International community must rally behind Bosnias protesters | @guardianletters For more than two decades, the international community has viewed the political landscape in Bosnia-Herzegovina through an ethnic lens – despite careful academic scholarship, which consistently warned against such over-simplification and dangerous pandering to local ethno-nationalist elites. The war, and the peace that has ensued, both overseen by international observers, have only emboldened the local ethno-nationalist partitocracy in BH, which – shielded by fears of new wars and new violence – proceeded to enrich itself in the country with the official youth unemployment rate of 57%. Not surprisingly, the wave of recent protests throughout Bosnia, which started in Tuzla, a working-class city, is focusing on job opportunities, pensions, health benefits, confiscation of illegally obtained property and formation of non-ethnic or technocratic governments. No demands are made based on ethnicity, religion, or any divisions that characterise BH in the stubborn international stereotype of it. As academics and scholars of the region, we call upon the international community to recognise alternative modes of political organising emerging in Bosnia, acknowledging at last that they are not all based on ethnicity. After repeatedly calling on Bosnians to take the fate of their country into their own hands, the international community should now extend their support to protesters and seriously consider their demands. In spring 1992, Bosnian citizens staged in Sarajevo the largest demonstrations ever against all nationalist parties. They were silenced by snipers, and their voices, from that point on, ignored by the international community. This time, the world should listen. Aida A Hozić University of Florida, United States, Florian Bieber University of Graz, Austria, Eric Gordy University College London, Chip Gagnon Ithaca College, United States, Eldar Sarajlić Central European University, Hungary, Tanja Petrović Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia, Ana Dević Fatih University, Turkey, András Bozóki Central European University, Hungary, Jo Shaw Edinburgh University, Scotland Jasmin Mujanović York University, Canada, Valerie Bunce Cornell University, United States, Konstantin Kilibarda York University, Canada, Aleksandra Miličević University of North Florida, United States, Emel Akcali Central European University, Hungary, Olimpija Hristova Zaevska Balkan Institute for Faith and Culture, Macedonia, Jana Baćević Aarhus University, Denmark Jelena Vasiljević University of Belgrade, Serbia, Michael Bernhard University of Florida, United States, Tea Temim NASA/University of Maryland, United States Jasmina Opardija-Susnjar University of Fribourg, Germany, Julianne Funk Centre for Research on Peace and Development, KU Leuven, Belgium Hanns Schneider Former researcher at University of Jena, Germany, William Risch Georgia College, United States, Kiril Avramov New Bulgarian University in Sofia, Bulgaria, Tom Junes German Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland, Tibor T Meszmann Working Group on Public Sociology Helyzet Budapest, Hungary, Béla Greskovits Central European University, Hungary, Hilde Katrine Haug University of Oslo, Norway and Harriman Institute, Columbia University, Armina Galijaš University of Graz, Austria Zoltan Dujisin Columbia University, United States Heleen Touquet University of Leuven, Belgium, Amila Buturović York University, Canada, Margareta Kern Artist, London, United Kingdom Valerie Bunce Cornell University, United States, Catherine Baker University of Hull, United Kingdom, Adriana Zaharijević University of Belgrade, Maja Lovrenović VU Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands Marko Prelec Balkans Policy Research Group, Pristina, Kosovo, Claudiu Tufiș University of Bucharest, Romania, Gal Kirn Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany, Keziah Conrad University of California, Los Angeles, United States Jarrett Blaustein Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom Igor Štiks University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom Rossen Djagalov Koç University, Turkey, Paul Stubbs Institute for Economics, Zagreb, Croatia, Davor Marko University of Belgrade, Serbia, Ljubica Spaskovska University of Exeter, United Kingdom, Christian Axboe Nielsen Aarhus University Andrej Grubačić California Institute of Integral Studies, United States, Wendy Bracewell University College London, United Kingdom, Zhidas Daskalovski University of Bitola, Macedonia, Nicole Lindstrom University of York, United Kingdom, Hristina Cipusheva South East European University, Republic of Macedonia, Marina Antić University of Pittsburgh, United States Alen Kristić University of Graz, Austria, Julija Sardelić University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Lara J Nettelfield Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom, Ivana Krstanović Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo, Danijela Majstorović University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zoran Vučkovac University of Alberta, Canada, Elissa Helms Central European University, Hungary, Igor Cvejić Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju Beograd, Serbia Slavoj Žižek Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, United Kingdom, Nataša Bek Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia, Sladjana Lazić Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, Katarina Peović Vuković Faculty of Philosophy, Rijeka, Croatia, Artan Sadiku Institute of social sciences and humanities - Skopje, Macedonia, Peter Vermeersch University of Leuven, Belgium, Roland Schmidt Central European University, Hungary, Spyros A Sofos CMES, Lund University, Sweden, Vedran Horvat Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Croatia, Franjo Ninic University of Muenster, Germany, Adam Fagan Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, Soeren