Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social movements – Bosnia and Hercegovina'

When do militias---whose power, riches, and legitimacy depend on the continuation of civil wars---accept negotiated settlements? An unexplored and crucial dimension of militia decision-making is the process of militia institutionalization. Militias create institutions to improve their odds of winning the war and project legitimacy internally as well as externally.
Militia institutions affect the strategic choice of decision-makers. They create financial and organizational interests that modify the preferences of the militia leadership. The modified preferences increase the win-set of militia leaders at the negotiating table. Militia institutions also change the decision-making context. Institutions unleash three dynamics that decrease a militia's ability to withstand fluctuations in the military balance of forces. Institutions can lead to factionalism, increased visibility (and hence vulnerability to attack), and strains in relations with patrons.
Using the logic of two-level games, I argue that leaders evaluate peace settlements with an eye on two boards. Externally, they evaluate their position vis-a-vis other protagonists in the conflict. Internally, leaders are concerned with their positions in power. Institutionalization results in a tension between "raison de la revolution" (ideological motivations) and "raison d'institution" (institutional preservation). Embattled leaders who increasingly find it difficult to withstand changes in the balance of forces find that their institutional interests are better preserved by peace. They agree to compromise on their ideological preferences thus opening a window of opportunity for the attainment of sustainable peace settlements.
Employing the comparative case-study method, the dissertation examines the attitudes of the Lebanese Forces and the Bosnian Serbs respectively toward conflict-resolution schemes that sought to bring the Lebanese and Bosnian civil wars to an end.
By focusing on leaders' incentives to settle, the research allows us to predict a priori which settlements are more sustainable. Theoretically, it refines the concept of "ripeness" for negotiations by specifying both its intra-communal and its extra-communal dimensions. In terms of practical policy implications, the research argues that militias are prime candidates for the role of spoilers. Thus, it is important not only to understand their incentives to settle but also to craft peace agreements that give even such radical factions a vested interest in peace.

This qualitative study focuses on the investigation of different actor’s ideas concerning gender and womanhood in a post-socialist nation Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of this study is to try to provide experiences and attitudes of one not a new, but definitely one constantly changing phenomenon, trafficking in women for sexual exploitation. The qualitative data is mainly collected through nine interviews with people from Bosnian Governments, International organizations and NGOs during my stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The causes to trafficking are complex and intertwined but it directly relates to gender discrimination and attitudes on sexual relationships between women and men. The study sheds light on how the global politics and economics development situation and theirs affectsprovide gender segregation through the traditionally structures where men are seen as normative.

This study aims to investigate and identify the democratic restrictions in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018. The country is internationally known for its burdensome history of war in the 1990s, however, Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to be in the process of developing. In addition to having one of the world’s most complicated political systems, the country’s efforts to improve their democracy have not been recognized. Therefore, the question at issue will be operationalized by utilizing the theory of polyarchy composed by Robert Dahl. This theory establishes seven institutions; elected political officials, free and fair elections, inclusive suffrage, the right to run for public office, freedom of expression, alternative sources of information and associational autonomy. These institutions will be examined using empiricism that has been developed with textual analysis. Moreover, the institutions will be analyzed to ascertain if these rights can be found within the Bosnian society.                     The results revealed that only one of the institutions, namely, “inclusive suffrage” is maintained in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Four of the remaining institutions, which are; elected political officials, free and fair elections, the right to run for public office and associational autonomy, were recognized as partially maintained. The last two institutions; the right to run for public office and alternative sources of information did not meet the requirements. Due to these results, it can be established that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not maintain all seven requirements of Dahl’s theory. Despite the country’s efforts to improve their democracy, the democratic process of Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to have ceased.

