The Benefits of Frame Analysis to Understanding Yugoslavia and Beyond

Despite the burgeoning literature on the dissolution of Yugoslavia, not many took notice of the various discourses through which politicians aimed to mobilise their constituencies for independence. Most scholarly attention was directed at the reasons fuelling the break-up while largely ignoring the fact that the various movements which tore the state apart were framed very differently. Moreover, most scholarship on the break-up of Yugoslavia discussed events at the Yugoslav level—bringing in only haphazard details from the republics. Recognising this apparent gap triggered my research interest in studying the framing aspect of nationalist movements in the context of Yugoslavia’s disintegration. In my book Secessionist Movements and Ethnic Conflict: Debate-Framing and Rhetoric in Independence Campaigns (Routledge, 2014b) I tried to illuminate the link between certain mobilisational discourses and peaceful versus violent movement outcomes. In this chapter I explain why I chose the process-tracing method combined with discursive frame analysis as my research methodology, and how this particular approach helped me to make sense of my initial puzzle. In the second part of the chapter I aim to show that this methodological approach also helped me to address the structure and agency dilemma, which emerges from my theoretical model.