Partitions. Reshaping States and Minds

The present book is the outcome of a joint research project Partitions Compared and Lessons Learnt: Issues in the Politics of Dialogue and Peace, which was carried out in Paris, within the framework of the International Programme for Advanced Studies at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (MSH) and the Columbia University Institute for Scholars at Reid Hall. The project was conceived in a planning meeting in Paris in October 2001 through deliberations among the noted historian Eric Hobsbawm, Maurice Aymard and Jean Luc Racine (both from MSH), Rada Ivekovic (University of Paris 8), and Ranabir Samaddar (Peace Studies Programme, South Asia Forum for Human Rights). Rada Ivekovic was the coordinator of the core team, which consisted of four researchers, authors of the present book. The members of the core team worked together for over 3 months from October 2001 to January 2002 on the themes of the study, drew up principles of comparing cases and experiences of partitions and dialogues, organized meetings and seminars, prepared draft essays, and finally a plan for a publication. While in Paris, the core team had regular meetings with other scholars, benefiting from the active contribution, among others, of Sia Anagnostoupoulou (University of Cyprus), Natasha Avtonomova (Academy of Sciences, Moscow), Etienne Balibar (University of Nanterre), Paula Banerjee (University of Calcutta), Urvashi Butalia (feminist historian and publisher, Kali for Women), Marie-Claire Caloz-Tschoppe (University of Geneva), Fabio Ciaramelli (University of Naples), Ghislaine Glasson Deschaumes (Editor, Transeuropeenne), Daho Djerbal (Algiers University, & Naqd), Goran Fejic (diplomat, former UN official, and economist), Maurice Goldring (University of Paris 8), David Goodman (University of Sydney), Ali Guenoun (University of Paris 1), Dick Howard (State University of New York), Ivan Ivekovic (American University in Cairo), Christophe Jaffrelot (CERI), Danielle Haase Du-Bosc (Columbia University Institute at Reid Hall, Paris), Radha Kumar, (Council of Foreign Relations), Giacomo Marramao (University of Rome 3), Roma Melkote (Osmania University), Ritu Menon (feminist historian and publisher, Kali for Women), Julie Mostov (Drexel University, Philadelphia), Jacques Poulain (University of Paris 8), Francesco Privitera (Alma Mater-University of Bologna), Jean Luc Racine (MSH), Paolo Rumiz (journalist, Trieste), Jacques Rupnik (CERI), Elias Sanbar (Chief Editor, Revue d'Etudes Palestiniennes), Martine Spensky (University of Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand), Eleni Varikas (University of Paris 8), Susana Villavicencio (University of Buenos Aires) and Oren Yiftachel (Ben-Gurion University). Furthermore, and besides the sponsorship and the assistance provided by MSH and the Columbia University Institute for Scholars, a crucial collaboration for the achievement of the results included in the present volume came from (a) the University of Paris-8, where a 3-years research-and-teaching project “Les partitions compares - Une approche d’anthropologie de la communication” initiated from the Department of philosophy was taking shape, (b) the journal “Transeuropennes” which published a special issue on the topic (19/20, 2001) and triggered discussion on the theme; and (c) the School of Political Science, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Forli Campus, and their Institute for East-Central and Balkan Europe.