Programs

Summer School in Comparative
Conflict Studies

20-27 June, 2010
Faculty of Media and Communications (FMK), Belgrade

The Summer School in Comparative Conflict Studies provides a learning opportunity for students interested in study and analysis of societies in and post-conflict. Interdisciplinary in its nature, drawing from the fields of Conflict Analysis and Resolution, History, sociology and International Relations, the Summer School in Comparative Conflict Studies provides students with an interactive learning experience utilizing frontal lectures and class discussions focusing on comparative conflict analysis of different case studies.

This year we are offering three courses:*

Managing Violent Pasts: The Case of Northern Ireland

Managing Violent Pasts: The Case of Northern Ireland

Dr. Marie Breen-Smyth

Course Description:
This course provides a detailed account of the Northern Ireland conflict and eight attempts at achieving peace dating from the 1970s to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. No previous knowledge of Northern Ireland is required, and participants will be briefed on the key events, political parties, armed actors, together with an analysis of the impact of the conflict. The course will be entirely geared to a consideration of the lessons to be drawn from the Northern Ireland experience and their relevance or lack of relevance to conflicts and peace processes in other regions. The importance of post-conflict reform, truth recovery and the management of weapons and spoilers will provide points of comparison. There will also be opportunities for participants to shape aspects of the course according to their own specific interests or preoccupations.

Course Structure:
1. Historical background to the conflict
2. External actors and diasporas
3. Political parties in Northern Ireland
4. Armed actors
5. Form and impact of the conflict: deaths, ilitarization and other effects
6. Attempts at peace-making 1970s – 1998. What is failure?
7. The Belfast/ Good Friday Agreement: consociationalism & D’Hont
8. Unfinished business: arguments for and against a truth commission
9. Reforming institutions: the criminal justice system
10. Combatants into politicians or spoilers?

Dr. Marie Breen-Smyth

Marie Breen-Smyth has been Director of the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Contemporary Political Violence (CSRV) in the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, UK since 2005. She also teaches at Smith College, Massachusetts, USA. Prior to that, she was on the academic staff of the University of Ulster and was a 2003 Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). In 1994, she founded the Institute for Conflict Research in Belfast and initiated the first study to document the impact of political violence on the population (including children) of Northern Ireland. She has worked with the Special Representative of the Secretary General of United Nations for Children and Armed Conflict on the issue of the recruitment of children into armed groups. Together with Richard Jackson and Jeroen Gunning she has advocated a more critical approach within ‘terrorism' studies and with Jackson, Gunning, George Kassimeris and Piers Robinson, she is a founder editor of the journal Critical Studies on Terrorism. Her latest books are Truth and justice after violent conflict: managing violent pasts (Routledge, 2007). She has written extensively about the Northern Ireland conflict, and continues to work on issues of justice and truth recovery with victims groups in Northern Ireland.

Dilemmas of National Minorities: The Case of the Palestinian Citizens of Israel

Dr. Abigail Jacobson

Course Description:
This course focuses on the Palestinian-Arab minority in Israel, and explores their status and location in Israel, as well as the main dilemmas and challenges they are facing regarding the complex and charged relations with the Jewish majority and the Jewish state. While the focus of the course is on the Palestinian citizens of Israel, it also offers some parallels and comparisons to other minority groups in deeply divided societies.
The course is divided into four parts. The first part will offer a historical introduction to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general, and to the history of the Palestinians within the State of Israel in particular. Throughout this part we will also explore the major turning points that affected the status of the Palestinians as a minority group in Israel. The second part will focus on social and political orientations and changes among the Palestinians in Israel, as well as their legal status. The third part is devoted to a discussion on specific issues regarding the relations between Jews and Arabs in the State of Israel. This part will focus mainly on the inherent tension between Israel's definition as a Jewish state and the position of its Palestinian citizens in it, and on its implication on the relations between Jews and Arabs in the country. In this part we will explore the implications of this tension on various issues such as land and resources. In the last part we will draw some parallels and comparisons to other conflict regions and deeply divided societies.

Course Structure:
Part 1: Historical background:
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Palestinian citizens of Israel: main actors, major historical turning points.
Part Two: Socio-political changes and realities
* Ethno-religious characteristics of the Palestinian citizens of Israel.
* Political orientations: Between secularism and Islam.
Part Three: Dilemmas and challenges of the Palestinians in Israel
* Arab Israelis or Palestinian citizens of Israel: Dilemmas of identity.
* A Jewish Democratic state? Jewish-Arab Relations and the character of Israel.
* The struggle over the land.
* The socio-economic sphere.
* October 2000 as a turning point.
Part Four: Comparative Analysis
* Majority-minority relations in deeply-divided societies.

