Beyond Mosque, Church, and State

About this book

"Ethnic diversity and national tensions in the Balkans have long attracted the attention of the international community of scholars and policy-makers who have tried to understand how states, societies and people in the area negotiate complex religious and ethno-national identities. By exploring the development of these issues in Bulgaria and Bosnia while also drawing parallels with Macedonia, this volume uses the three most diversely populated areas in the Balkans to engage complex questions. What institutions of state building are capable of managing diverse ethno-religious traditions and conflicting national identities? How do people on the ground respond to state-sponsored political projects at the local community level? In what ways do studies of cultural representations of ethno-national and religious conflicts call attention to inequality and human rights violations? How have studies of human rights problems in the Balkans contributed to changes in international law? More generally, what is the role of the humanities and social sciences in developing a discourse on the subject of conflict resolution and human rights? The volume engages the question of ethno-national conflicts and identities from three perspectives: historical interpretations of national conflict and ethno-religious tensions in the context of empire- and state-building; cultural debates as reflected in the use of language and dance, film, and media production and circulation as tools for nation-and community-building; and current political controversies over national resurgence and human rights both in the post-Yugoslav War context and in connection to European Union integration"--Provided by publisher.