Practicing Solidarity: ‘Reconciliation’ and Bosnian Protest Movements

Abstract

This paper asks whether, and in what sense, civic protests can contribute to some form of ‘reconciliation’. Focusing on the 2014 protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it analyses the actions and activities involved in the practice of protesting. In this context, reconciliation can be understood as civic solidarity: a forward-looking commitment to fighting for social justice and against the privileges of political elites. Solidarity is not only built horizontally across social or ethnic groups, but also vertically through opposition to the ruling ethnonationalist elite. Solidarity-building activities such as protests, however, are hindered by an institutional system that crystallises social divisions and dilutes citizens’ efforts.

ORCID

Daniela Lai http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9459-1072

Notes

1 I conducted 19 interviews with people directly involved in protests and plenum meetings in Sarajevo, Prijedor, Zenica, Tuzla, Mostar, and numerous other with people who participated in personal capacity. I observed a limited number of protests, such as the 1st May demonstration in Tuzla, and union-led protests against labour law reforms in June-July 2015 in Sarajevo. Between June-August 2015 I observed the meetings of Plenum Zenica, and conducted further visits in November 2015, April 2016, and April 2018.

2 This is a quote from an interviewee in Fridman (2015, p. 188).

3 Aiken (2010) defines social learning as the process through which identities are negotiated in post-conflict societies.

4 A case in point are the protests occurred in Vukovar, Croatia, where some ethic Croat groups demonstrated against the use of Cyrillic signs to accommodate the needs of the Serb minority in the area. These protests reproduced, rather than overcame, the dynamics of the conflict that drove many Serbs out of Croatia. See Boris Pavelic, Croatia's Vukovar Bans Cyrillic after Protests, Balkan Insight, 5 November 2013, https://balkaninsight.com/2013/11/05/vukovar-city-council-bans-cyrrilic/ [last accessed 22 February 2019].

5 Although not inexistent: the Bosnian protests suggest at least a shared understanding of economic crimes as being an important and unaddressed aspect of the war.

6 See also the rest of the special issue of Social Movement Studies, Vol. 11, Issue 3–4.

7 Naša Stranka is a cross-ethnic party founded in 2008, partly drawing its membership from the civil society sector. In BiH, political parties are widely seen as instrumental to the interests of a small group of insiders, rather than as working for the public good. Accusations of being affiliated to a political party can be used strategically to delegitimise protesters.

8 See for instance: Announcement of the Citizens Plenum in Tuzla, 12 February 2014, BH Protest Files, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/announcement-of-the-citizens-plenum-in-tuzla/; and these reports by Bosnian journalists: February 2014, http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnia-nervously-prepares-for-new-day; and by Dušica L. Ikić Cook and Elvira Jukić, New Protest Clashes Erupt in Bosnia's Tuzla, Balkan Insight, 6 February 2014, http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnians-head-for-another-day-of-protests, all accessed 17 April 2018.

9 ‘Visualizing the Plenum Demands’, BH Protest Files, 13 May 2014, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/05/13/visualizing-the-plenum-demands/, last accessed 19 April 2018.

10 See for instance: ‘Banja Luka: New Protests on Saturday—“We Will Call All Poor People to Come Out to the Streets”’, BH Protest Files, 19 February 2014, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpresshttps://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/banja-luka-new-protests-on-saturday-we-will-call-all-poor-people-to-come-out-to-the-streets/.com/2014/02/19/banja-luka-new-protests-on-saturday-we-will-call-all-poor-people-to-come-out-to-the-streets/, last accessed 19 April 2018; ‘Prijedor Citizens’ Demands (Prijedor #1)’, BH Protest Files, 10 February 2014, https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/prijedor-citizens-demands-prijedor-1/, last accessed 19 April 2018; ‘Answer by the Mayor of Prijedor to Citizens’ Demands (Prijedor #2), BH Protest Files, 17 February 2014, https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/answer-by-the-mayor-of-prijedor-to-citizens-demands/, last accessed 19 April 2018. See also ‘Interview: Duško Vukotić, President of the Association of RS Veterans’, BH Protest Files, 14 February 2014, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/interview-dusko-vukotic-president-of-the-association-of-rs-veterans/, last accessed 19 April 2018.

11 See the following paragraphs on the Austrian Initiative. See also interviews with the Program Coordinator of the Austrian Initiative (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute), 9 November 2015 (Skype); Interview with activist from Prijedor, 24 April 2016, and from Banja Luka, 25 April 2016.

