in this part we also talk about the role of political communication with citizens, communication and body language including illustrated examples according to recent studies, the dress code in politics and the psychology of colours, nuances and reflection before the public, as well as public speaking and interpersonal spaces, these spaces which also present an important role during communication with citizens.
In the third and last part of the book, we expand and goes deeper by analyzing and giving suggestions about the organization of the election campaigns and the model plan of elections activities, necessary for political parties and pluralism. In this part, of high important are topics about elections and the election campaigns as a test for democracy, the election campaign teams, roles and responsibilities, the brainstorming method as a necessary method during the election campaign period, then the steps for the campaign plan , including: various researches and their relevance, setting goals and objectives for the campaign, the target group, the development of campaign messages, namely the slogans of political parties in developed countries and comparisons with Kosovo, the communication/contact of voters from political parties, the importance of voter protection, as well as the “metaverse” and future of election campaigns.