On the 11th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, how do our children now view their own national and ethnic identities?
Symbols and images can act as powerful markers of identity. They are an important element of the way that a group, in a certain context, becomes ‘one.’
National flags, language signs, traditional ethnic and religious clothing, and important statues or sites are some of the ways children come to recognize social groups. This awareness has important implications for resolution after conflict.
How and when children recognize names, symbols and social markers influences how they understand and identify with relevant social groups. More importantly, how children identify with one group also affects their attitudes and behaviours toward ‘others’ that belong to the other groups particularly after conflict.
But what is the story of symbols common among Kosovo children? In particular, how do young generations born and raised after the Kosovo war and the 2008 declaration of independence respond to these symbols? How do they understand the symbols and markers associated with the new Kosovar national identity compared with those from ethnic Albanian and Serbian identities?
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