I plan to research identity formation in the Balkans because I want to find out what explains the leadership of women in post-Balkan war peace-building, in order to help my reader understand whether there is a relationship between particular identity formation/hierarchization and conflict resolution.
Sexism is not a Southeastern European phenomenon, but the unique and deeply embedded historical components play into this Balkan narrative that inherently excludes women from the picture. The ambiguous governmental structures after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the ethnic wars that ensued have strongly supported the persistence of gender inequality in the Balkan. [1] Balkan states are still far behind on basic pillars of gender equality compared to the measures their progressive European neighbors reached long before. Social justice reform is a difficult and unimportant item on Balkan political to-do lists.
Why then, have women, after the brutal, nationalist wars that emerged between Balkan countries in the late nineties, during which ethnic cleansing, forced mobilization, and political unrest were poignant realities, lead the way in those peace-building efforts? Why, if Balkan women are so monumentally disadvantaged in so many other aspects of life, have they been the conflict resolution role models of the region? What explains this great female participation in a region that historically has held (and holds women) back in many (other) arenas?
A number of women in Balkan countries have taken specific action in the past and are continuing to break barriers for gender equality today through strong conflict resolution measures. Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina have created women’s courts designed to help women recover from the traumas they endured during the violent conflicts of the nineties. [2] Caterina Bonora and Daniela Lai describe the courts in their preliminary reflections of the Sarajevo Women’s Court in their joint article: “The Women’s Court’s aim is to make survivors subjects of justice. To this end, the witnesses/survivors were involved in the preparation process, which in the case of this Women’s Court for the Balkans included consultations, seminars and public presentations realized throughout the region. Psychotherapists were there to support witnesses before, during and after their testimony, and witnesses sat together on the stage, providing support to each other in the emotional peaks of the testimonies.” [3] This court, created by women and for women, broke boundaries in terms of granting Balkan women a new platform to share their stories and attempt to reconcile their brutal personal histories for the sake of the future.
Leading scholars in Bosnia began “an important triangle in feminist theological work that cross[ed] state and ethnonational borders and boundaries imposed after the dissolution of Yugoslavia.” [4] “It erupted from the need to provide religious answers and comfort for the shame and guilt female survivors of sexual trauma felt,” and developed into a methodology for women of all Abrahamistic traditions and ethnic groups to engage in powerful dialogue, even though they were once at war. [5] The network of women that feminist theology connected enabled, for the first time, collaboration by seemingly opposite “sides” of the war. It initiated dialogue between women of seemingly opposite worlds.
How did this female leadership in Balkan conflict resolution happen? What explains it? Well, different scholars point to different phenomena.
Some scholars cite the aftermath of the wars of the 90s as vital components in forming female identity. “Victimization, rape, nationality, and gender identities were interconnected as the conflict escalated,” affecting generations of Balkan women and their families, who were left to cope with disintegrated families and the corporal and spiritual scars of a haunting past. [6] Violence against women was used as an instrument of war. “Femininity was thus subordinated to nationality.” [7] There was a complete dismissal of the basic humanity of women, particularly Serbian and Bosnian women, for the sake of male-driven political goals. But after the war was over, however, women had greater agency to respond to the trauma they endured as women, and so even though they were raped and hurt by the other, ethnic side, they were hurt women, so they could collaborate with and share stories with women of other national backgrounds.
Another possible explanation is the imposition of ineffective solutions by unknowing outsiders for peace-building. “To the extent that Westerners view Central and Eastern Europeans as Other, it is argued, they will never understand the region or be able to help its people.” [8] The countries of the Balkan, like many other countries around the world, are resistant to outside imposition, especially when it comes from the United States, a country they view as meddling and narcissistic. Balkan countries do not want to accept aid from perceived imperialists. Therefore, even though many outside states have attempted to shape peace building measures in the region, the Balkan is hesitant to accept it, so they’ve been left to lead their peace-building movements themselves.
While the Balkan region comprises a relatively quiet area of South Eastern Europe, the deeply rooted and powerful presence of sexism in the region has significant implications for the rest of Europe and the world. Because Europe is often seen as a utopia of liberal ideals like equality and democracy, issues like sexism in the somewhat subtle Balkans are easily swept under the rug. But can Europe really call itself a pillar of progressivism if there are other states within it far behind in the quest of true equality? As Romanian American International Politics student Andra Pascu challenged, “Is a celebration truly in order? Are we entitled to be proud of modern democracy and our alleged progress?” [9] Can equality truly be present when lack of consideration for certain outside injustices exists? This question is particularly significant when considering the European Union. The EU prides itself on its egalitarian values upheld by its member states, but can the European Union as an organization truly claim it is fighting for equality when its perception of it is exclusive to its members only? If yes, then how effective is an organization like that which measures equality by member consideration only? These are questions to which we as an international community have to answer in order to gain a greater understanding of what it is we truly stand for, both in the context of sexism in the Balkan and our general values as a global community
In terms of peace-building lessons, how can countries better equip women to lead the efforts in conflict resolution? Or do they already have the tools they need, but they simply need to mobilize women to lead the way? Or will women know themselves? How is peace-building different when women are the ones initiating it? I feel like my research can have implications on all of the above.
