Ethnic strife is usually the hot topic of the Balkans, but what about gender? The problems of gender cut across all ethnic boundaries to affect every person in Macedonia. I want to study gender there because it is one of the only social issues that literally affects every citizen in the country. There are many ethnic based nongovernmental organizations (NGO) but only a few gender based NGOs- yet they are crucial to the equal access of women to government services. Civil society is comprised of the volunteer-based organizations that help provide the basis of a functioning society. Civil society and government often work hand-in-hand to provide for the citizens of their country. Sometimes this work, while vital to the success of the government, might not be completed due to bureaucratic hurdles or focused blocking by officials against people’s rights. At other times, one part of a country’s civil society will be treated along a hierarchy of more access to less access or funding. In Macedonia, I will be taking courses at the Euro Balkan Institute, such as Pop Culture and Gender or Modern Balkan History, and volunteering at a local NGO. Dean Kolozova has stated that the Euro Balkan Institute will provide me with contacts in the local NGOs.
I plan to use my time in Macedonia as preliminary research for my future graduate studies, possibly at the Euro Balkan Institute. I will be taking courses that will provide me with a foundation of knowledge that allows me to complete in depth research. The courses at Euro Balkan will supplement my experiences with the NGOS and allow me to gain the background needed. I want to address many different questions including: How can people change the society that they live in? What access do they have to the government or to the people? How does the ideal of volunteerism affect the way that Macedonian civil society works? How does a society change from 2001, when Freedom House stated that “volunteerism [is an] alien concept in Macedonia,” to an entire section in their 2009 report that stated that NGOs were receiving competitive funding from the European Union (EU)? A NGOs ability to help the community it is working in is dependent upon their ability to receive funding which is connected to the access they have to funding sources, such as the government of Macedonia or the EU. Through funding, NGOs and other members of the civil society will be able to reach out to the community and to do more to help the people who live there, be it through interaction with a reluctant government (Freedom House 2009) or through raising awareness of important issues in the community. In Macedonia, they might focus on people-to-people contact to help solve ethnic problems. My research will attempt to see how the government works with civil society. It will provide information about how NGOs can reach out to the government and how the government could reach out to NGOs. My study will either re-affirm existing action plans to access government services or foreign aid or suggest new avenues. It will also address new ways of working in closer connection with the government to better serve the people of Macedonia. Since an NGO’s ability to access the government can be seen as a litmus test for how democratic that government is, observing their access will provide information about how to contact the government for the people of Macedonia. There are times when civil society, NGOs in particular, acts as a mouthpiece for the general population, bringing pressing problems to the government’s attention. My project is only able to be completed in country as it is critical that I observe the daily interpersonal interactions between government officials, NGO members, and the communities in which they work. In addition, I will have access to local libraries, such as the one at Euro Balkan or other universities in Skopje, research and professors that are only in Macedonia. In addition, I need to observe the workings of the Macedonian government in progress during the present day, not just through a series of articles. Being in country will give me access to primary sources verses the secondary sources that I currently have access to, which are subject to the authors own interpretation.
I will be completing research in the participant-observer framework. The participant observer framework is a type of in-depth study where a researcher will not only observe the actions of a group but will also participate within the group. Following the participant-observer research style will allow me to be both an impartial observer and an active helpful member of a local organization throughout the year. The interaction will involve me with my host community in an intimate way, allowing me close communication with a wide range of Macedonians that I would not otherwise receive if I just stayed within the ivory towers of academia. It allows me privileged access to see how they view their own lives and their interactions with the government. My volunteer work will show them a commitment to help my host country in the best way I can through my dedication of time and labor. My end goal is to produce a 15-25 page research paper that will provide the background for more in-depth research studies in the future. I am choosing to base myself in Skopje because the Euro Balkan Institute, which provides critical research in the area of contemporary politics and gender in the Balkans, has offered to provide me with affiliation. The Euro Balkan Institute has a postgraduate program in Gender Studies as well as Contemporary Political Thought, and by basing myself at this institution, I will be able to combine the resources of this institute with my personal studies, which will provide me with a steady foundation. In addition, being located in the capital will allow me greater access to the government of Macedonia, including its public officials and some of the most actively dedicated members of society trying to reach the government. I believe that observing the civil society located in the capital will give me the best results for my study, since it theoretically will have closer interaction with the government.
By the beginning of the Fulbright Award year, I will have completed my Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies with a minor in History. As part of the degree requirements, I will have finished an Introduction to Women’s Studies course, numerous political science and anthropological courses, and have completed a thesis. My thesis will focus on the admission process that Macedonia has to go through to be admitted to the EU and what that says about the EU’s larger foreign policy goals. In addition, I will consider the impact enlargement has on Macedonia. This will allow me to gain a more intimate knowledge about the country and the region than I previously have, since I have never taken any courses that have had a focus on the Balkans or had a course considered them in more than just a passing fashion. I also plan, as part of my thesis and other papers throughout this year, to gain knowledge of the history of Macedonia and the Balkans, which will allow me to understand the historical significance of the modern governmental interactions with their constituents and prepare me for my research in Macedonia. I will be well versed in the culture of Macedonia by my arrival in country in the fall of 2011. I also will be at a beginner to intermediate level in Macedonian language. Studying gendered politics in Macedonia will provide insight into a complicated area with little available research in the US that has far-reaching consequences for every person not only in Macedonia but for also every country in the world.
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