Dr. Abigail Jacobson

Abigail completed her BA and MA degrees in Tel Aviv University, Israel. In 2006, she completed her PhD at the Department of History in the University of Chicago. Her dissertation is entitled: "From Empire to Empire: Jerusalem in the Transition between Ottoman and British Rule, 1912-1920". Abigail teaches at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzlia, Israel, where she offers a variety of courses on Middle Eastern history, as well as on Palestinian history, historiography and politics, and the Palestinian citizens in Israel. Her current research focuses on social and urban history of World War I in the Eastern Mediterranean.

After the Violence: The Break Up of Yugoslavia and its Consequences

Dr. Aleksandra (Sasha) Milicevic

This course explores the interplay between nationalism, masculinity, culture and politics in twentieth century Yugoslavia. Special attention is paid to the case of Serbia; however, that case is always looked at from a comparative point of view. The course is divided into four parts: In Part One we will examine the history and culture of Yugoslavia, from World War I and creation of the country, through World War II and Tito's Second Yugoslavia, to the historical and economic conditions that led to the breakup of former Yugoslavia. In Part Two we will focus on the wars that accompanied (or led to) the break up of Yugoslavia. In addition to looking at those wars from a macro perspective (thus, studying the war events, the establishment of dictatorial regimes and their ideologies), we will also focus on a micro perspective (examining the ways in which wars affect and are affected by choices that ordinary people make in their everyday life). We will learn about the victims of wars, and about perpetrators, their behaviors and motivations. Finally, in Part Three we will examine the consequences of the breakup, memories and identities after the conflict, and the ways in which Dayton agreement and ICTY influence the reconciliation efforts in the region.

We will study these issues by integrating sociological, anthropological, economic, political and historical material with literary works and visual materials (feature and documentary films). The course will be comparative both from a disciplinary perspective (combining sociology, anthropology, economics, political science with literary approaches and the study of culture, but also in a thematic sense (combining Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Darfur, Israel/Paliestine, and Armenian genocide).

Themes of the course:
Introduction to the Course and to Yugoslavia
World War I and Creation of Yugoslavia
Tito's Second Yugoslavia, and its Decline
The Evolution of the Conflict: The Role of Social Dynamics
Interpreting Yugoslavia's End
Traitors, Perpetrators, and Heroes
Women and Nationalism: Fear and Loathing
Men and Masciulinities in War
Coming to Terms With the Past: War Crimes, Victims, and Trials
Memorialization and Criminalization after the Violence: Serbia's Struggles Today

Dr. Aleksandra (Sasha) Milicevic

Assistant Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of North Florida

Originally from Serbia, Prof. Milicevic received her Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Belgrade. She also studied at the Central European University in Prague, where she earned her M.A. in Society and Politis, and spent another year as a pre-doctoral fellow at the Center for the Study of Nationalism. Sasha received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA. She finished her dissertation entitled “Joining Serbia’s Wars: Volunteers and Draft-dodgers, 1991–1995" in 2004. She was a 2001 Jennings Randolph Junior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), and in 2004-2005, Sasha was a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow in Peace Studies at Colgate University. Sasha teaches at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of University of North Florida, where she offers a variety of courses on Sociology of War and Peace, Genocide in Comparative Perspective, Gender and Conflict, Political Sociology, Gender and Society, and Sociological Theory. Her primary research areas are in the fields of political sociology, nationalism, masculinity, and sociology of war and peace. She is currently working on a book about the wars in former Yugoslavia.

For more information about Summer School 2010, please click HERE.

What our students say about the 2010 Summer School?

Before attending the CFCCS summer school, I had not anticipated the level of debate or difference of opinion among the international students in the program. In the end, this was one of the most valuable aspects of my experience at the Summer School. Not only were the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the students valuable in the context of cross cultural conflict analysis but was also good experience for students like myself who plan to continue their education in an international and diverse setting. The Summer School also, in the course of just one week, taught me the intricacies and details of a conflict (Israeli-Palestinian) that I had almost no prior knowledge of.

Colby Silver (Marlboro College, USA)
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The most meaningful thing for me was to meet people from around the globe who share the same issue: the issue of conflicts that seems to be a trend, a trend that is sadly in human nature itself.
I learned that every conflict has its cause and resolve (if ever resolved) but also that conflicts are not so far apart or unique as we would like to portray them. I can only see that the same mistakes are repeated time and time again. The course in this Summer School broadened the possibilities towards finding some sort of solution or just brings us closer to some understanding amongst each other. I feel that patience and understanding is what is missing, because we tend to forget that conflicts could care less about age, gender, religion and nationality. It's a global illness that is being dealt with through seminars such as this one.