General question: What explains female involvement in peace-building processes? Or What explains the involvement of women or lack thereof in peace-building processes?
Case-specific question: Why did women in the Balkans post-90s lead the way in peace-building processes?
[1] Daniel Tudora, Alexandru Banica, and Marinela Istrate. “Evaluation of Gender Disparities from the Balkan Countries,” Procedia Economics and Finance 20, (2015), 663.
[2]. Caterina Bonora and Daniela Lai. “The Sarajevo Women’s Court and Transitional Justice in the Former Yugoslavia: Preliminary Reflections,” Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa, 19 May 2015, <www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Dealing-with-the-past-through> (Accessed: 30 September 2018).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Zilka Spahić-Šiljak. “Do It and Name It: Feminist Theology and Peace Building in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 29, 2 (2013), 181.
[5] Ibid, 184.
[6] Vlasta Jalušič. “Gender and Victimization of the Nation as Pre- and Post-War Identity Discourse,” The Violent Dissolution of Yugoslavia: Causes Dynamics and Effects 15, (Nov. 2004), 145-165.
[7] Ibid, 149.
[8] Frances Elizabeth Olsen. “Feminism in Central and Eastern Europe: Risks and Possibilities of American Engagement,” Yale Law Journal 106, 7 (May 1997), 2222.
[9] Andra Pascu. “Democracy’s Deficit: Gender Inequality in the Balkans,” Fox & Hedgehog, 6 February 2017, <www.foxhedgehog.com/2015/03/democracys-deficit-gender inequality-in-the-balkans/> (Accessed: 30 September 2018).
October 1, 2018 at 5:31 pm
Hi Milena! My research and yours are somewhat opposites ( I am researching causes that lead women to participate in violence), but, from that perspective, I found myself really interested in your question, since peace and violence are quite interrelated, along the lines of the argument that you can’t have peace without war. I am curious as to if the Balkan women were entirely victims of violence, or if they also participated in the violence themselves, and if they did/didn’t, how that shapes their current participation in the peace building process?
It is particularly interesting to me that scholars point to the trauma suffered by women in the Balkans as a uniting factor, allowing women from different ethnicities to work together following the war. A lot of the literature I am reading states that trauma and rape are large reasons as to why women to join terrorist organizations/participate in violence, yet we do not see unity with the “other”. There are likely vast differences between the personal and political situations of the women in the Balkans vs. female terrorists, but it was definitely interesting for me to think about.
For women to take part in the peace building process would be in accordance with traditional gender norms surrounding women, as women are traditionally seen as peaceful, mother-like figures. You may be interested in the work of Caron Gentry and Laura Sjoberg; although their research is mostly focused on violent women, they heavily explore gender norms surrounding women, which I think might be able to help you understand why it is possibly considered “natural” for women to take part in the peace building process in the Balkans.
October 2, 2018 at 12:18 am
Milena,
I’m quite intrigued by your topic. I also really appreciated how you asked questions throughout your post to show your thinking as you went through the various literature and phenomenon.
I’m wondering if you’ve read anything on the idea of trauma-informed questioning for victims of sexual violence. I think that you would be interested in this after reading the section about the Women’s Court. In addition, you state that the Balkans are far behind in measures of gender equality and I would love to see some statistics or anecdotes that show this.
Similar to Alexia, I think the idea of women as mother figures–protectors and healers–could play a role in this phenomenon. In the practice of Human Rights, there is an idea that women/mothers have moral authority because they are seen as caregivers and I wonder if you’ve seen this in what you’ve read thus far.
I can’t wait to see where your research takes you!
Megan
October 4, 2018 at 1:22 am
Hi Megan,
Thank you so much for your comment. I will definitely take you up on your scholarship recommendations. I am not quite familiar with trauma-informed questioning for victims of sexual violence, and feel like that would be really important to pursue literature wise in order to best inform myself on my topic, which intimately engages with experiences of sexual violence by Balkan woman.
