Sidita Kushi

Sidita Kushi, originally from Albania, is a PhD candidate and instructor in Political Science at Northeastern University. Her research centers on the interplay between human security and economic forces in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. She has previously published on Albanian-Serbian narratives, transatlantic identities, Balkan security, the Greek debt crisis, and Albanian and Kosovar domestic policies. Follow her on Twitter @SiditaKushi.

Romani women of the Balkans: battling intersectional oppression

Centuries old oppression founded on gender, race, cultural group, and socio-economic class is being challenged by Romani women who are combating their public and private marginalization through initiatives embedded within the Roma identity.

By Sidita Kushi

/ 18 Jan 2016

Mitrovica’s symbol: reconciliation amidst inevitability, history, and violence in Kosovo

Mitrovica’s bridge as ‘symbol’ helps obscure the forces of elite manipulation and institutions of power in constructing Balkan nationalisms, and falsely presents inter-communal tensions in Kosovo as inevitable.

By Sidita Kushi

/ 2 Nov 2015

Feminism is for all: exposing gendered limitations of the Albanian male

Hegemonic masculinity enforces a half-reality, obscuring women’s perspectives. Yet the irony is that dismantling these gender norms would liberate Albanian men as well as women.

By Sidita Kushi

/ 22 Aug 2015

Gendered legacies of Communist Albania: a paradox of progress

Hoxha's regime used the language of ‘ending conservative traditions’ to justify many of its horrors, but today Albania wrestles with a complex heritage of traditional patriarchy intertwined with modern authoritarianism.

By Sidita Kushi

/ 9 Jul 2015

Women of Kosovo: a mirage of freedom and equality

A female President and political discourse that trades in 'gender equality' can't paper over the continued corrosive effects of patriarchy in Kosovo, from property law to social taboos.

By Sidita Kushi

/ 1 Jul 2015