This volume provides one of the first comprehensive feminist readings of international statebuilding, with a specific focus on the case of Kosovo. Rather than simply showing how the state in Kosovo ...is being built by and through women and feminist encounters, this volume is interested to problematise women and feminist subjectivities vis-à-vis the state and statebuilding. The book challenges three main arguments related to the processes and subjects of statebuilding in Kosovo. First, the academic literature on Kosovo has a tendency to take the international intervention of 1999 as the originary point of statebuilding processes in Kosovo. Second, and relatedly, given Kosovo's unprecedented exposure to Western intervention and statebuilding, the majority of works start from the presumption that liberal interventionism in Kosovo (and elsewhere) is normatively more progressive than the previous system, and that the liberal interventionism and statebuilding are naturally gender progressive and gender-equal. The third argument has to do with the existing legal architecture on gender and women’s rights in contemporary Kosovo. The aim of the volume is to, on the one hand, problematise the evidence against the backdrop of everyday manifestations and/or performances of statebuilding and on the other hand interrogate the co-constitutive gender aspect. In terms of methodology, the volume brings together contributions that rely on traditional and multi-sited ethnography, and narrative research rooted in projects and initiatives in Kosovo. This allows the contributors to unearth new and silenced actors, entry points, subjects and subjectivities in processes of and related to statebuilding in Kosovo; feminist frictions and challenges to statebuilding in Kosovo; as well as encounters of heteronormative statebuilding. This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding, Balkan politics, feminisms, and international relations, in general.
Twenty years on from the end of war, the status of the north of Kosovo remains disputed. Ten years on from Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, the north's predominantly Serb population ...continues to resist integration. Education, health, and other vital services continue to be provided by Serbia. These latent tensions regularly surface through various forms of resistance, including protests and barricades (most notably those of 2011); resistance which has many historical precedents. Ian Bancroft provides an original ethnographic account of the reality in north Kosovo, mixing first-hand interviews and anecdotes with historical background and academic insight. He explores a diverse array of themes, including the Trep?a mines, religious and cultural life, and the Main Bridge over the river Ibar, which has become a symbol of the divided town of Mitrovica. Bancroft examines memories of the war and 2004 riots, and the daily realities of local governance and politics in a post-war environment. The book also goes to the heart of the border/boundary regions, the multi-ethnic Bošnja?ka Mahala, and mixed areas on the periphery to tell the stories of those caught-up on the front-lines of conflict. As such, it offers valuable insights for aspiring peacebuilders into the challenges of working in a context of considerable complexity.
Generosity and Refugees: The Kosovars in Exile is a political and social history engaging with the dimensions of generosity via a study about Kosovar refugees fleeing to Australia during the 1999 war ...in the former Yugoslavia.
This book provides new and stimulating perspectives on how Kosovo has shaped the new Europe. It breaks down traditional assumptions in the field of security studies by sidelining the theoretical ...worldview that underlies mainstream strategic thinking on recent events in Kosovo. The contributors challenge the epistemological definition of the Kosovo conflict, arguing that we should not only be concerned with the 'Kosovo out there', but also with the debate about what counts as security and how our definition of security is shaped by various power and knowledge interests in Kosovo. They have adopted an innovative critical approach, both re-essentialising and deconstructing orthodox assumptions about the nature of European and global security. This book is perfect for final year undergraduates, postgraduates and academics in the field of security studies and international politics.
In today’s globalized world, where the foundations of home and social security are destabilized due to wars and neoliberal transformations, the villagers of Kosovo are linked with a common locality ...despite living across borders. By tracing long-distant family relations with a special focus on cross-border marriages, this study looks at the reconfiguration of care relations, gender and generational roles among kin-members of Kosovo, who now live in different European states.
The war in Kosovo has been a defining moment in post-Cold War Europe. Kosovo has great importance beyond the Balkans as the most ambitious attempt of the international community to prevent internal ...conflicts and rebuild a society destroyed by war and ethnic cleansing. As the danger of ethnic conflict prevails in the region and elsewhere around the world, the experience of Kosovo offers important lessons. This is a comprehensive survey of developments in Kosovo leading up to, during and after the war in 1999, providing additionally the international and regional framework to the conflict. It examines the underlying causes of the war, the attempts by the international community to intervene, and the war itself in spring 1999. It critically examines the international administration in Kosovo since June 1999 and contextualizes it within the relations of Kosovo to its neighbours and as part of the larger European strategy in Southeastern Europe with the stability pact. It does not seek to promote one interpretation of the conflict and its aftermath, but brings together a range of intellectual arguments from some sixteen researchers from the Balkans, the rest of Europe and North America.
'With its unique focus, this book constitutes an important milestone in a large academic debate. With its 350 pages this rich collection provides many valuable perspectives, yet, it also raises some questions.'
- Nationalities Papers, Vol 32, No. 2
'With its multi-disciplinary character this book is a valuable source for scholars, policy-makers, and journalists who want to make feasible arguments and informed policy choices related to the region.'
- Maria Koinova, Harvard University
1. Claims to Kosovo 2. Kosovo or Kosova 3. Ethnic Prejudices and Discrimination 4. The Limits of Non Military International Intervention 5. Rambouillet 6. When Doves Support War and Hawks Oppose It 7. The Theory of Humanitarian Intervention 8. War on Kosovo 9. Religion in Kosovo and the Balkans 10. The UN in Kosovo 11. Ethnic Borders to a Democratic Society 12. The EU Intervention 13. Questioning Reconstruction v Regional Perspectives for an Independent Kosovo 14. Kosovo Independence and Macedonian Stability 15. Serbia after the Kosovo War
Florian Bieber, is Senior Non-Resident Research Fellow at the European Center for Minority Issues, in Belgrade and has edited many publications in the field of ethnic conflict. Zidas Daskalovski is currently posted at the Central European University in Budapest and is Chief Researcher for Minority Information Service, Macedonian NGO dealing with minority issues
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