Memory claims and memory constraints. (Re)negotiating statehood and identities in Serbia

Abstract

Rather than focusing on often-explored mnemonic practices (memorials, national celebrations, commemorations etc.) the article addresses the role that remembering, as a part of a wider political culture, plays in situations where images of the past are not visible per se, but are implied or even openly invoked to explain and (de)legitimize choices political actors make. By analyzing the interactions of memories and new institutional arrangements related to minority rights in the case of the Bosniak minority in Serbia, the article shows how recollections in political claims and policy-making were used as a medium for negotiations and the contestation of both political interests and competing “group-making projects”.

Heritage interests: Americanism, Europeanism and Neo-Ottomanism

“…Muslim groups) were “problems” and, according to the evaluation team, lacked an appreciation of cultural heritage. This report paralleled tensions that arose over the name of the main square in Novi Pazar: the Square of Isa Bey Ishakovic, “an Ottoman general and the first governor of the Ottoman Province of Bosnia who was the founder of both Sarajevo and Novi Pazar,” or the Square of Stefan Nemanja, the “Grand Prince of the Serbian Grand Principality Rascia” (Lazic, 2013: 944). This and other decisions were regarded as black and white, or as Lazic argues, “were conducted as zero sum games: either as a banishment of the state of Serbia from this territory or as centuries–long discrimination and negation of Bosniak identity” (Lazic, 2013: 944).…”

War as an Enduring Determinant of Party Choice in Postwar Southeast Europe

“…Through their public discourse and participation in war-related activities and commemorations, parties in Southeast Europe and in postwar societies elsewhere have maintained the relevance of past conflicts. Indeed, scholars have argued that the war past has become a central part of postwar political culture in certain countries, even decades after the ceasing of hostilities (Lazic 2013;Chirot et al 2014;Ashplant et al 2015). As such, it can be argued that political parties are not only an important driver behind the enduring importance of a war past but also a prerequisite.…”

Contesting war memories: Parties and voters in contemporary Southeast Europe

“…Considering everything we know about political competition in postwar societies -particularly those in Southeast Europe of the past two decades -this argumentation is in our view very plausible when it comes to contestation over collective war memories. Indeed, (some) parties in postwar societies actively keep the memory of war alive by partaking in commemorations of war-related events and engaging in public discourse and activities loaded with meaning related to the war past, so much so that it has become an integral part of the political culture even decades after the wars end (Ashplant, Dawson, and Roper 2015;Chirot, Shin, and Sneider 2014;Lazic 2013). The politics in Southeast Europe is replete with such examples that continue to mar the local political landscape to this day: from parties in Croatia sparring over the role of war veterans in society or the commemorative practices in the town of Vukovar that was the sight of the biggest battle during the war, to politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro continuously debating the wars' causes or the genocidal nature of the massacres at Srebrenica.…”