Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...

Psychosocial Notebook, Volume 2, October 2001
social sciences, particularly when war and conflict do not break out
between “nations” or between so-called “peoples”, but rather between
subjectivities which arise suddenly and unexpectedly.
The difficulties inherent in an approach which tries to respect the heterogeneity
of subjectivities and the resulting problematic forms of intersubjectivity,
are not to be undervalued. In the writings of this collection,
one can detect a tension between the desire to immediately establish a
wide sense of solidarity – denying now the nightmare of hatred between
peoples and cultures – and the desire to understand deeply the specificity
of the interlocutor, whether Kosovar Albanian, Serbian or Rom. (The
choice of interviewees is limited to these three, but we are aware that this
choice excludes many other cultures existing in Kosovo. This restriction is
due solely to the limited resources available. At the same time, it testifies
to an effort to give voice to the suffering of all, refusing the tendency to
blame only one group as responsible for all atrocities). As a consequence
of this tension, some of the writers have chosen to discuss the interviews
“regardless of the ethnic group of the interviewees” (Laura Corradi), while
others have chosen to indicate who and from which culture is speaking
every time a quotation from an interview is presented. I personally prefer
the latter option, although I am aware that the attribute “ethnic” is very
problematic in the former Yugoslavia, and the question is not resolved by
using the word “cultural” in its place. I prefer the latter option because I
am convinced that the effort of understanding should not avoid all the
mediations that certain political positions would like to diminish or render
irrelevant.
A similar tension can be seen in the cautious way of treating gender issues:
questions such as the traditional status of women, the lack of “voice” of
many of them, the new conditions of young women (for instance those
employed in the NGOs) and new perceptions of gender and family issues
are presented with attention and trepidation, but any judgement is
suspended. This suspension, which has been willingly and voluntarily
adopted by the researchers, is one sign that the long way leading to better
understanding between peoples and cultures has begun; this way involves
attention and silence on the part of some authors. At the same time, the
writers are very vocal about other important points. This conjunction of
silence and outspokenness on the part of the researchers themselves is part
of the significance of their work, notwithstanding the different degrees of
achievement. The writers are vocal in as far as they not only scrupulously
report a great quantity of interesting material, but they also dare to propose
interpretative hypotheses of innovative potential, in at least three respects.
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