Oil shocks, migration and European integration: a (Trans)national perspective on the Yugoslav crises of the 1980s

Abstract

The extensive Yugoslav economic migration and presence of Yugoslav ethnic minorities in Western Europe, as well as the interaction of this migration with the Yugoslav crisis of the 1980s, remain under-researched. This article sets out to offer a modest contribution on this neglected topic. It argues that short-distance transnational communities and short-term migration were already at the centre of grievances articulated on ethno-nationalist grounds in the early 1980s. It links these grievances to the different impact of the two oil shocks and the process of European integration on each Yugoslav republic, differences which contributed to the crisis of federal unity.

External Controls: Policing Entries, Enforcing Exits

“…The situation changed with the European "economic miracle" of the 1950s and 1960s. In a context of extraordinary economic growth, securing an adequate supply of foreign labour in the form of a low-skilled workforce become a pressing concern (Judt, 2006;Bernard, 2019). This "influx" phase -to use Peach's (1997) periodisation -was characterised, primarily, but not exclusively in Northern European countries, by the very selective use of visa requirements -largely absent, or informally ignored in the case of citizens from certain origin countries, rigorously enforced, even beyond diplomatic agreements, against the citizens of others (Schönwälder, 2001).…”

“…This phase ended with the oil shock of the early 1970s, accompanied in Western Europe by the interruption of all active programs for low-skilled labour recruitment (Bernard, 2019). With the adoption of an increasingly restrictive approach, several countries experimented with the use of visa requirements as a tool to prevent unwanted migration.…”