Sociology After Bosnia and Kosovo


Book Description

This book provides a sociological account of the events in Bosnia in the 1990s, including ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and the role of political journalists. Drawing upon a diverse group of social theorists, including Merton, Weber, and Baudrillard, Sociology After Bosnia constructs a social understanding of the experiences of people in Bosnia and the response of Western leaders to these experiences. Beyond looking at the social causes of these events, Doubt sheds light on why Bosnia and Kosovo have largely been ignored by sociologists. He shows why the personal and social tragedies of people in Bosnia and Kosovo and the world's tolerance of these tragedies challenge contemporary sociological knowledge. Doubt argues that sociologists must be willing not only to recognize this challenge, but also to respond to it in order to construct meaningfully adequate accounts of war and genocide in a postmodern era. Doing so, he contends, may yield an important and needed reconsideration of the existing body of sociologicial knowledge and a revision of how this knowledge is applied.




Shaping Social Identities After Violent Conflict


Book Description

This book examines the identities of young adults in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. With research drawn from a large multidisciplinary project exploring a potential for reconciliation in post-conflict societies, the authors discuss the interplay between ethnic, religious and national identities that have been the source of recent violent conflicts. They focus on people aged 18-30, representing generations that are socialized after the wars, but live in ethnically divided societies burdened with a difficult history. Another aim of the project was to compare majority and minority perspectives within each country, and to provide a unique view on how to reinterpret and build more inclusive social identities. Scholars and organizations interested in areas of social psychology, political science and sociology will find this research of great value.




The Aftermath of War


Book Description

At a time when most observers saw war in Europe as belonging to an ever more distant past, the wars of Yugoslav succession shattered this illusion. The direct and indirect consequences of these wars for people in the region are still not fully understood, but it is clear that the war has had far reaching social and political consequences for each national society as a whole. This groundbreaking volume provides a series of analyses of experiences and social attitudes in the Western Balkans in the aftermath of those wars. Based on survey data from 22,000 respondents, the editors have created a volume which contributes to our understanding of both specific war-related effects as well as a detailed description of contemporary attitudes and values across these societies. This book will be of interest to academic specialists and students interested in the effects of war on psychological health and on ethnic relations in the Western Balkans as well as how this applies to other post-conflict societies. It will also be of interest to sociologists, political scientists, and historians studying differences in attitudes between the countries, ethnic groups, and generations in this region related to diverse topics from ethnic tolerance to states’ responsibility for equality and gender roles.




Genocide after Emotion


Book Description

The failure to adequately respond on the part of the major Western superpowers to the atrocities in the Balkans constitutes a major moral and political scandal. In Genocide after Emotion Mestrovic and the contributors thoroughly interrogate the war, its media coverage and response in the West. The result is alarming, both for the progress of the war and for the condition of our society today: the authors argue that the West is suffering from a "postemotional" condition - we are beyond caring about anything anymore.




Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies


Book Description

This collection of essays examines Yugoslavia's dissolution and the subsequent wars.




Documenting the Undocumented


Book Description

Proceedings of the annual conference held Apr. 16-17, 2009 at York University.




Ethnic and National Identity in Bosnia-Herzegovina


Book Description

In Ethnic and National Identity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Keith Doubt and Adnan Tufekčić analyze Bosnian social organization, cultural character, and boundary maintenance. Doubt and Tufekčić argue that modern Bosnians live in a polyethnic society, defined by a set of marriage and kinship practices that cross ethnic and national identity divisions. This book provides readers with a clearer understanding of Bosnian identity and the role of ethnic groups in an increasingly complex society.




International Intervention in the Balkans Since 1995


Book Description

This volume offers an analysis of the activities of the international community in the Balkans since the 1995 Dayton Agreement. There has been substantial investment in the region but so far the gains have been limited and doubts remain as to the extent that sustainable security has been enhanced. There is a need for serious reassessment of policies and priorities, but this depends on a careful analysis of past successes and failures. The contributors seek to provide this by examining intervention, not just in terms of military action and the activities of major international agencies at state level, but also the activities of outside NGOs within the local environment.




Kosovo between War and Peace


Book Description

A major contribution to the debate about the reconstruction of Kosovo, and to the general discussion surrounding the revived 'trusteeship institution' model in the context of the UN internationalism of the 1990s and the War on Terror following 9/11. Bringing together leading international scholars, this book presents the latest empirical research alongside detailed theoretical analysis. Examining the key questions local parties and the international community have encountered in Kosovo, including how to develop effective and inclusive local government, how to counter crime and the dysfunctional aspects of liberal economic reform, how to unite the partly opposed goals of reconstructing the province while avoiding renewed ethnic and international strife, and how to handle the specific challenge of Kosovo’s future status. The contributors also re-examine the background factors that continue to influence and hamper the attempt to administrate and reconstruct the province, first of all the nationalist ideologies and the record of ethnic violence. This book will be of great interest to all students of Balkan politics, peacekeeping, international relations and security studies in general.




The SAGE Handbook of Political Sociology, 2v


Book Description

The SAGE Handbook of Political Sociology offers a comprehensive and contemporary look at this evolving field of study. The focus is on political life itself and the chapters, written by a highly-respected and international team of authors, cover the core themes which need to be understood in order to study political life from a sociological perspective, or simply to understand the political world. The two volumes are structured around five key areas: PART 1: TRADITIONS AND PERSPECTIVES PART 2: CORE CONCEPTS PART 03: POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES AND MOVEMENTS PART 04: TOPICS PART 05: WORLD REGIONS This future-oriented and cross-disciplinary handbook is a landmark text for students and scholars interested in the social investigation of politics.