In an attempt to bridge the gap between theories of violent escalation and those of genocide, this paper theorizes genocide to be a strategic choice by leaders in response to a situation which they perceive to lack alternatives. This situation is expected to evolve out of a violent escalation, more precisely civil war. The empirical test consists of a structured focused comparison of one positive and one negative case; namely the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the conflict in Georgia over the region Abkhazia. The finding gives some evidence to the theory, however a more adequate theory needs to also involve a theorization of the ability to perpetrate genocide and not only of a lack of other alternatives. The study builds on previous research on the relationship between violent escalation and genocide, and findings are in line with existing research.

The situation in Bosnia and Hercegovina escalated in 1992 and resulted in a war which lasted until 1995, when the end of the war was marked by the signing of the Dayton agreement. The war consisted of conflict between the different groups within the country, with ethnic cleansing as one of the methods being used. In order to keep the peace in the region, the United Nations established the United Nations Protection Force in Yugoslavia. The UNPROFOR were at first meant to keep the peace within Croatia, but as the war broke out in 1992, parts of the force were repositioned to Bosnia. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate whether the UN and UNPROFOR managed to reach the goals set for the intervention in the town of Srebrenica, which was the first city in Bosnia to receive the status as a ”safe area”. In order to establish wheter the goals were met and the effects they had, the instrument of analysis consists of two evaluation models. The goal of the essay is to reach an understanding of the goals of the intervention and to provide with an analysis which can provide with an understanding for this, and perhaps also other interventions conducted by the UN.   In the final part of the essay, the presented material is discussed and analyzed in order to reach the purpose of the study. Concludingly the study finds that the goals for UNPROFOR in Srebrenica were not met.

xi, 189 p.
Human rights advocates have championed the establishment of a regime of international legal accountability for grave violations of human rights, including genocide. Despite recent advances in establishing a regime of responsibility for individuals, when the International Court of Justice pronounced its 2007 judgment on the first case of state responsibility for genocide, Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro, it exonerated Serbia of the most serious charges. Key to the Court's judgment was its spatialized definition of genocide as 'destruction in part' and its acceptance of Serbia's calculated strategy of legal immunization of establishing the Bosnian territory it sought to annex as a formally separate political entity. Considering the Court's latitude of interpretation regarding these spatial and territorial factors in light of the law, this thesis argues that geopolitical considerations influenced a judgment that will greatly limit the future possibility of any state or individual being found responsible for genocide.
Committee in charge: Shaul Cohen, Co-Chair; Alexander B. Murphy, Co-Chair

Power-sharing is introduced in ethnic-divided and ethnic-polarised countries with the aim to prevent and/or end conflicts. The purpose is to include different groups in power-sharing positions. This paper has focused on two of most used power-sharing theories, Centripetalism and Consociationalism, and conducted two case studies in Bosnia and Hercegovina and Nigeria who both have implemented one of these power-sharing arrangements. While previous research has focused on whether power-sharing institutions are effective when wanting to meddle peace, we found that there was absence of research and understanding in who is allowed in the power-sharing and which groups are excluded from power-sharing. From the previous research we found that there is an underlying idea that the people included in power-sharing are the majorities within the context, which we found problematic. We used data from the first and the latest election of each country, as well as political manifestos from the most popular political parties, and public documents to understand if there is a correlation between power-sharing arrangements and the inclusion or exclusion of minorities. The method used to analyse the empirics was the Critical Discourse Analysis which is used when wanting to analyse social power in terms of control. The result showed that there has been a positive change over the past years where the discourse of including minorities in power-sharing is more common today than during the first election. Although there were some positive results, we also found that this discussion is more theoretical than practical and if this was to become reality, there could be a backlash on the peace. Although these power-sharing arrangements have been used for over two decades in both of the countries, both of the studied countries have discriminatory constitutions, where some groups are favoured in the society.

