Bosnian Studies: Journal for Research of Bosnian Thought and Culture
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Socio-demographic aspects and characteristics of gambling and betting among Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Get PDFIn the last few years, gambling and betting opportunities have been increasing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, leading to an increase in pathological gambling. Pathological gambling is considered by experts to be an instinct control disorder, i.e. the inability to refrain from an instinct that at the same time causes pleasure to a person, but is also dangerous for them and the people around them as it seriously disrupts not only the physical, emotional, mental and material state of the individual, but affects their families and friends also. In order to examine the most common forms of gambling and betting as well as socio-demographic aspects and their characteristics among Bosniaks in BiH, in the period April-May 2019, on a sample of N = 1520 respondents, a survey was conducted in 62 municipalities in BiH. Respondents ranged from 18-77 years old, of whom 568 were women and 927 were men. While defining the sample for the purposes of this research, a two-stage stratification was performed, namely: stratification at the administrative level of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the type of settlement, respecting the principle of proportional representation of municipalities within entity/cantons. Data was collected via a structured face-to-face interviews with closed questions to which handwritten answers were given. The data collection was done through the Network of Youth and Directorate for Religious Affairs of the Riyasat of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results suggest persisting differences in the perception of the most common forms of gambling and betting, where bingo, disposable lottery tickets/scrapers, lotto and sports betting are perceived to be the most common. The most widespread types of gambling are influenced by the socio-demographic variables such as gender, place of residence, level of education, age and monthly household income
Political Culture and Party Pluralism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Get PDFIn this article we discuss political culture and analyse how the dominant model of this culture affects the functioning of party pluralism in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Political culture is a concept that combines psychological aspects such as political attitudes, orientations, political behaviour and social action, as well as sociological dimensions that include the social effects of political attitudes and patterns of behaviour. In this sense, political culture is one of the most important conditions for the establishment and normal functioning of party pluralism and democracy in a country
Consociationalism in the post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina
Get PDFThis paper outlines the theoretical underpinnings of the consociational power-sharing approach and its presence in the political system of the post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina. The power-sharing framework used in this study provides insights into the theory of consociationalism as a power-sharing approach and tries to contribute to our understanding of the presence and relevance of this model to the Bosnian political system. The consociational framework emphasises the role of the political elites in providing the political stability and economic prosperity in the heterogeneous societies. It has four main features: grand coalition, proportional representation, segmental autonomy and mutual veto. The functioning and performance of this model depends, to a large extent, on factors that are conducive to elite cooperation. These factors are: population size, balance of power among segments, multiparty system, segmental isolation, nature of social cleavages, overarching loyalties and tradition of elite accommodation. This paper shows that all features of consociationalism exist in the post-Dayton Bosnian political system. However, grand coalitions are always made after the elections and mainly for the distribution of positions in the executive bodies of state apparatus and without any strategic platform and goals to be achieved and accounted for, agreed in advance. Proportionality has been mainly replaced with the parity-giving rise to imbalanced representation in state institutions. Segmental autonomy has been misconceived and veto power has been used to block all legislation beneficial to the state
Redescribing Memory: Contributions to Bosniak Search of New Identity
No full textThe Second World War found Bosniaks politically disunited. Four different and mutually opposed political and military options – pro-Serbian, pro-Croatian, Communist and Autonomist – operated within the country. The constitution of the contemporary Bosniak political subject in the 1920s by means of the politics of memory takes as referential points from the past only the shared moment of anti-fascist struggle. The new politics of identity largely relies upon the so called ‘Resolutions of Towns’ – protests on the part of Bosniak citizens against the fascist killings of Jewish and Roma citizens after the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia. Another frequently highlighted moment is the victimization of Bosniaks, planned for the sake of gaining certain rights on account of the position of the victim
How One Calculated time in the Ottoman Bosnia
No full textIn this paper, we shall discuss the way Mula Mustafa Bašeskija, in his notes, determined reference points in time for the events that occured in Bosnia in the second half of the 18 th century. The author of this paper was inspired by the introductory sentence in which the writer announced how he would “in his mecmua, write down the exact time when certain events occurred”. Mula Mustafa timed events with a precise date. The dates were not uniform. On the contrary, they were set by using different calendars and ways of calculating time. The writer oriented himself to the Islamic lunar and the Ottoman lunosolar calendar, to the natural annual cycles, as well as to Muslim and Christian holidays. And, finally, Mula Mustafa would, in spots, write down the Slavic folk terms for months. These various reference points in time were symbols of one era and its culture
Bosniac Political Elite at the Time of Disintegration of Austria-Hungary and Creation of Yugoslavia
No full textThe author, on the basis of his insight into the less known and new documents, presented the activities of the Bosniac political elite at the end of the second and the beginning of the third decade of the 20th century. At the time period between the fall of Austria-Hungary on the one hand, and the rise of the Yugoslav state, i.e. the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians on the other, certain characteristics of the Bosniac elite in the ways they thought and functioned were reflected. The author considers this approach necessary in order to understand historical developments in the period that followe
Family Violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Transition Period
No full textThis paper aims at establishing a correlation between the variables of transition and family violence in B&H. What are the characteristics of the transition period affecting retraditionalization and repatriarchalization of the B&H society? What are the characteristics of the B&H family and what affects retraditionalization? How does the transition period affect the B&H family and violence against women? The thesis I wish to establish is that the B&H society is deeply patriarchal and that the transition period is connected to family violence against women
Can a Region be a Homeland?
No full textNation states in the Balkans need a form of relaxation through regional arrangements that do not bring those states themselves into question. That is why Southeastern Europe can be thought of as a regional community, along the lines of Plessner’s ideal community (die Sachgemeinschaft), which may, in anticipatory discourse, produce a regional ideology as an acceptable value, as the next form of peace
The Ethnic Engineering in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Community
No full textThis study inquires the issues of multi-party democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Hereinafter: B&H), the role of the International community, as well as its contribution to the overall institutionalization of ethnic identities in B&H. The author critically reviews theoretical and practical issues from the Dayton Peace Accords (1995) to Prud Agreement (2008) and attempts to indicate the necessity of transformation of the Constitution of B&H (Annex 4 to the Dayton Peace Accords) implementation of which further disintegrates and divides Bosnian society. The ethnic engineering in B&H displayed itself as a dangerously attractive for its simplicity, yet disastrous, since it results in an authoritarian regime that could be confronted only by constant emancipatory efforts
Citizen's Right to Self-determination vs. Collective Right to Self-determination: a Bosnian tale
No full textThe implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and especially the Dayton Constitution has become a vehicle for constitutional protection of collectivist ethnopolitical practice of discriminatory subordination of citizens on basis of their ethnic «kinship» or their religious affiliation. Therefore, it is important to explore possibilities of re-focusing the attention from a collective-rights-oriented to an individual-rights-oriented political arrangement as possible mode for accommodation of ethnic differences in Bosnia. Furthermore, I intend to claim that every attempt to institutionalize ethnic differences in the political arena generates an untenable crisis with the prospects of possible war