The bridge to violence – Mapping and understanding conflict-related violence in postwar Mitrovica
| Published date | 01 July 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221147942 |
| Author | Emma Elfversson,Ivan Gusic,Marie-Therese Meye |
| Date | 01 July 2024 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221147942
Journal of Peace Research
2024, Vol. 61(4) 576 –594
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/00223433221147942
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1225162JPR0010.1177/00223433221147942Journal of Peace ResearchElfversson et al.
research-article2023
Regular Article
The bridge to violence – Mapping
and understanding conflict-related
violence in postwar Mitrovica
Emma Elfversson
Department of Government, Uppsala University
Ivan Gusic
Department of Government, Uppsala University
Marie-Therese Meye
Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Mannheim
Abstract
How can attention to spatial dynamics improve our understanding of where, how, and why conflict-related violence
(CRV) concentrates within postwar cities such as Mitrovica? Like many other postwar cities, Mitrovica – one of
Kosovo’s largest cities – remains affected by violence connected to the preceding war. This violence is not equally
distributed across the city but rather concentrates to certain flashpoints while other sites are comparatively calm(er).
To date, however, research on postwar cities has not fully explained such patterns, partly due to limitations in
microlevel data. In this article we rely on novel georeferenced data on CRV, in combination with in-depth fieldwork,
to map CRV in Mitrovica and explore the causes for its spatial clustering. Using this approach, we show that CRV
concentrates at Mitrovica’s Main Bridge and explore this concentration using relational space as an analytical lens.
The analysis contributes new insights into patterns of violence in Mitrovica, demonstrates the value of combining
systematic data on the patterns of CRV with in-depth exploration into its underlying dynamics, and contributes to
existing research on Mitrovica as well as on postwar cities and postwar violence more broadly.
Keywords
city, urban, Kosovo, Mitrovica, peace, postwar, violence
Introduction
How can attention to spatial dynamics advance our
understanding of where, how, and why conflict-related
violence (CRV) concentrates within postwar cities such
as Mitrovica? While never that central during the Kosovo
War in 1998–1999, Mitrovica has emerged as the post-
war epicentre and hypocentre of enduring problems,
including ethnonational division and continued CRV
(Boyle, 2010, 2014; Gusic, 2019a; Jarstad & Segall,
2019). In the decades since the war ended, violence
between Albanians and Serbs – often involving Kosovo
Force (KFOR), United Nations Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK), or European Union Rule of Law Mission
in Kosovo (EULEX) personnel – has continued. And
while things are calmer today, ‘the tensions are there and
can always escalate [ ...]. A small, small spark can create
a large fire’ (local United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) official, interview, 2015).
This violence is not equally distributed across
Mitrovica, but concentrates to certain flashpoints while
other sites are comparatively calm(er) (Jarstad & Segall,
2019; Ba
´tora et al., 2020; Gusic, 2022). The Main
Bridge over the Ibar river – connecting Mitrovica’s
Corresponding author:
ivan.gusic@statsvet.uu.se
Elfversson et al. 577
Albanian-dominated south with its Serb-dominated
north – stands out as it has been the flashpoint of CRV
during the postwar period: ‘something happens at the
bridge and then we are back [to war]. During all these
years, the bridge has been the flashpoint of unification
and division’ (local lawyer, interview, 2015).
Yet despite growing attention to postwar Mitrovica,
few studies have analysed how violence clusters and
why.
1
Doing so is the principal aim of this article. By
combining systematic mapping of violence with induc-
tive analysis of what shapes its distribution, we demon-
strate how society and space together condition the
concentration of violence in Mitrovica. Our analysis
thereby speaks to the broader literature on postwar cities
– cities which have experienced war, no longer do, but
remain contested (Gusic, 2019a) – which also showcase
an uneven distribution of CRV. The Main Bridge is
undoubtedly a peculiar site with its KFOR checkpoints
and continued violence. Mitrovica itself – with its stark
divisions and parallel institutions on the one side and it
being the only Kosovar city where Albanians and Serbs
meet regularly on the other side – has also made it an
unusual city in the local context (Bjo
¨rkdahl & Gusic,
2013). No other sites in Kosovo are as diverse, experi-
ence as much conflict, or provide people with so many
opportunities for contact (see Gusic, 2022). Yet these
unusual traits in the Kosovar context resonate with other
postwar cities, with which Mitrovica – even if it has
contextually grounded differences – shares many simila-
rities. The walls in Belfast or checkpoints in Beirut are
also materially marked by violence, symbolically impor-
tant, and politically contested. Mostar and Jerusalem
likewise feature lived parallelism and contestation while
providing citizens with comparatively high contact with
‘the other.’ So, while the Main Bridge and Mitrovica are
unique in Kosovo, their idiosyncrasies can – in both
parallel and other forms – be found in other postwar
cities around the world.
Through our exploration of violence in postwar
Mitrovica we make three key contributions. We make
a theoretical contribution to the literature on postwar
violence by demonstrating how the mutual constitution
of society and space helps explain microlevel variation in
where violence happens and why. We also add urban
insights to this literature. While research on postwar
violence studies microlevel patterns, it has paid little
attention to how violence is spatially contingent – for
example, violence in cities tends to take on urban
dynamics that need to be explored per se to understand
how violence concentrates in postwar cities (Bollens,
1999; Rokem, Weiss & Miodownik, 2018). By explor-
ing how and why violence concentrates in Mitrovica we
advance knowledge on how cities shape postwar vio-
lence. We argue that the analytical lens we employ could
be extended to, tested in, and shed light on other postwar
cities. We also make a methodological contribution to
the study of postwar cities, which to date has been ham-
pered by limitations in data on violent events as these are
either too aggregated and/or not systematically collected.
Our data on Mitrovica are the first outcome of an
ongoing project which systematically maps CRV in post-
war cities at maximum possible geographical precision.
This unique data collection illustrates how fine-grained
data can be gathered systematically – within and across
postwar cities – and how useful geo referencing violence
to the street-level is. Our analysis shows how combining
this systematic data with an inductive analysis of quali-
tative data helps us deepen the understanding of CRV in
postwar cities. We lastly make an empirical contribution
to the understanding of violence in Mitrovica, highlight-
ing how different spatial aspects of the postwar city dee-
pen the understanding of where violence concentrates
and why.
This article is structured as follows. We first survey
existing research on CRV in postwar cities and contex-
tualize Mitrovica therein. We then introduce relational
space as our analytical lens for understanding the con-
centration of CRV as well as present our dataset and the
in-depth fieldwork used to understand its patterns. We
then map CRV in postwar Mitrovica before analysing
why substantial parts of it has concentrated to the Main
Bridge. We conclude with broader insights which shed
new light on under-explored dimensions and potential
research beyond Mitrovica.
CRV in postwar cities
It is well-established that CRV tends to continue even
after hostilities cease, victories happen, or peace agree-
ments are signed (Muggah & Krause, 2009; Suhrke &
Berdal, 2013; Bara et al., 2021). CRV refers to violent
acts related to the preceding war – for example, revenge
attacks, violence between polarized communities, and
violence by former warring parties – including both stra-
tegic violence advancing political goals and criminal or
expressive violence (Bara et al., 2021). Recent literature
1
Jarstad & Segall (2019) and Ba
´tora et al. (2020) pay attention to
Mitrovica’s microlevel conflict dynamics. The former focuses on
zones of coexistence, while the latter explores how residents relate
to Mitrovica’s bridges. Neither, however, specifically interrogate
patterns of violence.
2journal of PEACE RESEARCH XX(X)
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