En este trabajo se analizan las transformaciones ocurridas en la ciudad de Sarajevo después de la guerra de 1992-95. En particular se investiga cómo los cambios ocurridos en los últimos 20 años en el nivel macro (eso es: la doble transición, post-socialista y post-bélica) quedan reflejados, por un lado, en la forma exterior que asume la ciudad (por lo tanto su modificación física, nuevos proyectos urbanos) y, por el otro, cómo dichos cambios afectan a las relaciones sociales, sobre todo las tradicionales relaciones entre vecinos. El céntrico barrio de Marijin Dvor, emblemático por la presencia de las principales instituciones políticas y económicas, es el terreno en el que se desarrolla este primer eje de la investigación. Ahí me he dedicado a desarrollar principalmente dos temas: antes que nada, reconstruir las modificaciones en el régimen de propiedad de la vivienda que ha supuesto la caída del socialismo y la instalación de mecanismos propios del capitalismo neoliberal; en segundo lugar, analizar la institución bosnia del komšiluk -las buenas relaciones entre vecinos pertenecientes a comunidades etnoreligiosas distintas- y las perturbaciones que ha sufrido por efecto de la guerra. El segundo eje, antitético pero especular al primero, tiene como campo de observación una montaña muy cercana a la ciudad, el monte Trebević, que encarna un poderoso conjunto de complejos que afectan hoy a la sociedad sarajevita y bosnia en general. Antaño el destino favorito de las excursiones de los ciudadanos de Sarajevo, en 1984 sede olímpica (con todo lo que esto supone en un nivel simbólico), en 1992 fue ocupado por las tropas serbio-bosnias que lo convirtieron en uno de los puntos más estratégicos para el asedio. La montaña, de ser uno de los símbolos de la ciudad, se ha convertido en un territorio maldito al que ya no sube casi nadie. En este sentido, el espacio del monte es interpretado como una suerte de subconsciente urbano, allá donde quedan escondidos los traumas de ayer y los problemas de hoy, mientras que más abajo, en el valle de la ciudad, el nuevo capitalismo rampante, en su intento de asentarse establemente en Bosnia Herzegovina, se apodera del paisaje urbano y lo convierte en un escenario para el desfile de su poder y sus expectativas de cara al futuro inmediato. El título de la tesis hace referencia al trastorno por estrés post-traumático (TEPT), del que se calcula que hasta un 60% de la población de Sarajevo ha mostrado síntomas. Aquí, el TEPT es de entenderse como una metáfora que describe el presente de la ciudad. En años recientes, la reconstrucción post-bélica y el crecimiento urbano, empujados por los nuevos agentes capitalistas, se dan como en un estado de excitación (rápidos, sin planificación, saltándose las leyes), como si semejante frenesí fuera una manera de dejar atrás el evento traumático y librarse de los fantasmas del pasado. Estos, sin embargo, precisamente porque el trauma no ha sido reelaborado del todo, vuelven en forma de –o son somatizados en- los lugares “malditos” de la ciudad, congelados en el tiempo como si la guerra acabara de terminar: un flashbacks constante de la tragedia para todos aquellos –la mayoría de la población- que no se atreven a frecuentarlos y hacen como si no existieran, cuando los tienen siempre ante sus ojos.
RESUME OF THE THESIS “POST-TRAUMATIC CITY. MARIJIN DVOR AND MOUNT TREBEVIĆ, TWO URBAN SPACES IN TRANSITION IN SARAJEVO” The main aim of this work has been to investigate transformations happened in the city of Sarajevo after the 1992-95 conflict. Particularly, I focused on how recent changes in the macro-level (the double transition: post-socialist and post-war), on the one hand, are reflected in the external form of the city (therefore its physical modifications, new urban projects) and, on the other, how they affect its social fabric, specially traditional relations between neighbours belonging to different ethno-religious communities, and the mental maps of its inhabitants. The title of this study comes from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): recent studies calculated that up to 60% of Sarajevo population has shown symptoms of this disease. Here, PTSD is to be understood as a metaphor which describes the present of the city, and also helps to better understand the relation between such different spaces, as the central district of Marijin Dvor and wild Mount Trebević, that constitute our observation fields. In recent years, post-war reconstruction and urban growth, boosted by new capitalist agents, were happening in a sort of frenzied state of excitement (quickly, without any planning, breaking or conveniently manipulating the existing rules, as it can be seen in Marijin Dvor, "Sarajevo's new financial and commercial quarter"), as if such acceleration was a way to leave the traumatic event behind, to get rid of the phantoms of the past. These, nonetheless, precisely because the trauma has not been fully reworked, come back in form of –or are somatized in the “damned” places of the city, frozen in time as if war just ended: Mount Trebević is one of them, the place for the hidden, the forgotten and the painful, a constant flashback of the tragedy for all those -the majority of population- who don’t dare to frequent them anymore and pretend not to see them when they’re always in front of their eyes.

