Customer Reviews

Networks of Democracy: Lessons from Kosovo for Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond

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Great read. Very accessabile to all interested in what the international community is doing in post-conflict societies.
How does a post-conflict society rebuilds itself in cooperation with international organizations and peace-keeping forces? Holohan answers this important question in the post 9/11 world in the context of two municipalities in Kosovo in 1999. Her research opens up a window into people's daily interactions in these two sites that lead to different results. Whereas one municipality cooperates with UN and other organizations, the other municipality carries on a culture of conflict. The key to understanding the difference lies in the level of trust, flexibility, cooperative problem solving tactics that emerges among the organizations and the people in these two sites.

Holohan's writing is lucid, multi-dimensional and intriguing. She shows the reader how countable democratic institutions emerge and are sustained in unstable societies. Her extensive and interesting field research answers macro as well as micro questions, a truly unique characteristic of good writing. The book is fascinating for policy-makers and sociologists as well as for general readers for its analysis of socio-emotional contents such as trust, friendship, bonds, and skillful problem solving strategies; issues we all face in our everyday encounters with institutions.

I particularly like Holohan's theoretical discussion (Chapter 2),transactive memory (chapter 6) and conclusion (chapter 8). Holohan explains complex theoretical issues in the most simple yet sophisticated manner.
Chapter 6 is about transactive memory, the glue that makes Information technology work in critical times. This chapter is interesting for all especially in this age when Information and computer technologies dominate our lives. Holohan brings back people's power back into this field. The conclusion ties in the micro analysis with the macro one intelligently.

Anne Holohan's book is a must-read for all managers, administrators, peacekeepers and development and aid workers. She takes two municipalities in Kosovo after the intervention in 1999 and compares how their paths towards development and reconstruction diverged. The book is fast-paced and eminently readable, particularly chapters 3 and 4 that are peppered with personal, and at the same time, relevant anecdotes. The second chapter that deals with sociological theory while of interest to academics can probably be skipped by the layperson.

As someone who had once, however briefly, entertained the idea of joining the Indian Administrative Service, this book makes me regret not pursuing that idea. It makes you want to get down to the ground and solve problems with results that are far more tangible than most people's jobs produce. Proper administration is key to development in Kosovo as in the rest of the world and this book uncovers the hidden factors and personalities behind a successful administration.

If there are any criticisms of the book they are that the book is sometimes too harsh on the administrators at Thezren and does not fully explore the drawbacks of Petersen's approach. However, these are minor nits and do not take away from the books readability and its understanding of administrative processes.