This event explores how a microhistorical approach can deepen our understanding of the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. Moving beyond and interpreting ICTY records and elite political accounts differently, it foregrounds local voices and everyday experiences to illuminate the complex dynamics of conflict at the community level. By engaging with sources such as oral histories, local archives, and court records, the discussion will focus on how ordinary people understood and experienced the war, thereby complicating nationalist narratives of fixed victimhood and perpetration. The discussion will emphasize the value of looking at the war “from the ground up” to reveal how communities navigated violence, solidarity, and survival. In doing so, it highlights the potential of microhistory not only to challenge linear, top-down interpretations but also to complicate the historiography of the Yugoslav Wars by centering human experiences that nationalist discourses often erase.
Sponsorship
This event is jointly organized and co-sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.
Accessibility
The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact us at 617-495-4037 or daviscenter@fas.harvard.edu in advance of your participation or visit. Requests for Sign Language interpreters and/or CART providers should be made at least two weeks in advance if possible. Please note that the Davis Center will make every effort to secure services but that services are subject to availability.
