Number 26

Balkan.Perspectives #26

Decolonizing Peace

Violence and war – and the ways they are prevented, resolved, remembered and memorialized – are shaped by deep-rooted power structures, including racial discrimination and colonial privilege. An antiracist and decolonial approach to peace work demands that we examine these dynamics critically: to question how the world is divided into “centers” and “peripheries,” and to challenge who is granted agency, visibility and space in our communities.

This edition of Balkan.Perspectives confronts the postcolonial hierarchies that persist within peacebuilding and development — not only in institutions, policies and language, but also in our everyday practices and assumptions, including those within our own organizations. In this way, we advance more inclusive, honest and effective approaches to remembering our past, engaging our present and imagining our futures.

The Balkan.Perspectives editorial team wishes you an engaging and enriching reading and listening experience.

Impressum 26 – 12/2025

Editorial Team: Luca Tesei Li Bassi, Vera Ruljić, Zlatan Hajlovac, Jakov Poposki

Authors: Branko Sekulić, Marko Milosavljević, Senad Šabović, Sebihan Demirovski, Katerina Kolozova, Edis Galushi, Moloko Malakalaka, Simone Dornbach, Shaunak Mahbubani, Dženeta Karabegović, Zlatiborka Popov-Momčinović

Design (Cover page): Korab Krasniqi