The Academy for Public and Social Policy Musine Kokalari 2025
The Musine Kokalari Academy for Public and Social Policy in its fifth edition was held from September 8 to 13, 2025 at Mercure Prishtina City (Prishtina).
Lecturers & Moderators
Vjosa Musliu, Associate Professor of International Relations at VUB, Belgium
Andi Haxhiu, sociologist and researcher of nationalism at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Alban Bokshi, philosopher and political analyst
Maria Todorova, historian, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, USA, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Mirishahe Syla, researcher of gender issues and feminist economics
Drenusha Canolli, sociologist and researcher of social policies
Umut Özkırımlı, Senior Researcher at IBEI (Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals) and professor at Blanquerna – Ramon Llull University, Spain
Edison Jakurti, economist from Kosovo and lecturer at Lancaster University Leipzig, Germany
Edona Krasniqi, researcher from Kosovo specialized in economic development and public policies
Branko Milanović, economist and research professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA, and visiting professor at the Institute for International Inequalities at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Helena Poučki, activist and expert in environmental justice
Dardan Abazi, expert in energy and climate policy
Paul Stubbs, sociologist and researcher at the Institute of Economics in Zagreb, Croatia
Artan Mustafa, researcher and university lecturer in social policy, sustainable social development, and the social foundations of politics
The Programme
During the six days of the Academy, the following topics were addressed:
The modern history of Kosovo, international intervention, and state subjectivity
Nation, ethnicity, ethnosymbolism, and nation-building processes
Political ideologies, populism, and the critique of Balkanism discourse
Gender equality, feminist economics, and unpaid care work
Progressive imaginaries, wokism, and identity politics
The welfare economy, global inequalities, and redistribution
Environmental justice, energy transition, and climate policies
Social and public policies in Kosovo and Southeast Europe
The program was further enriched with:
Screenings of selected films and documentaries, such as: ‘No Man’s Land‘– on the absurdity of war, ‘The Economics of Happiness‘ – on the social, environmental, and spiritual consequences of economic globalization
Thematic workshops and research presentations, including: A workshop on specific aspects of wealth redistribution and the economic logic behind the welfare state’Who Cares? Unpaid Care Work in Kosovo’ – on unpaid care work
Field study visits to areas affected by hydropower plants and KEK thermal power plants, focusing on environmental inequality and energy transition: Hydropower plants and protected areas (Shtërpcë) – on the rise of environmental problems and their impact on affected communities & KEK thermal power plants (Plementin & Obiliq) – on environmental inequality and how non-majority communities absorb most of the pollution caused by lignite processing in thermal plants
The Musine Kokalari 2025 Academy for Public and Social Policy was organized with the support of