Nikola Stojanovic (FMK, Serbia)
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The Summer School in Comparative Conflict Studies provided me with the incredible opportunity to learn firsthand about the dissolution of the Former Yugoslavia through a variety of different approaches, and in a city so pertinent to it. The varying backgrounds of the students led to interesting discussions, challenges on old perspectives, and the acquisition of new ones. The knowledge I gleaned while at the Summer School is of utmost importance as I pursue my academic studies on Post- Conflict/Transitional Societies. Moreover, I am confident that my fellow students will continue to serve as my peers and academic network for many years to come.

Cynthia Bernstein, (Columbia University, USA)
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It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this summer school changed my life. The topic I chose (the break-up of Yugoslavia) was of great interest for me before, as many others were… It was definitely during the Summer School that I had the proper incentives to further my studies on the topic and to take the decision of incorporating it into my future projects. For that reason I will undergo an internship in Serbia already next semester!
The organization of the Summer School was great: we had the opportunity to have a guided tour of Belgrade and even a boat trip! A worthy experience? Definitely!

Mariana Mendes (Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, France)
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The Summer School was a great experience for me. It gave me the opportunity to be in the heart of the Balkans, study the case of Yugoslavia, and talk with local people about the past, the present and the future. All this really helps me better understand the Conflicts in the Balkans. I think this course is suitable not only for students but also for researchers who are working on the subject. This was an incredible experience and I am sure that I will be back to Serbia again.

Artak Mkrtichyan (Universidade da Coruna, Spain)
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The experience of participating in the Summer School was for me a unique one. I didn't know what to expect going into it, and I didn't know anyone, but I thought as a student of Conflict Resolution, to learn about a particular conflict, in that country, was a valuable one. It was especially unique for me, because I was quickly branded as the "American" which is a rarity in Belgrade. Because of the NATO bombing, people's reactions to me were interesting, and I didn't expect all of that coming into this. I almost felt like I was on a diplomatic mission at times. Being the only person in a cafe in Belgrade cheering on the US in the World Cup as the people next to you tell you that "America sucks" (and in some ways I can understand where they're coming from), is a completely unique experience, and one that students of conflict resolution and really all Americans should experience. "Go to a place where you're disliked and you will find in the end that you can find a common understanding and that people really do have more things in common than they realize. I say this because I made a lot of friends there, from all over Europe, including people who come from groups or places that were in one time in conflict with each other. We all shared a common experience of learning and going to class together, and it brought us closer."

Jason Miller (Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR), George Mason University)
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I found the "Managing Violent Pasts: The Case of Northern Ireland" course to be very thought-provoking, inspiring and motivating for my own work AND life in a post-conflict society. The lessons that were drawn from the Northern Ireland experience should be considered in our own society in case we want to break out of the cycle of violence. They are applicable in different stages of a conflict:
Pre-conflict conditions (segregation, discrimination) - how inclusive is my society, truly and honestly? Should we start with the Constitution - "... state of Serbian people and all citizens who live in it..."? Why can't we have a gay parade in the city centre?
Conflict development (sectarian violence) - Should we stop and seriously consider attacks on Roma in the village of Jabuka? What about attacks on Albanians' shops and bakeries?
Peacemaking (it's a dirty business, hardliners must be brought to the negotiating table) - How much have we succeeded in this? Have our armed groups taken any courageous steps forward by becoming a valid political force, unarmed and legal? The context is different here, but I am of an opinion that the most radical voices have grown silent, but went through no transformation, generally.
Peacebuilding ("dealing with the past") - What to do with the unpublished number of 800,000 war veterans in Serbia, for example? Peacebuilding must be inclusive, even more than peacemaking. Dr. Marie Breen-Smyth's rich experience was the most important ingredient in this course. It was a unique opportunity for us to hear what was happening in the communities (streets) shaken by violence, mixed with theoretical input which provided us with a frame of reference and a sense of direction (Foucault's "pockets of power and resistance everywhere around us", e.g.).
The class discussions were lively, interesting, all of us were involved and felt free to share our views and opinions. I am especially grateful that two of the participants were from Northern Ireland (two major communities). Their presence helped me humanize the conflict, better relate to it, deeper so that it wasn't just a theoretical analysis of something which is built of someone else's suffering and pain.
And, finally, I heard a very important and practical piece of advice - not to wave my political convictions as flags when working.

Nenad Porobic (Center for Non Violent Action, Belgrade, Serbia)
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What I valued most from the experience at the CFCCS Summer School was the experience afforded to me by meeting other people from post-conflict societies. To see how their lives had been shaped and changed by living in a post-conflict society really enabled me to draw comparisons with my own situation and allowed me to understand conflict in a way that cannot be seen through reading textbooks. I suppose it really put a human face on the conflicts we study and it provided us with an environment in which ideas concerning post-conflict transition could be nurtured. The CFCCS were outstanding and incredibly helpful. They made me feel right at home in Belgrade and I cannot wait to get back!

Lauren Allison (University of St Andrews, Scotland)