Documentary Film Interventions and Post-Conflict Intergroup Attitudes

• In Event: Attitudes in Conflict Settings

Abstract

The conclusion of civil war is often followed by the implementation of transitional justice policies aimed at reconciliation. Such policies tend to be either instrumental or socioemotional; in the latter case, they aim to foster pragmatic cooperation between previously warring factions, while in the former, they facilitate the processing of the emotional consequences of a history of war. This paper asks whether instrumental and socioemotional processes can be integrated to generate improved intergroup outcomes in post-conflict societies. The study focuses on the former Yugoslavia, the site of one of the most protracted transitional justice efforts in the world. Serb populations across present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia continue to harbor strong negative opinions toward Bosniaks and transitional justice policies aimed at helping Bosnia recover from the Yugoslav Wars. Extant literature argues that animosity toward Bosniaks among Serbs stems primarily from an enduring sense of competitive victimhood and a lack of meaningful intergroup contact. This paper examines the extent to which documentary films aimed at sensitizing Serbs to Bosniak victimhood and depicting positive intergroup contact can improve Serbs’ attitudes toward Bosniaks and toward transitional justice policies in the region. It randomly assigns a representative sample of Serbs in both Bosnia and Serbia to view short documentary footage of either a Bosniak war victim recounting their war experiences, a Bosniak and Serb discussing how they cooperated during the war and continue to cooperate today, or a conflict-neutral control video. The footage derives from documentaries actively used by NGOs today to facilitate reconciliation in the region. The results demonstrate that exposure to both war victim testimonials and positive intergroup contact by video proxy lead to more positive attitudes toward Bosniaks and greater support for transitional justice measures. The estimates are larger in the contact condition and among those who report relatively medium to low levels of feelings of collective victimhood and medium to high levels of contact. Building on a nascent experimental literature on the role of artistic media in facilitating transitional justice, the study suggests that contact by proxy via documentary footage may be a promising pathway to improving intergroup attitudes and promoting reconciliation.

Author

• Anja Kilibarda, Columbia University