It’s been twelve years since Kosovo declared independence, and the country is now an effective case through which to explore issues in state-building and the governance of diversity.
Speaking at the University of Oxford last week, Regent’s lecturer in Global Issues and Research Methods, Dr Marius Calu, outlined the year he spent in the world’s second youngest country, and argued that digging into the past can teach us important lessons.
During his year in Kosovo, he interviewed and observed the multifaceted circumstances of ethnic minorities living in a post-conflict society.
In his talk, Dr Calu argued that Kosovo is facing the challenge of how to guarantee that the voices of all its people and communities can be listened to.
He also said that the revival of nationalism, a surge of new conflicts, and the rise of new forms of intervention all push us to dig into the past in search of important lessons.
His talk illustrated how states disconnecting from their societies, is an old yet still central dilemma of our contemporary international politics.
He also covered the challenges of preparing, undertaking and disseminating primary qualitative research. Dr Calu’s speech was prepared as part of the University of Oxford’s 2020 Russian and East European Studies Programme Seminar Series.
Dr Calu's new book, published by Bloomsbury and I.B. Tauris, will launch at Regent's in April – watch this space for details!
About the seminar series
The Russian and East European Studies Programme Seminar Series is part of the University of Oxford's School of Global Area Studies. The seminar series invites external speakers to present their work to academics interested in the region of Eastern Europe and Russia as well as to Oxford Mphil & MSc students who get the opportunity to learn from experienced researchers.