In response to your comment about statistics or anecdotes about the persistent gender equality of the Balkans, there is a lot of scholarship out there that expresses this through words and numbers.
The effects of many events in Balkan history (the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, the Balkan Wars in the 90s, its slow and continuous shift to democratization) can be observed on both social and institutional levels creating unjust conditions for women. “In the Balkans, the global phenomenon of gendered inequality reveals itself in highly normalized practices of domestic violence against women, rape shaming, enforced economic dependence via unequal resource distribution, and many other historical and contemporary dimensions.” [1] There is a strong legacy of discrimination and violence that has endured time and political regime changes, indicating a strong cultural resonance of certain misogynistic ideologies, which can be either openly or inconspicuously revealed. In certain Balkan societies, legal changes serve as a guise to persistent underlying injustices. There is a “paradoxical quality of East-European patriarchies.” [2] For example, while women are employed in high public positions, they, at the same time, face little real equality in professional regard and are exposed to strong misogyny in public discourses. [3] In a similar way, while women were granted voting and education rights relatively early on in the Balkans, culturally, “conservative, patriarchal ideologies” still govern expectations for women to be strong, motherly heroes who sacrifice their own wants and needs for the sake of their own families and the larger (male-dominated) community. [4]
The aforementioned conditions that are found at the Base of Balkan culture manifest themselves in different ways in society. The number of women in positions of political power across the twelve Balkan states has not only not improved, but is actually on the decline. [5] In the predominantly Catholic country of Croatia in particular, sex education, STI treatment, contraceptive availability, and abortion access has been heavily restricted due to the influence of the Church. [6] In Serbia, Over 50% of women experience domestic violence because people still think men should hold power over their wives, an ideology that has strong religious resonance with heavily religious, orthodox traditions. [7]
I hope this helps clarify! Sexism is an intimate, seemingly inextricable element of Balkan life and culture. The daily experiences of women in the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia are plagued with social and institutional challenges such as those stated above.
[1] Sidita Kushi. “Feminism Is for All: Exposing Gendered Limitations of the Albanian Male,” Open Democracy, 22 August 2015, (Accessed: 3 October 2018).
[2] Marina Blagojević Hughson. “Undoing Gender, Undoing the Balkans: Towards Ethnic and Gender Reconciliation,” Social Inequalities and Social Exclusion, 47011 (2012), 22.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Andra Pascu. “Democracy’s Deficit: Gender Inequality in the Balkans,” Fox & Hedgehog, 6 February 2017, (Accessed: 30 September 2018).
[6] Center for Reproductive Rights, “U.N. Committee Calls On Croatia To Expand Reproductive Health Services And End Discrimination Against Women,” 2015, (Accessed 3 October 2018).
[7] Jovana Gec. “Serbia in Domestic Violence Crisis,” Associated Press, 10 December 2013, (Accessed: 3 October 2018).
October 2, 2018 at 10:23 am
Milena,
I think your topic and puzzle is fascinating. It seems that it emerges from the social construction of what it means to be a woman. Typically, I do not think people see women as being leaders due to certain gender stereotypes, which leads to your puzzle: why are women leading the charge of justice? It is puzzling because we do not expect women to be leading.
I think you may be interested in some of the literature on community courts based on a cultural tradition. In my Peace, Global Security, and Conflict Resolution gateway, we talked about the Rwandan genocide and the Gacaca courts. They seemed to be more effective in long-term conflict resolution. Here’s a wikipedia link for some general background info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gacaca_court.
Good luck researching!
October 2, 2018 at 11:05 am
Hi Milena,
As someone who is fascinated with the dissolution of Yugoslavia your research proposal is incredibly interesting. The thing that stood out most to me was the mentioning of the court system for women, by women. I can say this is a new topic that I have never heard of and one that seems to have a lot to be unpacked. I think examining the effectiveness of this court system could be very critical to your research. In that examining, the efficiency of leadership by woman for the peace-building process may be more promising. I am also curious about the period you are looking at in your puzzle. Are you looking at more of essentially peace-building in the 90’s only? Or more long-term as in what the peace-building process and results look like as of today.
October 2, 2018 at 3:56 pm
You are off to a great start here, Milena, with some very good thoughts on the different dimensions of your puzzle as well as some good sources that inform your work. If anything, you’ll need to work on focusing things even more as you’re still grappling with very large categories of explanation and a lot of questions that spin out of your particular research puzzle. There is nothing wrong with that here, but keep focusing on even more precise explanations (key variables) as you examine the different scholarly accounts for why/how women have taken on this leadership role. The more focused questions you articulate at the end of your post are fine starting points for specific research designs.