Elite and Everyday Social Contracts in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Pathways to Forging a National Social Contract?

ABSTRACT

The Dayton Peace Agreement ended the violence in Bosnia–Herzegovina, however, it also solidified antagonistic political identities leading to the creation of two social contracts: an ‘elite social contract’ involving primarily political elites of the main ethnic groups and an ‘everyday social contract’ involving ordinary citizens trying to manage a complex social and economic environment. The first social contract is hegemonic, however, alternative, non-nationalist views are slowly emerging. Grassroots groups, the surviving remnants of inter-ethnic coexistence, the integrating pull of market forces and the presence of a large diaspora all constitute resources for the creation of a resilient national social contract.     

Secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization in child welfare professionals in Serbia

Child welfare professionals in diverse positions are exposed to a variety of traumatic events including family violence and child abuse and neglect. This secondary exposure puts child welfare workers at the risk of experiencing Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) and Vicarious Traumatization (VT). For the first time in Serbia, this study quantitatively investigates whether STS and VT are present in child welfare professionals employed in the social welfare centers, foster care and adoption agencies, residential care programs, and shelters for children and youth. It attempts to identify whether the type of service, time exposure to clients, and supervision function as risk or protective factors for negative outcomes. A convenience sample comprised of 135 child welfare professionals completed a series of self-reported measures. Findings indicate that VT and STS are present in this population. Differences in the presence of STS and VT were found according to the types of services offered and length of exposure. Contrary to expectations, supervision was not a protective factor with regards to STS and VT in this population.     

Grammar,context and power: securitization of the 2010 Belgrade Pride Parade

In the wake of the 2010 Belgrade Pride Parade, right-wing extremists portrayed the event as a threat to public morals, while liberals framed homophobia as a threat to democracy. While these moves managed to polarize and mobilize the public, the government didn’t heed their calls to adopt extraordinary measures. The Parade took place on 10 October and the extremists organized unchecked violent counter-demonstrations. By drawing on Securitization Theory, we triangulate content and discourse analysis to understand why these securitizing moves had a low success. Our analysis shows that although both moves followed the grammar of security, they were only partially embedded into the wider discursive context and were not enunciated by securitizing actors with strong positional power.     

Big dreams and small steps: comparative perspectives on the social movement struggle for democracy in Serbia and North Macedonia

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a comparative analysis of social movements’ characteristics and capacities to struggle against illiberal tendencies and incite political change in Serbia and North Macedonia. First, we discuss the illiberal elements of political regimes in the countries in question, Serbia and North Macedonia. Then, we provide a comprehensive overview of progressive social movements in the two countries, formed and organized as a response to different authoritarian and non-democratic tendencies. Finally, we point to some differences in their organizing, coalition-forging and issue-defining principles, which, we believe, may help to explain the relative success of social movements in North Macedonia in producing relevant political outcomes, compared to the weak political impact of social movements in Serbia. Empirical data were collected during the summer of 2018 through in-depth interviews with members of social movements in North Macedonia and Serbia.     

Subnational competitive authoritarianism and power-sharing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

Incremental democratic decline is evident in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), but measures of democracy conceal an uneven subnational distribution of autocratization. So far there has been limited research on the drivers and constraints to subnational autocratization. This paper aims to contribute to the literature on power-sharing by exploring instances of illiberal politics enacted by parties in government at the subnational level in BiH. Evidence is gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysis of three specific cases of illiberal politics. We find that the political contest in BiH is purposefully contained within ethnic and subnational boundaries and constrained through several layers of institutionalized multilevel and ethnic checks and balances. The main drivers of subnational autocratization are opportunities that arise from the institutional framework established during early democratization and postwar structures that blend executive dominance with economic power and informal party networks, and occasionally from an individual actor’s perceptions of threat. Democratization in BiH will need to address subnational politics and deep-rooted power structures if it is to be successful.     

The rise of illiberal politics in Southeast Europe

ABSTRACT

Democracy is backsliding throughout Southeast Europe but there are no signs of full democratic breakdown. Instead, political parties and their leaders incrementally undermine challenges to governmental authority while keeping electoral contest largely intact. This article introduces a special issue that aims to examine and explain democratic decline by looking at the prevalence of illiberal politics across countries and issues. In order to overcome the limitations of fixed regime classification we adopt a procedural lens and look into governing practices that gradually tilt the electoral playing field. Utilizing the concept of Illiberal politics allows us to examine sets of policies enacted by political parties in government with the aim to remain in power indefinitely. By tracing democratic decline in Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia we observe different patterns of weakness, but also common causes arising from weak institutions and inherited governance practices that preserve executive dominance, patronage, and informality.     

Y chromosome STRs in Croatians

Eight Y chromosome short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphisms (DYS19, DYS388, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393) were analyzed in the sample of 457 unrelated Croatian men. A general STR allelic frequency pattern in Croatians corresponds to other European populations with the exception of the loci DYS19 and DYS389II. The most frequent DYS19 allele was 16, while at the DYS389II the most frequent were alleles 30 and 31. The most frequent Y chromosome haplotype (16-13-13-31-24-11-11-13) was found in 33 individuals (7.22%). One hundred and seventy-four haplotypes (38.07%) were observed in single copies.     

The International Community and Bosnia-Herzegovina

The article discusses the most considerable challenges faced by Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) over the past few years and outlines how many of them have been addressed through partnership and cooperation between BiH and the international community. It draws lessons from this cooperation for the general conditions necessary for successful international intervention and engagement, comparing the interventions in BiH and Iraq. It argues that BiH has made substantive progress in reconciliation and reconstruction and that it is now a modern and peaceful state orientated towards the goal of Euro-Atlantic integration. The article assesses some of the remaining obstacles to progress, in particular the paradoxically problematic role of the Office of the High Representative in BiH.