THE ROLE OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE KOSOVO CONFLICT: REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN INTRA-STATE CONFLICTS (original) (raw)
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Ethnographic studies of religion, stuck somewhere between ethnocentrism and literalism (especially in the case of Islam), have brought little distinctive anthropological analysis to bear successfully on the practical realities and political ideologies of religions. On the other hand, the popular assertion that certain ethnic groups, having had conflicts over centuries, will continue to fight with one another, is but an idea fuelled by numerous media reports and scholarly publications that stress the historical nature of conflict, much in the same way as the idea that Islam and modernity are somehow adversarial. It is frustrating that during times of uncertainty such essentialist explanations of difference continue to hold significant weight. As long as ''history'' functions as a screen behind which the interests of political or religious leaders are hidden, ethnic or cultural conflicts will continue to appear intractable. Furthermore, there are the modern views of the nation-state and all its institutionalized mythologies, which over the last one hundred years have confused, erased, desecrated, and demolished our understanding of local definitions and categories of group identity articulated in everyday life. Yet, it is only by exploring how group political ALBERT DOJA is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Limerick, Ireland.