For many areas of social science research, including conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and international state-building, Kosovo remains a uniquely interesting and relevant case. This book is motivated by the belief that there is much to be gained, analytically and empirically, from bringing together local scholarship that focuses on Kosovo-specific issues. It helps understand how pathdependent historical legacies set in motion prior to and during the war for independence, coupled with contemporary processes of dependence on and interdependence with external actors, shaped contemporary Kosovo society and institutions. It brings together a methodologically diverse set of local scholarly perspectives on contemporary political, legal and societal developments in Kosovo.

Arben Hajrullahu is a professor of political science at the University of Prishtina. He holds a PhD from Vienna University and he was a Humphrey Fulbright Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. In 2009 he founded the Centre for Political Courage (CPC). His current research interests focus on European Union and geopolitical forces shaping Euro-Atlantic integration in the Western Balkans, illiberal and authoritarian tendencies in new democracies, transitional justice and human and minority rights. Anton Vukpalaj is a professor of political science at the University of Prishtina. He holds a PhD from University of Paris 10. His current research interests focus on the study of judicial and non-judicial transitional justice mechanisms in South-Eastern Europe, more precisely on questions of reconciliation and policies implemented locally and nationally.