ABSTRACT

The aim of this chapter is to answer the question of whether claims by different national movements are to be seen in the light of the ‘particularity’ of their cases. As Yael Tamir has put it, ‘[M]ost nationalists, however, tend to repress the knowledge that their nation is but a reiteration of a worldwide phenomenon… they tend to emphasize the particular’.1 Using the case of Kosovo, I will illustrate how nationalist claims are certainly not so dramatically different that: they each can be judged as specific and therefore meriting special attention, More specifically, I will show the congruence of the claims of Albanian and Serbian nationalists for the right to rule over Kosovo. As it will become evident, both sides, Serbian and Albanian, try to present to the international community their case as being particular and therefore deserving particular attention and consideration. However, if both cases are presented as being particular, but both claims rest on more or less equivalent arguments, then we face a dilemma-how to evaluate Serbian or Kosovo Albanian assertions for political right to rule this province.