February 21, 2025

International Politics and Conflict Resolution

Paula Duarte Lopes

This thesis seeks to discuss a frequently overlooked dimension in International Relations: the embodiment of narratives, discourses, and experiences related to peace and violence. In this context, the body and embodied processes can be central to understanding these phenomena. To this end, we focus on the youth born in the post-war period in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and Serbia. This generation did not witness or participate in the violent conflicts of the 1990s. However, they are still constantly confronted with collective memory and the personal memories of family members, political discourses, and often conflicting and mutually exclusive narratives that continue to impact their lives.
Firstly, we analysed various documents on the relationship between peace and youth in these countries to develop a content analysis that produced a dictionary of themes and codes. This dictionary helped us understand the different concepts and ideas related to these terms. Secondly, we used storytelling as a technique to invite young people to share personal experiences that relate their individual lives to the political contexts of their countries.
The analysis of this collected data points to the construction of young people as actors inherently linked to the values of peace, yet who, in practice, are often excluded from political decision-making and, as a result, suffer consequences in both their personal and professional lives. These trajectories influence the ways they act and think within their societies, shaping their own identities and integrating various histories and perspectives of a post-violent conflict life. In summary, peace is also an embodied experience, deeply embedded in social, cultural, and individual contexts.

Keywords: peacebuilding, youth, embodied experiences, former Yugoslavia