ABSTRACT :
The discourses on mental health in post-conflict societies that have been promoted by many Western governmental and non-governmental organizations in Kosova, as elsewhere, have tended to revolve around the relief of traumatization and the protection of human rights. These are necessary concerns, but these discourses give insufficient attention to the social, economic, cultural and political conditions related to Kosova as a 'weak state'; they do not contribute to a public mental health response to catastrophes caused by social injustice; nor do they encourage more active participation by local professionals and families. Moreover, these discourses may converge with the historical consequences of state-sponsored violence and oppression in unintended and unproductive ways, as illustrated by the Shtime crisis. Yet, in Kosova, alternative means of representing the public mental health crisis following social injustice can be found among local policy-makers, professionals and families. They emphasize the building of state structures that can protect and support families and communities. Ameliorating mental illness and social suffering in post-conflict societies requires a rhetorical re-mapping of the public mental health crisis to one based more upon local understandings of local needs and strengths.
International and Local Discourses on the Public Mental Health Crisis in Postwar Kosova