Au cours de ces dernières années, les forces armées de différents pays ont de plus en plus été amenées à travailler sur les mêmes théâtres d’opérations. Cette collaboration militaire multinationale, même si elle n’est pas souhaitée par tous, s’est généralisée à l’ensemble des missions militaires. C’est ce cadre multinational et de spécialisation croissante, mais aussi le caractère interagence à travers les contacts entretenus avec les intervenants civils et les populations locales qui caractérisent les missions actuelles. Et, même si les décisions d’engagement restent fixées en dernier ressort par les gouvernements nationaux, la configuration multinationale et modulaire des forces armées est devenue inévitable. Aussi, en choisissant comme objet d’étude les militaires belges déployés dans des opérations militaires multinationales, on s’est attaché à analyser, d’une part, comment se passe le travail dans ces environnements à risques et fortement diversifiés et, d’autre part, le type de collaboration observée entre les contingents nationaux.

Tout comme les autres organisations, les armées de différents pays se regroupent au sein de task forces spécifiques et temporaires qui nécessitent une configuration organisationnelle plus flexible ainsi qu’une culture d’organisation davantage adaptée à ces nouveaux cadres de travail. Aussi, l’objectif de la première partie est, précisément, de se pencher sur ces deux dimensions, structurelle et culturelle, de l’organisation militaire belge pour comprendre ensuite les interactions sociales observées dans les milieux opérationnels étudiés. Dans un premier chapitre, on s’attache à montrer les changements rencontrés dans la plupart des organisations militaires des pays industrialisés mais aussi, plus spécifiquement, les réformes institutionnelles entreprises pour moderniser les forces armées belges. Le deuxième chapitre aborde ensuite les éléments culturels que l’on retrouve au cœur de l’organisation militaire. Traditionnellement considérée comme un ensemble homogénéisé par une culture organisationnelle forte et cohésive, dans une perspective de différenciation, on relèvera les éléments croissants de diversité culturelle interne qui rendent l’organisation plus diverse tout en rendant la coordination de l’ensemble plus délicate.

La deuxième partie- empirique- aborde trois études de cas qui ont été menées dans un contexte géographique et institutionnel particulier :en Afghanistan pour la mission ISAF, au Liban pour la mission UNIFIL et en Bosnie-Herzégovine pour la mission Althea. Au niveau de la récolte des données, l’approche méthodologique suivie est de nature essentiellement inductive et combine différentes méthodes de récolte de données (observation et entretiens sur le terrain, questionnaires quantitatifs, rapports de lessons learned, articles de presse, etc.). En procédant par analyses comparatives et en se basant sur les récits, les pratiques observées, les conversations informelles, ces approches permettent de mieux comprendre la perception subjective de la réalité sociale par les militaires ainsi que les interactions observées. Les données relatives à la mission menée par l’OTAN en Afghanistan ont été collectées à Kaboul où les militaires belges étaient déployés sur l’aéroport aux côtés d’une trentaine de nations. Ces données ont notamment servi de base pour appliquer le modèle des rôles managériaux de Mintzberg à des managers belges opérant dans des circonstances exceptionnelles. Dans un second temps, on s’est également penché sur l’étude des équipes de reconstruction provinciale qui ont été déployées dans la plupart des provinces afghanes et sur la délicate collaboration entre les acteurs civils et militaires à Kunduz. La deuxième étude de cas, relative à la mission de l’ONU au sud-Liban, s’intéresse d’une part à la cohabitation belgo-polonaise au camp de Tibnine et, d’autre part, au fonctionnement de l’état-major multinational de la force à Naqoura. Enfin, le séjour en Bosnie-Herzégovine a permis d’étudier le déploiement de militaires belges dans un cadre européen, sous l’égide de l’EUFOR. Le troisième et dernier chapitre de cette partie fait, en quelque sorte, la synthèse des différents éléments, théoriques et empiriques, relevé et les combine dans une tentative de modélisation théorique des principaux facteurs de coopération militaire multinationale.

