Citizenship in modern nation-states is inherently differentiated and uneven.  This unevenness of citizenship does not necessarily lead to exclusion or infringement of rights. On the contrary, it can be used as a tool for the advancement of an important principle of liberal democracy, that of equality (Joppke 2010; Kymlicka 1995; Harty and Murphy 2005). However, unevenness of citizenship in the post-Yugoslav space and its encompassing wider region of Southeastern Europe often lead to various forms of group-differentiated inequalities.

Nation-states are primary arbiters and distributors of citizenship and other related rights. In the context where this is coupled by the principle of constitutional nationalism (Hayden, 1992) as is the case in the post-Yugoslav states, as well as by the processes of (re)definition of membership but also externalisation of kin-state citizenship and European integration, this has often disparately affected various non-dominant groups.  The results of these processes are manifested in numerous forms of uneven citizenship. These processes will be examined specifically addressing the statuses, rights, and duties of refugees, IDPs, returnees , Roma and ‘perceived co-ethnics’.  To demonstrate the empirical bases of these issues, the papers will look across cases and countries and will be based on original research.  Hopefully, the cases will also provide more generalizable and theoretically valuable insights into the problematique of citizenship regimes of nationalising states with regards to minority populations.

The papers will address the cases of the Roma as semi citizens in the former Yugoslavia, inequalities and the politics of return in the former Yugoslavia, and the specific question of the reintegration of the Croatian Serb refugees in Vojvodina, the case of 'perceived co-ethnics' in the context of an ethnic politics of citizenship, and finally the issues raised by the treatment of minorities in the Kosovan constitution and Kosovan legislation.