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The ‘Non-aligning’ connection - A stroll down the memory lane / Shiva Sai Ram Urella

2016 Summer School Participant
Course: From Intervention to Non-Intervention: The Triumph of State Sovereignty over Human Rights?

Serbia? Like Syria? Is that where you are going to attend your summer school? This is the generic response which I received from my friends and family when I first told them about the summer school. My parents were very skeptical about sending me here because Serbia is one of those “obscure” countries on the map. But when I mention Yugoslavia and Tito they immediately nod as they nostalgically remember the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM). Who doesn’t remember the Tito-Nasser-Nehru triumvirate?

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We are all Others / Antonela Ramljak

2016 Summer School Participant
Course: Orientalism, Balkanism, Occidentalism: Thinking through Discourse of 'Othering' and Conflict

''The starting point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is, and is 'knowing thyself' as a product of the historical processes to date, which had deposited in you and infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory. Therefore it is imperative at the out set to compile such an inventory.'' Antonio Gramsci

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Why we need memory studies in relation to conflicts / Vladimir Mihajlović

2016 Summer School Participant
Course: Memory and Conflict: Remembering and Forgeting in Divided Societies

In my mind, there is no doubt that the heart of every conflict are stories, stories that have been passed around embellished and reshaped and made more powerful with each reiteration. Sometimes, the conflicting stories serve as the root of the conflict and at times they are newly created to give one’s struggle a higher purpose. When it comes to intractable conflicts, the collective narratives behind them are often the key to reaching a long-lasting peace. Unless we question the stories that fuel the sense of entitlement and grievances of either party, we risk having the same deeply ingrained beliefs and biases being passed onto another generation, thus prolonging the conflict and often maintaining the conditions that led to initial grievances.

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The Power of Rakija: Multiculturalism in Post- Yugoslav States / Yosra El Gendi

2016 Summer School Participant
Course: Religion and Conflict: The Balkans' Explorations vs. Explorations of the Balkans

The tale of the power of Rakija is said to have been delivered by an Ottoman commander on the warfront as he was encountering heavy resistance from soldiers in the Balkans. He stated that they would “drink Rakija before battle and so became invincible”. While there is little evidence for this myth of Rakija drinkers’ invincibility, the story reverberates in popular culture.

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The “Other” from Afghanistan: Building Bridges Over Lunch Break / Sarah Freeman-Woolpert

2016 Summer School Participant
Course: Orientalism, Balkanism, Occidentalism: Thinking through Discourse of 'Othering' and Conflict

We sat silently together in the park, an old Serbian man and I. Nearby on a tattered blanket, two toddlers dozed curled together, their chests rising and falling in the heat. “Look,” he murmured to me, in a ragged voice. “Look.” I glanced up, searching this old man’s face, and found his eyes were filled with tears as he watched the children sleep.

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The Whole Story / Lejla Gacanica

2016 Summer School Participant
Course: Orientalism, Balkanism, Occidentalism: Thinking through Discourse of 'Othering' and Conflict

Others are those who are not us. Perhaps in them we reflect our fears, imperfections or we base our values (by creating identity/ies relative to the Others). Between the polarizing constructs of others, to examine the different 'sides', identify stereotypes and reflect self-perception seemed like a challenge. In fact, it was. Still is.

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