The destruction of multiethnic locations: Markers of identity and the determinants of residential trajectories

TitreThe destruction of multiethnic locations: Markers of identity and the determinants of residential trajectories
Type de publicationBook Chapter
Year of Publication2013
AuteursGauthier, J-A, Widmer, E
ÉditeurSpini, D, Elcheroth, G, Corkalo Biruski, D
Book TitleWar, community and social change. Collective experiences in the Former Yugoslavia
Pagination85-98
PublisherSpringer
Place PublishedNew York
Mots-clésex-Yugoslavia, residential mobility, sequence analysis
Résumé

Modern conflicts have been associated with large numbers of relocated individuals (Schmeidl, 1997). The Yugoslavian wars are no exception: they have been highlighted for their association with systematic ethnic cleansing and dramatic moves of civil populations. It is of great importance to understand how collective threats such as wars have an impact on individual lives. As a matter of fact, the issue raised by migrations related to wars is not only to measure the extent to which an ethnic minority, as a group, is victim of discrimination and collective threats, but also to estimate the influence of such phenomena on life experiences and life trajectories of individuals belonging to minorities. Individuals facing collective threats may stay where they used to live or may be driven out; they may relocate elsewhere until the end of their lives or they may return to their former place of residence during or after the conflict. They may have to move once or several times. The experience of war may remain something peculiar with little consequences in the long run for some; it may significantly tilt the balance of life for others.