“What is reconciliation and are we there yet?” Different types and levels of reconciliation: A case study of Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

This article uses the northwestern Bosnian village of Prijedor as a case study to empirically engage with theoretical debates about how to understand and research reconciliation and its causes in postconflict societies. It starts with a review of almost 60 different academic definitions of reconciliation with a goal to map out a comprehensive overview of various types and levels of the phenomenon. It then tests the theoretical analytical 18-box matrix devised with data gathered in Prijedor (BiH) during two consecutive periods of fieldwork in order to further improve it and to introduce a temporal dimension into the research of reconciliation.

Funding

This work was partly supported by the project “Promotion of Student Scientific Activities” (VP1-3.1-ŠMM-01-V-02-003) from the Research Council of Lithuania (L. S.). This project was funded by the Republic of Lithuania and European Social Fund under the 2007–2013 Human Resources Development Operational Program's Priority 3.

Notes on contributor

Lina Strupinskienė has a PhD in Political Science from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University. She has completed her Master's Degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights at the Center for Conflict Studies, Utrecht University. She has also interned with the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and currently is teaching courses on transitional justice and peace and conflict studies. Her doctoral research focused on political reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular on exploring whether and to what extent there is a positive correlation between the ICTY's work in BiH and interethnic reconciliation.

Notes

1. The field trip was implemented with a research grant from The Research Council of Lithuania and organized in cooperation with the Balkan Institute for Conflict Resolution, Responsibility and Reconciliation, Sarajevo School of Science and Technology (Balkanski Institut za izučavanje konflikata, odgovornosti i pomirenja).

2. It is important to understand that the data gathered during the fieldwork do not offer a comprehensive overview of the whole BiH and focus only on the perceptions of several key informant groups in the town of Prijedor. It could be inferred that people in other towns of the Serb Republic or BiH (where reconciliatory processes posed a greater challenge) might be more modest in their expectations of reconciliation and stress safety, security, and peaceful coexistence even more. Similarly, people in bigger cities, like Sarajevo or Banja Luka, might be exposed to Western understanding of reconciliation because of intensive work of various international nongovernmental organizations. It is likely that they might place greater emphasis on rebuilding broken relationships, restoring trust, and promoting the culture of human rights.