Description
Book SynopsisBuilding on long-term ethnographic research at the first integrated school of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Citizens of an Empty Nation offers a ground-level view of how reunification processes are negotiated by Bosnian youth, shedding light on the larger projects of humanitarian intervention, social cohesion, and citizenship.
Trade Review"An intimate and compellingly written ethnography of the lives of youth in postconflict Bosnia-Herzegovina, illuminating the depth and complexity of state politics as manifested and refracted in youths' lives." * Kimberley Coles, author of
Democratic Designs: International Intervention and Electoral Practice in Postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina *
"International politicians sound great when they talk about 'multiculturalism' and 'integration,' but Azra Hromadžić takes them to school-specifically, to the Mostar Gymnasium, where the tensions, temptations, and limitations of an ethnically divided state are felt, around the tables, in the hallways, in the shared bathroom. This book combines critical insight and humane sensitivity in equal measures. It is a model for how postconflict ethnography should be performed." * Eric Gordy, author of
Guilt, Responsibility, and Denial: The Past at Stake in Post-Milošević Serbia *
"In this rich, reflexive, and carefully crafted ethnography of youth in a Bosnian high school existing in the space between between reunification and segregation, Azra Hromadžić captures the lived realities of her subjects' everyday lives in the context of ethnicized nationalisms and international peace-building. The book is a passionate plea to look beyond the certainties of fixed categories and explore the possibilities of restoring, however fleetingly, a discourse and practice of hope for a better future." * Paul Stubbs, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
PART I. INTEGRATEING THE SCHOOL
Chapter 1. Right to Difference
Chapter 2. Cartography of Peace-Building
Chapter 3. Bathroom Mixing
PART II. DISINTEGRATING THE NATION
Chapter 4. Poetics of Nationhood
Chapter 5. Invisible Citizens
Chapter 6. Anti-Citizens
Conclusion
Epilogue. Empty Nation, Empty Bellies
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
