Research Colloquium | Vjollca Krasniqi (Prishtina) | Gender and Transitional Temporalities in Kosovo

Abstract:

The presentation explores the role of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in transitional justice. Using Kosovo as a case study, it focuses, in particular, on how the concept of time influences gender discourses and restorative and retributive processes. Recent scholarship has called for more nuanced approaches to understanding temporalities in transitional justice, emphasizing the continuous nature of violence, the entangled experiences of past and present, and the spectres of unresolved injustices (Zunino 2024; Clark 2023; Miller 2023; McAuliffe,2021). The article underscores the importance of lived and subjective time in dissecting the structures of SGBV gender discourses. It also shows how discourses and narratives play a role in (re)defining gender and power relations as well as concepts of justice. Based on testimonies of survivors of wartime sexual violence, the analysis concentrates on the relationship between the past and present, highlighting the significance of survivors’ narratives, memories of violence and metaphors of war. It is argued that while gender is constructed and negotiated through discourse, one must address temporality to understand – and respond to – the shortcomings of transitional justice mechanisms. This applies especially to efforts that are meant to foster meaningful women’s agency in seeking justice for wartime sexual violence. This awareness is critical for creating redress processes that truly transform societies and acknowledge the lived realities of those affected.

Bio:

Vjollca Krasniqi is Associate Professor of Sociology and Gender at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Prishtina, Kosovo. Her research explores gender, nation, transitional justice, memory politics, urban studies, social history, ethnography, and oral history, with a focus on gender dynamics in post-socialist and post-war Kosovo. She has published extensively on these topics, contributing numerous book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her recent publications include: “Between transformation and marginality: Urban life and socially engaged art at the fringe of Prishtina” (co-author with Blerta Hoçia, 2025); “Gender and Transitional Justice: Recognition and Reparations of Wartime Sexual Violence in Kosovo” (2024); “The role of community-university engagement in strengthening local community capacity in Southeastern Europe” (co-author with Carmen Luca Sugawara et al., 2023); and “Skirts and Words: The Art of Acknowledgment, War Time Rape and Albanian Nationhood in Kosovo” (co-author with Ivor Sokolić and Denisa Kostovicova, 2020). Vjollca Krasniqi teaches two courses at the University of Regensburg during the Summer Semester of 2025: “Gender and (Slow) Memory: Feminist and Intersectional Approaches” and “Women’s Movements: Comparative Perspective”.

The Research Colloquium is organised jointly by the ScienceCampus and Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies in Regensburg.