1. revisiting the past, anticipating the future
Strengthening European integration through the analysis of conflict discourses:
revisiting the past, anticipating the future
Bled Strategic Forum
CONFLICT PREVENTION, PEACEBUILDING AND MEDIATION
10 September 2018
Faris Kočan, MA and Rok Zupančič, PhD
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences

2. PROJECT INFORMATION Grant agreement no: 769252 Acronym: RePAST
Title: Strengthening European integration through the analysis of conflict discourses: revisiting the past, anticipating the future
Start date: May 2018
Duration: 36 months
Budget: EUR
Website:
Coordinator: Dimitra Milioni, PhD

3. Consortium
CONSORTIUM

4. AIMS OF THE PROJECT
How and why troubled pasts persist, resurface or disappear in contemporary societies?
Who are the memory agents and entrepreneurs who mess with a given legal and historical culture, provide relevance to the present and shape societies into ‘past’ or ‘future’ oriented modes?
How effective and ethically sound are the politics of regret?
How can a European or national public sphere reach a balance between its current values and its past experiences?
What is the likelihood that a common European culture of memory emerges?

5. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
The methodological approach of RePAST is based on:
cross-country comparative analysis (8 countries – both Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo are included);
multi-disciplinarity;
Will implement innovative actions for citizens’ engagement with troubled pasts.
Conflict discourses rooted in troubled pasts will be studied in four fundamental spaces of civil society and sources of informal education:
history (collective memory of troubled pasts, official and oral history);
media (journalistic and citizen-led media);
art and culture (contemporary artistic and cultural objects, events and practices);
politics (national political discourses and narratives, role of the EU in these respects).

6. OUR MAP

7. CASE STUDIES
Those cases are relevant as they contest both internal consolidation of the countries and consolidation of Europe as continent

8. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
We would like to give a bit of flavour on what we are going to research in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Focus on the civil war ( )
The on-going conflict is rooted in the lack of a common understanding of the civil war
The troubled past in BiH is often misused by politicians who apply the narrative of victimized nation only to their nation
Difficulties emerging from slow integration of BiH into the EU and its internal divisions can hinder the integration of the European continent as whole
It is considered a significant “risk zone”, which should be studied.

9. SREBRENICA – ONE STORY, TWO NARRATIVES
Picture of mournful mother in Potočari (village near Srebrenica)
Picture of Student dormitory “Radovan Karadžić” in Republika Srpska

10. KOSOVO
Kosovo’s troubled past goes back many hundred years, and the Battle of Kosovo (1389) stands as a key event
Kosovo’s troubled past starts with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, reoccupation of Kosovo by Serbia in the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), and than continue with WWII, communist past in the Yugoslavia, and violent conflict between the Serbs and Albanians since the mid-1990s
The conflict is on-going as Kosovo struggles to deal with its past
Conflict discourses are constantly rekindled by media representations inciting hate in official documents, education and sport events
Kosovo’s contemporary conflicts are considered a significant future risk for European integration

11. ADEM JASHARI – “HERO OF KOSOVO”
SLIKA
ADEM JASHARI – “HERO OF KOSOVO”
Adem Jashari memorial house
Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari and three official languages

12. OVERVIEW
Within this field, we examine various conflictual pasts by using three-dimensional approach:
within the national setting;
as cross-national phenomena of comparative nature;
as the expression of deeper European identity;

13. Q&A

14. HISTORY - AIM
To reflect on the role of historians as one of many history agents and the transformation of his role in academia and the public sphere;
To study revisionist historiographical trends in terms of contested past
To collect and document oral histories through interviews with eye-witness participants
To identity and classify dominant narrative themes (political, societal, religious aspect)

15. MEDIA - OVERVIEW
Revision of the current state-of-the-art in journalistic and citizen-led media;
Identification of significant convergences and divergences between various discourses of the past that are mobilised across the media;
Advancing knowledge on the role of media in producing contemporary discourses about troubled pasts;

16. Develop a research design including:
MEDIA - AIM
To map the role of journalistic and citizen-led media in dealing with the past and trace the implications for EU integration;
Create recommendations in order to negotiate the mediation of troubled pasts in Europe;
Develop a research design including:
a) conceptual framework drawing on analyses of secondary data, previous research studies, and document dealing with memory studies;
b) common methodological framework for cross-country analysis and development of a study design.

17. ART AND CULTURE - OVERVIEW
Art is seen as an equal agent in analysing, criticizing and conceptualizing history and reality
Examination of contemporary artistic and cultural objects, events and practices on question of memory and trauma
Art and culture as an laboratory where conflict can be reenacted, analysed and solved (or remain unresolved)

18. ART AND CULTURE - AIM
To understand how artistic and cultural artifacts react to a crisis related to troubled past
To explore audience reactions towards selected artworks aiming to disentangle their potentially beneficiary effects;
To analyse strategies and tools by artists and cultural workers for the benefit of expression of their own concerns

19. Investigation of the role of the EU In those discourses
POLITICS - OVERVIEW
The way the troubled history of a country is narrated from generation to generation is inevitably mediated by the political actors
Analysis of public discourses about the conflicts of the past by different political actors
Investigation of the role of the EU In those discourses
Measuring impact on citizens’ perceptions and identities

20. POLITICS - AIM
To undertake an analysis of how the discourses of formal and informal political actors about past conflicts have shaped public opinion in relation to the EU
To identify and critically evaluate EU law and policy in relation to troubled pasts connected to conflicts