Cultural Representation Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Serbian EU integration has been an important issue in everyday Serbian politics from the year 2000 onwards, and especially from the end of 2012 when Serbia officially became an EU candidate country. However, statistical data show that over the last few years interest in EU integration is decreasing among Serbian citizens. On the other hand, socio-cultural anthropological studies conducted in Serbia have presented different empirical data showing that for many Serbian citizens the EU represents conceptions of a „normal“ or „good and secure life“.
As a point of comparison with those studies, I have conducted research among Serbs who live in the EU. Specifically, I focus on the issue of what life in the EU means for those people who moved to Austria, a country which has been part of the EU from 1995 onwards. I contend that this question – and others – are of great importance for gaining a deeper understanding of Serbian EU integration, since these people are familiar with life in Serbia and life in Austria. What, then, are their opinions on the issue of whether or not Serbia is ready to become a new EU country? In order to answer these questions, in 2012 and 2013 I spoke with people who have Serbian origins in Graz and Vienna. I chose Austria as my fieldwork site, since from the sixteenth century onwards, historical and political relations have existed between Serbia and Austria. Austria was an important destination country for Serbs emigrating, especially during the twentieth century guest worker phase (1955–1973). Furthermore, statistical data reveal that Austria remains an attractive destination for Serbian emigrants.
In this monograph I analyze several aspects of the experiences of Serbian informants from Graz: the importance of improving and adjusting Serbia’s migration policy with respect to EU standards, and the large emigration potential of Serbia, especially among young highly educated people, who want to move to Austria.
My approach combines two theoretical fields: the anthropology of migration (especially its theory of transnationalism) and cognitive anthropology (especially understandings of cultural representations, also known as cultural models or collective representations). In other words, this monograph consists of anthropological research into migrant narratives regarding their cultural representations of the EU and EU integration. Since cognitive anthropology researches the cultural aspects of human experience, I have chosen to analyze cultural representations of Serbian migrants living in Graz, especially in relation to the transnational dimension to their lives they lead. This transnational dimension is very important in shaping their understandings of Serbia and the Serbian way of life. I have used various methods, including interviews (for data collection) and the snowball method (for choosing informants). Finally, I have used an interpretative and comparative approach to analyze the data.
In February 2013 I spoke with nineteen informants in Graz. Nine persons were from Serbia and ten from Bosnia and Herzegovina (mainly from the Republic of Srpska entity). Initially my plan was to only talk with Serbs from Serbia. However, other Serbs from former Yugoslavia wanted to talk with me and to discuss their vision of Serbia’s position in the EU. I was often told: „we are all Serbs“. I therefore expanded my research scope. In this manner I was able to compare and contrast experiences, opinions and notions among Serbs from Serbia and Serbs from Bosnia. On the other hand, the main focus of my research remained on Serbs with a Serbian origin.
The informants from Serbia are all Serbs who came to Austria at some point over the last three decades. This means that none of them are guest workers. However, they differ greatly among themselves: I talked with both men and women with various levels of education, economic and social positions. For the younger, highly educated informants the EU represents a very important frame for their understandings of the future. For older informants, life in the EU is not so important. For them, the country in which their family lives or where they have Serbian roots is of greater importance. In general, the majority of informants from Serbia viewed their life in Serbia and the current political situation in a more negative than positive light. In short, they are all of the opinion that average Serbian living standards and quality of life are low. They hope, on the other hand, that the Europeanization of the legal system, economy and health services, bureaucracy, security, politics and education will improve life in Serbia. They only mentioned a small number of possible negative consequences associated with Serbian euro-integration, including economic exploitation; the weakening of the Serbian trade market and the imposed acceptance of the independence of Kosovo. In order to understand this topic in more detail, I have analyzed various aspects of migrant life: diaspora; the lack of a modernizing influence in the homeland; double and shared loyalty; narratives of plans upon return etc. Not only are they „others“ in Austria for Austrians, but they are also „others“ for Serbs in Serbia. Their „foreignness“ in both societies is one important characteristic of their transnational lives. They are loyal to Serbia and Austria, but they do not belong anywhere. I therefore introduce the term „cultural tricksters“, bearing in mind that Serbs, Serbian bureaucracy and politicians treat the Serbian Diaspora members as if they were tricksters: sometimes as cultural heroes (who (should) improve and support Serbia’s development) and sometimes as cultural anti-heroes (foreigners and aliens in Serbia). Such migrants’ potential often goes unrecognized, because they are treated as tricksters, who disturb both societies and cultures. I have compared this term, generally used in folklore studies, with the term „marginal man“ coined by the sociologist Robert Park. Park’s term describes psychological and social aspects of people who live in two different cultures and societies. As an anthropologist I was less interested in the emotional life of migrants, but rather in what ways migrants are accepted or recognized, alongside the cultural and social consequences of living their lives in two societies.
It is notable that most Serbs from the Republic of Srpska identified themselves with Serbs from Serbia. For these people, Kosovo and the NATO bombing are parts of their Serbian historical memory and their ethnic identification. Their perceptions on Serbian EU integration are connected with their cultural understandings of their Serbian ethnic identity. In addition, their ethnic identity functions as a confirmation of their Serbian origin and their belonging to the Serbian minority group in Austria. They are, generally speaking, against Serbian EU integration.
Why and for whom could this analysis of cultural representations of migrants be important? Although insignificant as statistical data, this empirical analysis shows that these perceptions of the EU are also migrants’ commentary on life in Serbia and Serbia’s future. Thus, this study will be useful for people considering emigrating to the EU (especially to Austria); for people who idealize life in the EU; and for the Serbian politicians who seek to minimize „brain drain“ and control migration, especially those who plan and organize Serbian-European migration and diaspora politics. Finally, this research argues that the process of adjusting to EU legislation, in relation to Serbia’s EU migration strategy, should come after and not before the improvement of the economy, legal system, bureaucracy, state, educational and other domains in Serbia.