The author looks into the concept of the "smal1 nation" and whether it is high time for its scientific or linguistic revision. If "small nations" are a qualitative category, why define them quantitatively as "small"? Small nations gained independence in two waves: between the German-French war (1870-1871) and the end of World War One, and after the close of the "cold war" in 1990. However, not all small nations gained independence (e.g. Basques, Catalonians, Bretons, etc.). They pose a major challenge for Western Europe. The example of Croatia and its relationship with Serbs serves to illustrate the vacillations in the European ideology and attitudes towards small nations. The pressures exerted on the Croatian state regarding the political attitude of the Croatian people towards small nations did not stem from the logic of globalist economism or neoliberal political doctrine but were the.consequence of the war which the mother country Serbia of the Serbs in Croatia waged with the aim of annexing the territories on which they were a majority population. (SOI : PM: S. 98)
In numerous European countries, majority nations and national minorities that live in them, aware of the complexity of relations between majorities and minorities in the ethnic sense, and the ensuing dangers, have engaged in mutual accommodation and compromise, thus fashioning certain models of coexistence. Constitutional provisions of European states prove that there is no single model of the recognition of the rights of national minorities. Still, European states may be divided into three groups. The first group includes those states which advocate the constitutional principle of the integral nation and refuse to recognize any other ethnic origin of their citizens. The second group comprises those states which do not divide its ethnic communities into majority and minority ones, which practically means that they do not recognize the category of the national minority; they protect the ethnic identity of their members by dividing their equal citizens by the languages they use. The third group includes those countries which recognize the notion of the majority nation and national minorities. This group has elaborated the provisions regarding the rights of national minorities, particularly the protection of their national, cultural, religious and linguistic identity, with major differences in the scope of individual rights. (SOI : PM: S. 84)
Within contemporary geopolitical processes, respect for the rights of national minorities is no longer the discretion of a state, but rather is an indirect or direct international regulation of the minority issue. In the beginning of the 1990s, the political economical crisis and disintegration of the former SFRY opened the national question, that was considered to be permanently and successfully solved, in the most dramatic way, and ethnic conflicts and clashes followed the desintegration of the country. With the formation of a new states on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, the existence of numerous and different national minorities ("old" and "new") required a different approach to their protection and integration in complex political circumstances. Thus, the position of the so called new minorities drastically changed since they formed constituent nations in the former SFRY, while after secession they remained separated from their home nations and became national minorities almost overnight. Out of Serbia, in former Yugoslav republics live nearly half a million persons belonging to Serbian nationality as new national minority. The paper discusses the position and rights of the Serbian minority in the post Yugoslav states (Slovenia, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro) as well as in some neighboring member states of the European Union (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria). In addition to the analysis of basic demographic indicators (number and spatial distribution) that determine the realization of the rights and freedoms of each minority, the paper examines the issue of protecting the national, cultural and linguistic identity of Serbs, as well as the ways of its preservation and improvement. Although the social and legal status of the Serbian minority is determined by European standards, the analysis points to their undefined status, since they still do not recognize the status of a national minority in some countries, and that they are in practice faced with more or less assimilation. In order to fully realize minority rights and improve the position of the Serb minority, ratified international documents, bilateral agreements, national laws, as well as well-designed policies and assistance from the home state are of great importance.Respecting basic human rights and freedom, as well as national minority protection, represent the basic factors of stability, security and democratic and socio-economic development of every country.
This paper deals with a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of pre-election TV commercials inthe last two campaigns of 2012 and of 2014 in Serbia. The aim of the research is to deconstruct thestrategy of political parties in the field of gender sensitization from a gender perspective based onthe most important activity of parliamentary democracy – the election cycle, using examples ofpaid political advertising – the pre-election TV clip, for which the parties allocated the most resourcesin the campaign of 2012 and of 2014 in Serbia. The aim is also to analyze the personalexperience of female politicians in order to provide a new and different way of analyzing practicesand strategies of the parties in relation to the visibility of female candidate in the mediaduring the election campaign.The basic method is the critical discourse analysis (CDA) complemented by the method ofcomparing the regular election campaign of 2012 and the early elections of 2014, and the methodof life stories of the candidates (oral history). The CDA puts a special emphasis on various forms of discrimination that result from the abuse of power that continues to lead to the emergence ofsocial inequality and injustice (Dijk 2008).There are three levels at which the (in)visibility of women in the political process can be observed:a) the (lack of) presence of women on the candidate lists in the election campaign, andafter the elections, the (decreased) number of women in the parliament; b) (in)visibility of womenin paid media campaigns and c) (in)visibility of women in the language.Practice: a) On the basis of the "principle of affirmative action", women become more presenton the candidate lists and in the parliament as a result of the introduction of quota into the gendersensitive legislation (all SEE countries – Southeast Europe/Western Balkans). b) Women are stillrarely seen in the pre-election TV clip which is the most effective paid advertising, because it is atraditionally male "space", while women are more active in reach-out field work. c) visibility ofwomen in language is achieved, for example, by the use of the Gender-sensitive language Code.(S. Savić).In this paper the focus is on the sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), with (c) being analyzed in a limitedmanner only as part of the pre-election TV clip slogans analysis.A TV clip is comprised of: the slogan and the body of the clip. The slogan is made of aniconic and a linguistic part. In both campaign slogans there were no gender sensitive slogans,except for one in 2014 (URS's campaign for the female Mayor of Belgrade). The body is made ofthe video format and the content. In both campaigns, in 2012 and in 2014 forms of videos werehybrid types that included: documentary footage from the field, speech of the leader speakingdirectly in camera, animation, short fiction form.The analysis confirmed the basic hypothesis: despite the fact that, according to the legal provisionsa female candidate occupied every third position of the candidate lists in both analyzedelection cycles – they are underrepresented in paid political advertising in the media (TV clip).Individual hypotheses are also confirmed.The icons and the contents of the presentation of Serbia in the election cycle in 2012 and in2014 in the election TV clips were masculinized from the standpoint of power in society that isheld by male party leaders. The basic strategy of all parties who had a paid television campaign,in a form of TV clips, in both observed election cycles was the strategy of exclusion from thepolitical space mediated by the media. So we are here talking about a media, and by that, a widersocial invisibility of women in exercising one of the fundamental rights, the right to participationin decision-making and active participation in the elections. ; Cilj rada je da dekonstruiše strategije političkih partija iz rodne perspective u odnosu natelevizijsko predizborno političko plaćeno oglašavanje u kampanjama 2012. i 2014. u Srbiji.Cilj je takođe da se analizira lično iskustvo političarki da bi se na nov i drugačiji način analizirale prakse i strategije partija u odnosu na vidljivost kandidatkinja u vreme predizborne kampanjeu medijima. Metode korišćene u istraživanju su: kritička analiza medijskog diskursa(jedinica analize je tv spot u celini, verbalna, vizuelna i zvučna komponenta), komparativnametoda i životne priče kandidatkinja. Osnovna hipoteza je da bez obzira na to što su, shodnozakonskim odredbama, na kandidatskim listama, u oba analizirana izborna ciklusa, ženezauzimale svako treće mesto – one su podzastupljene u plaćenom političkom medijskom reklamiranju(TV spotu). Osnovni rezultat je da su medijske plaćene kampanje bile maskulinizirane.U fokusu je samo partijski lider. Kandidatkinje su podzastupljene u oba posmatranaperioda. Partije nisu rodno senzibilisane kada je reč o političkom plaćenom oglašavanju uvreme predizborne kampanje.