This book analyses the 1991 to 1995 war experiences of ethnically mixed communities who successfully resisted identity-based violence and segregation in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Challenging the prevailing view of the wars in these countries as ethnic struggles rooted in historical antagonisms, it adds complexity to our understanding of peace and violence by contributing previously untapped insights into local dynamics of inter-ethnic collaboration. Exploring the strategies and approaches applied to resist violence and to transform conflict in a constructive manner, it provides an important comparative analysis of the experiences and proposes a framework for community resistance to identity-based violence in multi-ethnic societies.

This volume will contribute to the ongoing debates of scholars and practitioners on the causes and consequences of violent conflicts, and the related practical approaches to violence prevention and peacebuilding. Highly relevant to scholars and students in peace and conflict studies, political science, international relations, security studies, history, sociology, and social psychology, it willalso be of great interest to policy makers and practitioners in conflict management, conflict transformation and local governance.