Keil Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom, Esad Boskailo University of Arizona, United States, Biljana Đorđević Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Amra Pandžo Udruženje MALI KORACI Sarajevo, Malte Frye University of Muenster, Germany Vanja Lastro Rice University Houston, United States, Srđan Dvornik Independent analyst and consultant, Zagreb, Croatia, Goran Ilik University of Bitola, Macedonia, Nikola G Petrovski University of Bitola, Macedonia, Nicholas J Kiersey Ohio University, United States, Roska Vrgova UG Zasto ne, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kiril Nestorovski Habitat for Humanity, Macedonia, James Robertson History, New York University, United States, Ellen Elias-Bursać Literary translator and independent scholar, United States, Antje Postema University of Chicago, United States, Ronelle Alexander University of California, Berkeley, United States, Zdenko Mandusić University of Chicago, United States, Grace E Fielder University of Arizona, United States, Jennifer H Zoble New York University, United States, Wayles Browne Cornell University, United States Holly Case Cornell University, United States, Cynthia Simmons Boston College, United States, Panagiotis Sotiris University of the Aegean Anna Selmeczi, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, Gezim Krasniqi University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Azra Hromadžić Syracuse University, United States, Lejla Sokolović Indjić University of Bergen, Norway, Marko Attila Hoare Kingston University, United Kingdom, Anton Markoč Central European University, Hungary, Boštjan Videmšek Journalist, DELO, Slovenia, Karla Koutkova Central European University, Hungary, Luca J Uberti University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand András Riedlmayer Harvard University, United States, Jeffrey B Spurr Independent scholar and member of editorial board of CultureShutdown, Suzana Vuljević History, Columbia University, United States, Michael D Kennedy Brown University, United States Jennifer Dickinson University of Vermont, United States, Mary N Taylor Graduate Centre of the City University of New York, United States, Mariya Ivancheva Independent scholar and member of the editorial board of LeftEast, Bulgaria, Volodymyr Ishchenko Centre for Society Research, Ukraine • We express our full support for the legitimate demands and justified outrage of the citizens of BH. Their cry for a decent life, true democracy, solidarity that knows no borders – be they ethnic, national or religious – resonates throughout the world. In a similar fashion to the citizens of Tahrir, Taksim or Syntagma, the Bosnian protesters showed a courage to go beyond institutional obstacles and all limitations that governments around the world impose on their citizens and reclaimed their streets. The people of BH are standing against the system of exploitation, injustice and inequality that has been serving only a tiny political, economic and financial elite. A century after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, when imperialist European leaders pushed their nations into mutual destruction, Bosnia is sending a wake-up call to everyone. The world we live in is a world of divisions, expanding fascism, growing political and social apartheid, unrelenting capitalist destruction of both nature and common wealth of all. The citizens of BH have been experiencing all of that on an everyday level for 20 years. After the nationalist war between 1992 and 1995, in which 100,000 people lost their lives, the institutional peace settlement restored the capitalist system, destroyed the working and middle classes, and entrenched not only ethnic but also social divisions that have been successfully exploited by political elites. They said enough and we say enough with them. We voice our support for their legitimate efforts to create a just and equal society in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We call upon all progressive political and social forces to stand with the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina in this decisive struggle for a better future of us all. Tariq Ali Writer and social activist, UK Gil Anidjar Scholar, University of Columbia, USA, Vladimir Arsenijevi Writer, Serbia, Etienne Balibar Professor emeritus, University Paris Ouest, France, Franco Berardi Bifo Philosopher, Italy, Alida Bremer Writer, Germany, Wendy Brown Political theorist, UC BUSA, Boris Buden Univeristy of Weimar, Germany, Noam Chomsky Linguist and social activist, MIT, USA, Goran Fejic Writer, France, Karl-Markus Gauss Writer, Austria, Costas Douzinas Philosopher, Birkbeck, University of London, UK, Daa Drndi Writer, Croatia, Michael Hardt Philosopher, Duke University, USA, David Harvey Geographer, CUNY, USA, Aleksandar Hemon Writer, USA, Sreko Horvat Philosopher, Croatia, Saa Ili Writer, Serbia, Rada Ivekovic Philosopher, University St Etienne, France, Mate Kapovi Linguist, University of Zagreb, Croatia, Naomi Klein Author and social activist, USA, Maurizio Lazzarato Philosopher, France, Christian Marazzi Economist, Switzerland, Antonio Negri Philosopher, Italy/France, Andrej Nikolaidis Writer, Bosnia and Herzegovina/Montenegro, Nigel Osborne Professor emeritus, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, Costas Lapavitsas Economist, SOAS, UK, Renata Salecl Philosopher, Slovenia, Elke Schmitter Writer, Germany, Ingo Schulze Writer, Germany, Igor Tiks University of Edinburgh, Bosnia and Herzegovina/Scotland/UK, Eric Toussaint Economist, CADTM, Belgium, Yanis Varoufakis Economist, University of Texas, USA, Jasmila Bani Film director, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Europe Protest theguardian © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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Posted on: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 21:13:54 +0000
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