Bosnia Herzegovina is a Republic which became independent only in 1995, after a bloody war. Its young democracy is not yet consolidated and difficulties and obstacles are still present. This paper claims that one of the main obstacles to democratic consolidation is represented by the three ethno-nationalist political parties, with their territorial, linguistic, educational and religious claims and the mechanism used to build their support. The aim of the Dayton Peace Agreements, signed in 1995, was to avoid the dismemberment of BiH by building institutions whose legitimacy was based on ethno-religious principles. This solution had the effect to freeze the situation and its long-term consequences are now visible, especially in the role played by the three ethno-national parties, which are still the main, and most influential, parties. Precisely, each of the three bosnian nations has its own national party, namely the Serb Democratic Party, Srpska Demokratska Stranka (SDS), the Croat Democratic Party, Hrvatska Demokratska Stranka (HDZ) and the Bošnjak Party of Democratic Action, Stranka Demokratske Akcije (SDA). These nationalist parties arose in the end of the 80s, when Jugoslavia was collapsing. The civil war made them guardians of their own nations and the 1995 constitutional architecture (which recognized two Entities within BiH, named Muslim-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska) gave them a new “democratic” legitimacy. This solution might have worked effectively as stabilization instrument after a bloody war but, after 20 years, one may wonder if this party-system has become an obstacle to the democratic consolidation of Bosnia Herzegovina. The paper aims to describe how nationalist parties still define their identities in ethno-religious terms; how their crystallized identities inspire their choices, as to the education system; the extent to which religions and their organizations play a role; the mechanisms through which the three nationalist parties reproduce the ethno-religious divisions; and, finally, to unravel the role played by these parties. I will enrich the analysis using interviews’ extracts I made in Sarajevo among the generation born during the conflict, in order to shed light on the consequences of two decades of nationalist politic. To conclude, I will reflect on the notion of “state-nation”, looking at possible democratic configurations suitable for a plural society such as BiH considering, above all, the absence of the so-called “we feeling” and multiple-identity, without which democracy can hardly being achieved and exercised. This paper aims to bring new evidence to the broader debate on which democratic institutions are suitable in a plural society, deeply divided by the memories of a civil war.

20 years after Daytorn : post-war Bosnia between nationalism and democracy / A. Piacentini. ((Intervento presentato al convegno Reconsidering Democracy and the Nation State in a Global Perspective tenutosi a Leiden nel 2016.

20 years after Daytorn : post-war Bosnia between nationalism and democracy

A. Piacentini
Primo
2016

Abstract

Bosnia Herzegovina is a Republic which became independent only in 1995, after a bloody war. Its young democracy is not yet consolidated and difficulties and obstacles are still present. This paper claims that one of the main obstacles to democratic consolidation is represented by the three ethno-nationalist political parties, with their territorial, linguistic, educational and religious claims and the mechanism used to build their support. The aim of the Dayton Peace Agreements, signed in 1995, was to avoid the dismemberment of BiH by building institutions whose legitimacy was based on ethno-religious principles. This solution had the effect to freeze the situation and its long-term consequences are now visible, especially in the role played by the three ethno-national parties, which are still the main, and most influential, parties. Precisely, each of the three bosnian nations has its own national party, namely the Serb Democratic Party, Srpska Demokratska Stranka (SDS), the Croat Democratic Party, Hrvatska Demokratska Stranka (HDZ) and the Bošnjak Party of Democratic Action, Stranka Demokratske Akcije (SDA). These nationalist parties arose in the end of the 80s, when Jugoslavia was collapsing. The civil war made them guardians of their own nations and the 1995 constitutional architecture (which recognized two Entities within BiH, named Muslim-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska) gave them a new “democratic” legitimacy. This solution might have worked effectively as stabilization instrument after a bloody war but, after 20 years, one may wonder if this party-system has become an obstacle to the democratic consolidation of Bosnia Herzegovina. The paper aims to describe how nationalist parties still define their identities in ethno-religious terms; how their crystallized identities inspire their choices, as to the education system; the extent to which religions and their organizations play a role; the mechanisms through which the three nationalist parties reproduce the ethno-religious divisions; and, finally, to unravel the role played by these parties. I will enrich the analysis using interviews’ extracts I made in Sarajevo among the generation born during the conflict, in order to shed light on the consequences of two decades of nationalist politic. To conclude, I will reflect on the notion of “state-nation”, looking at possible democratic configurations suitable for a plural society such as BiH considering, above all, the absence of the so-called “we feeling” and multiple-identity, without which democracy can hardly being achieved and exercised. This paper aims to bring new evidence to the broader debate on which democratic institutions are suitable in a plural society, deeply divided by the memories of a civil war.
gen-2016
Bosnia Herzegovina; war; Dayon
Settore SPS/11 - Sociologia dei Fenomeni Politici
20 years after Daytorn : post-war Bosnia between nationalism and democracy / A. Piacentini. ((Intervento presentato al convegno Reconsidering Democracy and the Nation State in a Global Perspective tenutosi a Leiden nel 2016.
Conference Object
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/470367
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact