MIT O “TRI NACIJE” I MIT O “MULTIKULTURNOM DRUŠTVU”
THE MYTH OF “THREE NATIONS” IN ONE COUNTRY

Summary/Abstract: In the world of nation-states, it is nomination rather than sociological content that designates the political status, rights and obligations of the group. A group’s position within the nation-state system, and the legitimacy of its political claims, essentially depend on whether it is denoted as a nation or as an ethnic group: the right to its own state is regarded as legitimate if claimed by sociological entities labelled as “nations,” but illegitimate if claimed by those labelled as “ethnic groups.” There are, however, no objective sociological criteria for distinguishing between “nations” and “ethnic groups;” the very same group – or, indeed, any other sociological entity – can acquire nationhood by claiming the right to possess its own state, provided that this claim is recognized by other members of the nation-state system. Thus, paradoxically and self-referentially, nomination depends on recognition and recognition depends on nomination: successful lobbying for recognition is what legitimizes claims to nationhood and brings about the nomination of a group as a nation. In the case of Bosnia, the very nomination of portions of its population in terms of nationhood in effect prompted them to claim their own nation-states and opt to partition the country, while at the same time promoting its incompatibility with the system of nation-states. The consequences are all too obvious.

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