The Geopolitics Of Daily Life In Mostar, Bosnia And Herzegovina

Abstract

Nearly twenty years after the brutal conflict that occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), ethnosectarian ideology continues to permeate all structures and institutions of Bosnian society, from political and educational institutions to religious and cultural ones; most of all, it is significantly embodied in the everyday life of people in Bosnia. It is these everyday practices that I investigate in order to unravel how ethnicity is (re)produced, performed and experienced through mundane practices of moving through space. Specifically, this dissertation asks: What socio-spatial practices and emotional experiences are involved in the processes of solidifying, as well as dissolving, ethnic identity in BiH? The study is a primarily qualitative investigation of daily life, based on deployment of multiple methods such as participant observation, interviews and a photography project. The site of the study is the town of Mostar in southwestern BiH. It has been formally and informally divided between "Croat/Catholic" west Mostar and "Bosniak/Muslim" east Mostar for over 15 years. The findings point to the ways identity and space emerge as performative effects of practice, as well as how different processes of bordering (between "us" and "them"; between "our" and "their" side) are materialized through different affective intensities.