What are the experiences of children from the Kosovan Conflict 1998-1999, can they transcend beyond the narrative of children solely as war Victims?

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Children within conflicts are often considered solely asvictims and the roles they play as active participants or aspost-war builders are often dismissed. Maryanne Loughryargues that despite the notion that children are 'influential'their memories are often neglected (Loughry,2008). If theirmemories are recounted, however, such children are onlyrecognised as 'innocent child soldiers' (Mastey, 2012).Although there have since been academic discussions upon3 / 16how such children should too be considered as warcriminals (Debarre, 2015), such literature neglects toconsider preventative, remedial and even restorativeinitiatives that reconsider child soldiers as more thanvictims or as tools of war (Drumble, 2012). Again, althoughthe academia examines the phenomenon of child soldierswithin the Syria (Almohammad, 2018), Sierra Leone (Zack-Williams, 2001), and Congo conflict (Mlambo, 2019), theyfail to utilise a holistic approach to capture the range oftheir experiences (Wessells, 2021). And when referring tothis phenomenon within the Yugoslavian conflict,academics have tended to focus on the Bosnian case, andneglect Kosovo (Constantine, 2012). There is also relativelylittle gendered analysis of children in conflict, especiallypertaining to Kosovo (Achvarina & Reich, 2001). Animportant exception is Qëndresë Halili (2017), whosewritings recount her memories from a child's perspective ofthe Kosovan Conflict. Her writings, urge a reconfiguration ofthe classic narrative that children are solely victims withinarmed conflicts. My proposed research, henceforth, willinvestigate how children caught up in the 1998-99 Kosovoconflict should be perceived beyond the victimhood ofthose children who were murdered (Haer, 2019). It willfocus also on those children who survived horrific acts ofcruelty and who actively participated in the conflict andpost-conflict period. As Aisling Swaine and Thomas Feenyshow, children were active participants within the war asacted as food bearers, child minders and as combatants(Swaine & Feeny, 2004). Such children also had a vital rolein rebuilding Kosovo's economy and political infrastructureand generations of children have been hugely influential inthe construction of the national war memory (Baliqi, 2017).Such conflicts also have a crucial effect upon a child'spsychological well-being, the societal attitudes that theythen adopt and the quality of life that they leadsubsequently, which is often dismissed especially in theyears after the conflict ends (Boyden & de Berry,2004).Ultimately, it is imperative to recognise the often-forgottenrole that children played during and after the conflict inKosovo to provide greater insight into the myriad role thatchildren have played in other conflicts such as in the Syrianand the current war in Ukraine (Calam, Aala & Wadih,2002).