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Twenty years on from the end of war, the status of the north of Kosovo remains disputed. Ten years on from Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, the north's predominantly Serb population continues to resist integration. Education, health, and other vital services continue to be provided by Serbia. These latent tensions regularly surface through various forms of resistance, including protests and barricades (most notably those of 2011); resistance which has many historical precedents. Ian Bancroft provides an original ethnographic account of the reality in north Kosovo, mixing first-hand interviews and anecdotes with historical background and academic insight. He explores a diverse array of themes, including the Trepca mines, religious and cultural life, and the Main Bridge over the river Ibar, which has become a symbol of the divided town of Mitrovica. Bancroft examines memories of the war and 2004 riots, and the daily realities of local governance and politics in a post-war environment. The book also goes to the heart of the border/boundary regions, the multi-ethnic Bosnjacka Mahala, and mixed areas on the periphery to tell the stories of those caught-up on the front-lines of conflict. As such, it offers valuable insights for aspiring peacebuilders into the challenges of working in a context of considerable complexity.
About the author
Ian Bancroft is a writer and diplomat who has been based in the former Yugoslavia for over a decade. He has worked for the European Union in Kosovo and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and has written extensively about Balkan affairs for a variety of publications, including The Guardian and Radio Free Europe. He has lectured on conflict and peacebuilding, and is the author of a chapter, entitled Reconciliation through Recognition, in The Yugoslav Example: Violence, War and Difficult Ways Towards Peace. Bancroft has also written travel articles for, among others, Wine Spectator, The Independent and Open Democracy.
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“Bancroft’s vast, interdisciplinary knowledge on Northern Kosovo combined with his deep erudition and knowledge of both languages, and cultures have allowed him to outline the area’s complex relations, difficult past, and desire for “normal” life. In so doing, the author does not take any sides. Instead, he tries to show the complicated reality that the inhabitants of Northern Kosovo have to live. His book shows many analogies to Bosnia and Herzegovina (e.g. the divided cities of Kosovska Mitrovica and Mostar) where Bancroft previously worked as a diplomat. Indeed both countries face numerous difficulties, yet foreign experts who analyse them often reveal a lack of understanding as well as no knowledge of local and everyday realities. Bancroft is different though. As a visitor from the West, he tries to show the readers the local specificity, systems of values and cultural heritages. For this reason, his story is a very significant source.”―Magdelena Rekść, 'New Eastern Europe', No. 4/2020
Report
"The book is highly relevant from a political point of view, as the debates about the status of Kosovo and possible land swaps with Serbia are still ongoing and have grown more intense during the last years. The remarkable aspect of Bancroft's work, though, is that it does not get bogged down in bureaucratic analyses of this seemingly eternal dispute, but provides great insight into the struggles of the people who actually live here. The writer and diplomat gives a human face to this volatile region."-De Facto, April 2020
