Bosnia in Limbo

Testimonies from the Drina River

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International
Cover of the book Bosnia in Limbo by Borja Lasheras, Ibidem Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Borja Lasheras ISBN: 9783838271323
Publisher: Ibidem Press Publication: May 1, 2018
Imprint: Ibidem Press Language: English
Author: Borja Lasheras
ISBN: 9783838271323
Publisher: Ibidem Press
Publication: May 1, 2018
Imprint: Ibidem Press
Language: English

To this day, almost all narratives on Bosnia focus on the 1990s, the war, and the labyrinth that Dayton’s institutional system represents. They also tend to be imbued with a perspective that often overdoes the ethnic and religious element. The truth is that, beyond the causes of war and its manifold tragedies, we actually know very little of its forgotten consequences, once the CNN effect is long gone. As importantly, we know very little of Bosnia today: a society shaped by the past, yes, but also exposed to shifting twenty-first-century dynamics. A society haunted not only by war tragedies but also by a long-standing and long overlooked social crisis.

This revealing book thus tries to provide a somewhat different picture of Bosnia, twenty years after the war. Largely based on the author’s experience in the field, it is to some extent an account of rural Bosnia, in particular of the Drina River Valley, which bore the brunt of the ethnic cleansing in the 1990s. Yet, and starting off from that isolated region of open wounds, unfinished issues and a cast of characters that range from displaced persons and victims to committed women, the book aims to overall provide a portrait of modern Bosnia as such, while also looking critically at the workings of the international community and European diplomacy. The book, with its landscape of activists, Western diplomats, and inhabitants of an underground world in Sarajevo for LGBT and youths, shows a country of so-far failed Springs and leaders who go on with their bad governance. Meanwhile, the “Europe” towards which Bosnia theoretically moves drifts between a poor understanding of the country, a fear of conflict that acts as its Achilles’ heel, as well as lack of genuine interest, seems unable to really change things. This compelling book shows that Bosnia is still, in a way, a country in limbo.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

To this day, almost all narratives on Bosnia focus on the 1990s, the war, and the labyrinth that Dayton’s institutional system represents. They also tend to be imbued with a perspective that often overdoes the ethnic and religious element. The truth is that, beyond the causes of war and its manifold tragedies, we actually know very little of its forgotten consequences, once the CNN effect is long gone. As importantly, we know very little of Bosnia today: a society shaped by the past, yes, but also exposed to shifting twenty-first-century dynamics. A society haunted not only by war tragedies but also by a long-standing and long overlooked social crisis.

This revealing book thus tries to provide a somewhat different picture of Bosnia, twenty years after the war. Largely based on the author’s experience in the field, it is to some extent an account of rural Bosnia, in particular of the Drina River Valley, which bore the brunt of the ethnic cleansing in the 1990s. Yet, and starting off from that isolated region of open wounds, unfinished issues and a cast of characters that range from displaced persons and victims to committed women, the book aims to overall provide a portrait of modern Bosnia as such, while also looking critically at the workings of the international community and European diplomacy. The book, with its landscape of activists, Western diplomats, and inhabitants of an underground world in Sarajevo for LGBT and youths, shows a country of so-far failed Springs and leaders who go on with their bad governance. Meanwhile, the “Europe” towards which Bosnia theoretically moves drifts between a poor understanding of the country, a fear of conflict that acts as its Achilles’ heel, as well as lack of genuine interest, seems unable to really change things. This compelling book shows that Bosnia is still, in a way, a country in limbo.

More books from Ibidem Press

Cover of the book Discourses on Identity in 'First' and 'Other' Serbia by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book Contributions to Alternative Concepts of Knowledge by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book Speaking like a Spanish Cow by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book An Interesting Life, So Far by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book The Instrumentalisation of Mass Media in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book Lobbying Uncovered? by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book InExActArt - The Autopoietic Theatre of Augusto Boal by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book The New Authoritarianism by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book From Vocal Poetry to Song by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book Ukraine after Maidan by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book Theories About and Strategies Against Hegemonic Social Sciences by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book [T]axing Greenhouse Gases by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book The New Authoritarianism by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book A Fateful Triangle by Borja Lasheras
Cover of the book Das sowjetische Fieber by Borja Lasheras
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy