The dangerous politics of identity

where between ethnocentrism and literalism, especially in the case of Islam, have brought little distinctive anthropological analysis to bear successfully on the practical realities and political ideologies of religions. In addition, the popular assertion that certain ethnic groups that have had conflicts over centuries will continue to fight with one another is but an idea fuelled by numerous media reports and scholarly publications stressing the historical nature of conflict, much in the same way as the idea that Islam and modernity are somehow adversarial. Frustratingly, during times of uncertainty, such essentialist explanations of difference continue to hold significant weight. As long as ‘history’ will function as a screen, behind which the interests of political or religious leaders are hidden, ethnic or cultural conflict will continue to appear intractable. Furthermore, there are the modern views of the nation state and all of its institutionalized mythologies, which over the last hundred years have confused, erased, desecrated and demolished our understanding of the local definitions and categories of group identity articulated in everyday life. Yet, it is only by exploring how group political identities are constructed, by disentangling the relationships between anxiety, threats and group identity responses, that the paths for conflict amelioration can be elucidated. Ger Duijzings’s book tries to raise the standard of scholarship and addresses some of the issues outlined above. The introduction clearly shows a critical reading of the events and tensions that plagued Kosovo over the last hundred years. Of great interest are the details that Duijzings brings to his study of various seemingly marginal groups in Kosovo; these details shed light on important facts of identity strategies of interethnic and interdenominational relations. Duijzings reveals the paucity of Western understanding of Kosovo, which has often been presented as an area steeped in historical conflict. This conflict is generally cast as two-sided (Serb versus Albanian or Orthodox versus Muslim), with two antagonistic groups clashing and centuries-old hatreds being unleashed. The prevailing notion that ‘Serbs’ and ‘Albanians’ are distinct and largely antagonistic groups is not only a simplified version of historical and political facts, but also a nationalist distortion and represents the outcome of agitation rather than a description of root causes of the conflict. Duijzings argues that Kosovo is not a simple case of irreconcilably distinct communities where religion is alleged to play a central role, but an example of complex, historically informed interchange between loosely defined ‘communities’ on the basis of loosely specified notions of religious, linguistic and/ or ethnic identity. While it has become commonplace to treat Albanian and Muslim cultural identity as interchangeable, suggesting cultural homogeneity, Duijzings documents the different facets of both Muslim and Albanian identity. The dangerous politics of identity