Sur base de nombreux extraits des données recueillies in situ, ce travail s’attache à montrer que la multinationalisation des milieux militaires opérationnels présente non seulement des avantages mais aussi de nouveaux challenges. Elle est ainsi fortement appréciée par les ‘petits’ pays, comme la Belgique, qui peuvent ainsi prendre part simultanément à différentes missions en mettant à disposition des capacités limitées mais spécialisées dans certaines niches de compétences. A travers les synergies opérées, ces formes de collaboration permettent de limiter les coûts liés aux déploiements opérationnels tout en assurant une certaine crédibilité par rapport aux engagements internationaux. Toutefois, même si cette multinationalisation est plus fréquente que par le passé, en raison de difficultés diverses (linguistiques, logistiques, caveats, etc.), elle reste encore souvent marginale au niveau des plus petites unités organisationnelles. C’est généralement à partie d’un certain niveau hiérarchique ou de spécialisation que l’on retrouve des militaires étrangers travaillant dans des équipes multinationales. Le fait que la majorité des militaires belges continuent surtout à travailler avec des collègues nationaux n’implique pas pour autant qu’ils n’ont aucun contact avec les militaires étrangers. Vivant dans des espaces confinés et, à l’exception des contacts virtuels avec la famille et les proches, les relations avec les autres militaires représentent leur seule vie sociale pendant plusieurs mois et c’est donc aussi et surtout à ce niveau que l’influence du contexte multinational se fait sentir.

Dans la lignée de d’Iribarne qui parlait de logique de l’arrangement en faisant référence à la culture belge, les comportements des militaires semblent autant régulés par cette conception particulière de la coopération et cette recherche d’accords informels que par le respect des ordres. Mais c’est sans doute aussi le sentiment d’appartenir à une organisation militaire dont l’influence est plus limitée qui semble encourager ses membres à adopter des comportements propices au développement de relations inter-organisationnelles ou de ce que l’on a qualifié de logique de la débrouillardise.

Doctorat en sciences sociales, Orientation sociologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Defence date: 21 October 2016
Examining Board: Professor László Bruszt, European University Institute (Supervisor) ; Professor Donatella della Porta, formerly EUI, Scuola Normale Superiore ; Professor Florian Bieber, University of Graz ; Professor Adam Fagan, Queen Mary University of London
This thesis examines the occurrence and spread of contentious collective action within a country, Bosnia Herzegovina, that historically does not bear a solid tradition of mobilization. In particular, the study focuses on the rise of mobilizations that transcend traditional ethno-nationalist cleavages, and involve individuals and groups that activate an identity other than the ethno-national one, still dominant in the Bosnian Herzegovinian society. I adopted the expression “beyond ethnicity” to label this type of mobilization, stressing that individuals and challenger groups involved in the protest overcame the centrality of ethnicity as social construct, privileging another commonality between individuals that deliberately superseded, and sometimes clashed with, the dominant ethno-national categories that had crystallized in the 1990s. This new, overarching identity is often grounded on feelings of deprivation. Informed by a five-year empirical research in the country, the study explores the variation in spatial and social scale of contention across three waves of mobilization that occurred between 2012 and 2014 and took divergent paths, despite similar socioeconomic structural conditions. Through a comparative case study approach, the thesis analyses three waves of protests, taken as manifestations of “mobilization beyond ethnicity”: “The Park is Ours” protests (2012), spawned from the defence of a public park of Banja Luka; the mobilization for civil rights of the children, which became known as #JMBG (2013); and the protests that erupted in Tuzla triggered by local workers, which turned into what activists defined as a “Social Uprising” (2014). The study explains why the waves of mobilization occurred between 2012 and 2014 spread unevenly across the national territory, involved diverse social groups, and entailed different degrees of disruption. The findings of this research demonstrate that a combination of factors both internal and external to the movements made the territorial and social shift upward more likely, and influenced the organizational patterns and action repertoires of the challengers. These factors are pre-existing networks among movement organizers; the resonance of “beyond ethnic” frames in certain cultural milieus; and a conducive political opportunity structure. In the conclusions, the thesis elucidates the implications of these findings for the study of social movements in the post-Yugoslav space.

