Methodological and Epistemological Challenges of Researching Co-Ethnic Migrations in a Post-War Area Cover Image

Методолошки и епистемолошки изазови истраживања коетничких миграција на послератном терену
Methodological and Epistemological Challenges of Researching Co-Ethnic Migrations in a Post-War Area

Author(s): Sanja Zlatanović
Subject(s): Migration Studies, Inter-Ethnic Relations
Published by: Етнографски институт САНУ
Keywords: migration; fieldwork; methodology; intra-ethnic relations; Kosovo;

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I look into the methodological, epistemological and ethical challenges I faced during multisided fieldwork research in the Serb community of southeast Kosovo (Gnjilane, Vitina and neighboring villages, and in several towns in Serbia where displaced persons from this area are now living). The focus of the research into post-war discourse was on two forms of migration: 1. the colonization of the population from the highland areas of south Serbia, which was carried out in Ko-sovo as part of agrarian reform in the period after World War I; 2. The migration of the Serb population from Kosovo into Serbia following the armed conflicts of 1999 and the establishment of a United Nations administration. In both cases these are mainly co-ethnic migrations: the settlers are of the same ethnicity as the population in the places they have moved to. Intra-ethnic relations and bounda-ries in the light of these migrations turned out to be an especially interesting field of research, which has opened up numerous methodological, epistemological and ethical questions.

  • Issue Year: LXIII/2015
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 537-550
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Serbian
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