2010 Summer School

2010 article image

 

2010 SUMMER SCHOOL IN COMPARATIVE CONFLICT STUDIES

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

 

2010 Summer School offered three courses:

 

Managing Violent Pasts:
The Case of Northern Ireland

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

 

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

 
 
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 One: 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.

 

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

 

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

 

CONTACT US


  • Karadjordjeva 65
    11000 Belgrade, Serbia

 

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