12 The RS Veterans Union declaration read ‘these statements will only stoke flames that have been lit by those in power, who are attempting by any means necessary to preserve a State that is based on crime, corruption, nepotism, and on a horrendous education system whose consequences are already being felt’. See ‘Declaration by RS Veterans Union (RS #1)’, BH Protest Files, 10 February 2014, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/declaration-by-rs-veterans-union-rs-1/, last accessed 19 April 2018.

13 See ‘Majority of Citizens Support Protests, while Violence Is Seen as Too Great a Price to Pay for Change’, BH Protest Files, 12 February 2014, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/majority-of-citizens-support-protests-while-violence-is-seen-as-too-great-a-price-to-pay-for-change/, last accessed 19 April 2018.

14 This does not necessarily mean that RS citizens are not able to mobilise en masse: in fact, police repression has sparked some of the largest protests of the past decade in Banja Luka following the death of David Dragičević, see Alfredo Sasso, Demonstrating for David in Banja Luka, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, 10 May 2018, available at https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Demonstrating-for-David-in-Banja-Luka-187713 [last accessed 5 July 2019].

15 See Ludwig Boltzmann Institute (2014, 2016). The eight groups were: the Banja Luka Social Centre (BASOC; Banja Luka, RS), Mreža 5f7 (Network 5f7; Bosnia-wide network), Neformalna Grupa Građana ‘Srebrenik je naš’ (Informal citizen group ‘Srebrenik is ours’; Srebrenik, FBiH), Neformalna Grupa Za Socijalnu Pravdu (Informal Group for Social Justice; Prijedor, RS), Plenum Zenica (Zenica, BiH), Plenum Bosanska Krupa (Bosanska Krupa, FBiH), Pokret Građana Gračanice (Civic movement Gračanica; Gračanica, FBiH), Sindikat Solidarnosti (Workers’ union Solidarity; Tuzla, BiH).

16 In Banja Luka, more substantial funds allowed BASOC to renovate an old Ottoman house and open a social centre. Interview with activist from BASOC, 25 April 2016; see also the Facebook page of BASOC at https://www.facebook.com/bassoc/, last accessed 22 April 2018.

17 The Austrian Initiative came to an end in March/April 2018. Interview with activist from Zenica, 17 April 2018.

18 Plenum Zenica Bilten broj 1 (Plenum Zenica Bulletin number 1), September 2015, on file with the author.

19 See Ludwig Boltzmann Institute (2016).

20 Interview with activist in Mostar, 24 June 2016; Interview activist from Prijedor in Sarajevo, 5 May 2015; Interview with activist in Prijedor, 21 July 2015; Interview with activist in Zenica, 7 May 2015.

21 Announcement: First meeting of the Brčko District Citizens' Plenum, 11 February 2014, BH Protest Files, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/announcement-first-meeting-of-the-citizens-plenum-of-brcko-district/; Demands of the Citizens’ Plenum of Mostar, 13 February 2014, BH Protest Files, https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/demands-of-the-citizens-plenum-of-mostar/; Zenica Protestors Deliver Their Demands, 10 February 2014, BH Protest Files, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/zenica-protestors-deliver-their-demands-to-cantonal-government-zenica-1/; Second Bugojno Citizens’ Plenum: Declaration, 12 February 2014, BH Protest Files, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/second-bugojno-citizens-plenum-declaration/; Highlights of the week ending Sunday, 2 March 2014, BH Protest Files (3 March 2014), available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/highlights-of-the-week-ending-sunday-2-march-2014/; all accessed 16 April 2018.

22 Interview with activist from Sarajevo, 21 May 2015; Interview with activist from Fondacija Cure, Sarajevo, 15 September 2015.

23 Author fieldnotes, Plenum Zenica meeting, 29 June 2015. These discussions were taking place shortly after Naser Orić had been arrested in Switzerland following a request from Serbia (see Denis Dzdic, ‘Srebrenica Commander Naser Oric Charged with War Crimes’, Balkan Insight, 27 August 2015, available at http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/srebrenica-commander-oric-charged-with-war-crimes-08-27-2015, accessed 15 April 2018).

24 See again Visualizing the Plenum Demands’, BH Protest Files, 13 May 2014.

25 See the video ‘Međunarodni zvaničnici prepoznali aktivnosti bh plenuma!’, 16 September 2014, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKoRqk-yeoE&list=PL-nyzck72xntzsYoHZmAzNvLBSl_GlOlQ&index=4, last accessed 21 April 2018.

26 The video explicitly talks about the ‘citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina’, which is an inclusive formulation compared to the ethic one commonly used in political discourse (Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats, Bosnian Serbs). Goran also asks Meliha, when she talks about ‘Bosnia’ in her answers, whether she means Herzegovina too, to which she replies that ‘of course, Bosnia and Herzegovina is one country’ (‘and Republika Srpska?’ Goran then asks, to which Meliha replies affirmatively again, since it is part of BiH). In Ratko's segment, he describes the protests emphasising their civic character, and then lists the groups present at the meeting in Vienna, pointing out they came from both of Bosnia's entities.

