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2. Democratizing Justice in the Post-Conflict Balkans: The Dilemma of Domestic Human Rights Activists
- Author:
- Arnaud Kurze
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- Years of international and national accountability efforts in the former Yugoslavia have only partially helped post-conflict societies to transition. To complement retributive justice efforts more recently, human rights activists have launched a campaign to establish a regional truth commission. This article explores the intricate efforts among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in several states across the region – particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina, croatia and Serbia – to coordinate this movement. Drawing on participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study illustrates the movement's struggle from within – caused by the conflicting interests of its members – and from outside, as it seeks support from international and region-specific organizations as well as national governments. While activists have remained unsuccessful in institutionalizing new truth spaces, this article argues that the state-centered strategy of human rights advocates during the campaign widened the gap between the activist leaders and victims' groups, their principal supporters.
- Topic:
- Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Bosnia, Yugoslavia, and Balkans
3. Eldar Sarajlic and Davor Marko (eds.), State or Nation? The Challenges of Political Transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo: University of Sarajevo, 2011)
- Author:
- Maja Nenadovic
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- This edited volume brings together “the coming generation of Balkan social scientists” in an effort to open up discussion and shed light in various elements of Bosnia-Herzegovina's troubled post-conflict transition processes. The book, like others focusing on the same subject, illustrates why Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) remains the most intriguing piece in the puzzle of Yugoslavia's disintegration. In the most ethnically diverse republic of Yugoslavia, the particularly bloody conflict shocked the world that was watching in disbelief as international community scrambled to respond to the escalating crisis. The Dayton Peace Agreement put an end to the war but put into place a dysfunctional political system fashioned with consociational characteristics that resulted in ethnicization of politics, education and just about every other aspect of life in the country. Finally, the unprecedented international intervention that culminated in the institution of 'international administration', as embodied by the Office of the High Representative (OHR), made BiH the 'perfect' social experiment in the making. As an extreme or crucial case study, it attracted hordes of social scientists analyzing peace building, intervention, state building, nation-building and post-conflict reconstruction. With the international administration now in its sixteenth year of presence on the ground and with the political situation spiraling out of control to the point of talk among (nationalist) political elites of renewed conflict, it is not difficult to understand why the country is a mess that continues to fascinate.
- Political Geography:
- Bosnia, Yugoslavia, and Balkans
4. THE ROLE OF OPINION LEADERS IN THE DISSEMINATION OF MEDIA MESSAGES DURING THE PRE-ELECTION PERIOD: THE CASE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINIA
- Author:
- Davor Marko
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- In the analysis of the media landscape and media reporting on political candidates in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 2010 general election campaign, it was noticed that major media were affiliated to various political groups and openly advocated for or riled against voter choices. As a result, the media market of the country is characterized by a high level of segmentation between media which exclusively advocates a nationalist position and media which maintain a 'civic' orientation. These media organizations, according to their orientation, favor certain personalities that are deeply embedded in the favored national, cultural, or religious position. This paper examines the role of opinion leaders who represent dominant ethno-political groups in BiH via the dissemination of media messages during the preelection campaign.
- Political Geography:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
5. Xavier Bougarel, Elissa Helms, and Gerlachlus Duijzings, The New Bosnian Mosaic: Identities, Memories, and Moral Claims in a Post-War Society
- Author:
- Christine Zubrinic
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- Since the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the subsequent wars, Bosnia has become a symbol of emerging ethnic nationalism as well as a model for studies in peacekeeping and post- conflict reconstruction. The New Bosnian Mosaic: Identities, Memories and Moral Claims in a Post-War Society edited by Xavier Bougarel is a rich contribution to the study of post- conflict transition and reconstruction from an anthropological and ethnographic perspective that allows the reader to better understand the quandaries faced by Bosnia and those involved in post-Dayton reconstruction. The New Bosnian Mosaic is a collection of academic essays written by researchers in the fields of anthropology, ethnic studies and international relations between the most pivotal years of Bosnia's reconstruction between 1999 and 2003. The wealth of academic and field experience brought forth by the contributors gives the work a completeness often lacking in other works of the same subject matter. By incorporating these experiences this work succeeds in answering the large and daunting questions which surround Bosnia's past, present and future without falling victim to the generalizations which often plague academic research on the problems facing Bosnia.
- Political Geography:
- Bosnia and Yugoslavia