The New Bosnian Mosaic: Identities, Memories and Moral Claims in a Post-War Society [Paperback]

Since the violent events of the Bosnian war and the revelations of ethnic cleansing that shocked the world in the early 1990s, Bosnia has become a metaphor for the new ethnic nationalisms, for the transformation of warfare in the post-Cold War era, and for new forms of peacekeeping and state-building. This book is unique in offering a re-examination of the Bosnian case with a 'bottom-up' perspective. It gathers together cultural anthropologists and other social scientists to consider the specificities of the Bosnian case. However, the book also raises broader questions: what are the consequences of internecine violence and how should societies attempt to overcome them? Are the uncertainties and the transformations of Bosnian post-war society due entirely to the war, or are they related to wider processes encompassing post-communist Europe as a whole? And are the difficulties experienced by international state-building operations mainly due to distinctive features of the local societies or are they due to the policies promoted by the international community itself?Contents: Introduction. Part 1 Beyond 'Ethnicity': 'Imitation of life': negotiating normality in Sarajevo under siege, Ivana Macek; Urban exile: locals, newcomers and the cultural transformation of Sarajevo, Anders Stefansson; Sarajevo no more? Identity and the sense of place among Bosnian Serb Sarajevans in Republika Srpska, Ioannis Armakolas; The power of 'armchair politicians': ethnic loyalty and political factionalism among Herzegovinian Croats, Hannes Grandits; In search of 'decent people': resistance to the ethnicization of everyday life among the Muslims of Stolac, Torsten Kolind. Part 2 Beyond 'Ancient Hatred': Commemorating Srebrenica: histories of violence and the politics of memory in Eastern Bosnia, Ger Duijzings; Death and the nationalist: martyrdom, war memory and veteran identity among Bosnian Muslims, Xavier Bougarel; Remembering with a difference: clashing memories of Bosnian conflict in evlӁ