27 Interview with activist from Sarajevo, 21 May 2015; see also Plenum Zenica Bilten broj 1: ‘the strength of citizens is in the numbers!’, on file with the author.

28 Plenum Zenica Bilten broj 1, on file with the author.

29 Interview with NGO activist, Sarajevo, 16 September 2015.

30 Pušenje ubija (for Bosniaks). Pušenje ubija (for Croats). Пyшeњe yбиja (for Serbs).

31 Visualizing the Plenum Demands’, BH Protest Files, 13 May 2014.

32 Interview with activist from Sarajevo, 21 May 2015. See also Mostar citizens’ demands, 11 February 2014, BH Protest Files, https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/mostar-citizens-demands-mostar-1/; Demands of the Citizens’ Plenum of Mostar, 13 February 2014, BH Protest Files, https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/demands-of-the-citizens-plenum-of-mostar/; Bihac Citizens’ Demands, 10 February 2014, https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/bihac-citizens-demands-bihac-1/; all accessed 19 April 2018.

33 Author fieldnotes, June 2015, Zenica. See the example on Naser Orić provided on p. 14.

34 See the website of the Center for Investigative Journalism (Centar za Istraživačko Novinarstvo), https://www.cin.ba/bijeli_hljeb/, last accessed 19 April 2018. While some institutions removed these provisions after the 2014 protests, hundreds of politicians still have access to bijeli hljeb in BiH.

35 Author fieldnotes, 1 May 2015, Tuzla. Interview with members of Sindikat Solidarnosti in Tuzla, 6 August 2018. See also Kurtović (2015).

36 See Demands of the 13^th Plenum of the Citizens of Sarajevo, 19 May 2014, https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/demands-of-the-13th-plenum-of-citizens-of-sarajevo/; Bosnia Floods: This is Going to Stay with Us for the Next 20–30 Years, 24 May 2014, https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/bosnia-floods-this-is-going-to-stay-with-us-for-the-next-20-30-years/, both accessed 19 April 2018.

37 The siege of Sarajevo effectively started then. See Bringa (2002), Touquet (2015). On anti-war activism in the former Yugoslavia see Bilić (2012).

38 The Sindikat Solidarnosti (Solidarity Union) from Tuzla, for instance framed their 1st May demonstration in 2015 as a workers’ protest in their flyers and posters, but some of the participants brought to the demonstration Bosniak army flags, which constitute a divisive symbol. The poster reads: ‘Come so that, through a 1st May protest march and peaceful protest, we mark the most important date in the history of the fight for human, civic, and workers’ rights! Pensioners, peasants, workers, students, pupils, all of you who suffer injustice, join us in front of the SODASO building in Slatina, on 1st May at 9am’. Sindikat Solidarnosti poster, on file with the author.

39 Interview with NGO Activist from Sarajevo, 16 September 2015.

40 Interview with activist from Sarajevo, 21 May 2015.

41 Interview with activist from Prijedor, 24 April 2016.

42 Interview with activist from Prijedor in Sarajevo, 5 May 2015.

43 See examples on BH Protest files; See also a flyer titled ‘For environmentally sustainable Zenica’ from the environmental NGO Eko forum, on file with the author. The flyer identifies the steel mill owner ArcelorMittal, the City of Zenica, the Federal Ministry for Tourism and Environment, and the Cantonal Ministry for Spatial Planning, Transport and Environment as responsible for pollution monitoring, supervision, and control over privatisation agreements at various levels.

44 See interview with activist from Sarajevo, 21 May 2015.

45 On the Sejdić-Finci ruling by the European Court of Human Rights see Hodžić and Stojanović (2011).

46 See Dalio Sijah, ‘Uspjeh protesta u BiH: Ipak je “i srpska i hrvatska i bošnjačka”’, Istinomjer, 10 February 2014, available at http://istinomjer.ba/uspjeh-protesta-u-bih-ipak-je-srpska-hrvatska-bosnjacka/; and the English translation on BH Protest Files, ‘The Success of the Protests is “Serb, Croat and Bosniak”’, 10 February 2014, available at https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/the-success-of-the-protests-is-serb-croat-and-bosniak/; both accessed 19 April 2018.

47 One of them said: ‘if you go to workers’ protests in Banja Luka, and you mention the war to them, they will adopt a defensive attitude. They may not have food to eat on their table but they will tell you that they will die to defend their country’ (Interview with activist in Sarajevo, 3 May 2015).