Women Organizing against Ethnic Nationalism and War in the Post-Yugoslav States

The opposition of women to the war, violence, and politics of ethnic nationalism in Southeastern Europe represents a unique struggle to regain and reconfirm social inclusion and social integration in the region. Their efforts to build relationships among women across ethnic-national divisions and to advocate new forms of solidarity despite their own differences have gone against the tide of the exclusionary politics of ethnic nationalism. Further, women’s anti-war and anti-nationalist political protests during the recent wars represent genuinely autonomous women’s initiatives. By making their resistance to war and all forms of control over women visible, local women activists have refused to assume the role of passive victims of militaristic and nationalistic politics in the post-Yugoslav states. In so doing, feminists and activists have sought to denaturalize the link between ‘‘nation’’ and ‘‘woman.’’

Citation:
Korac, M. (2003) ‘Women Organizing against Ethnic Nationalism and War in the Post-Yugoslav States’ In: Giles, W. et al (eds) Feminists Under Fire: Exchanges Across War Zones, Canada: Between the Lines pp.25-33.