1 Abstract This diploma thesis' aim was to find out what are the security measures countering radicalization and extremism in Bosnia-Herzegovina and whether there is any room for improvement. Firstly, the thesis analysed several official documents related to the security of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the relevant reports of the international community, in order to review the concrete security measures and compared them with security measures, which are in effect in other European countries. This allowed the author to draw specific security recommendation for Bosnia-Herzegovina based on the best-practices from abroad. Secondly, this thesis provides the opinions of three experts on Bosnia-Herzegovina and its internal situation. The experts assessed the security situation in the country, identified the areas of security which shall be enhanced and proposed concrete measures, which could elevate the security situation in the country. This thesis's main assumption was that the security measures currently in effect are insufficient and that there is much room for improvement. The analysis of the documents showed that there are many specific security measures, in terms of fighting radicalisation of youth, online radicalisation or religious extremism, which are used abroad, that could be implemented to...

Cooking and Dining in Times of War and Peace: Changing Contexts and Modes of Food Production, Preparation and Consumption in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina Mgr. Markéta Slavková Abstract (English) This project opens up the topic of armed conflict and subsequent post-conflict development in the Former Yugoslavia from a non-traditional perspective - that of the anthropology of food. At the centre of attention there stand the ways in which the production, preparation and consumption of food were and are carried out in Srebrenica, BiH in the context of the dramatic changes that the region has undergone over the last few decades. Food is the precondition of reproduction, a primary form of interaction with the world, a mediator of socialization, a sign of identity and social cohesion but also a tool of power. In this sense, Farquhar notes that the "mantra" 'You are what you eat,' continues to be thematized by social sciences (Farquhar, 2006: 146). On the other hand, the question of the relationship between social actors and their "daily bread" in conditions of starvation and overall material scarcity in wartime has not been satisfyingly answered. This project, based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, addresses these issues more closely, affording greater insight into them.

This thesis focuses on issues of multi-layered identities within a social space. It analyzes ritual (or ceremony) as one of the codified displays of culture within which collective ideas and attitudes regarding identity are manifested, shared, and strengthened. Bosnian Serbs - due to political and social change - were forced to redefine their position in society, as well as their (collective) identities and social ties. Slava is a fundamental ritual seen as an attribute of "Serbianness", and in the context of this study, manifests itself as an indicator of establishment and validity of collective identities. Slava is a traditional celebration practiced by Orthodox believers in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bulgary, Albania, and Macedonia. It is a festivity of either a family, village, or local church patron. At the center of this research will be an individual slava of a family patron saint, krsna slava, or krsno ime. For Bosnian Serbs, krsna slava is currently a revitalized ritual concurring with local tradition and convening with social ambitions of current inhabitants in the region (otherwise it would not be revitalized). The pertinence of this research subject is given by the nature of ritual itself as it is founded on collective sharing and the manifestation of common ideas1 ....