A Straitjacket Peave Agreement : A Study on Nation-Building and Identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract: This master’s thesis is a result of research conducted during six weeks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the contribution of the Dayton peace agreement to process of nation building in Bosnia has become counter productive as it contains elements of both nation-state and state-nation foundation. The study strives to understand the question of identity and how people in Bosnia view themselves and Others, and how they view the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina in combination with the Dayton peace agreement. Qualitative methods such as semi-structured and focused interviews as well as participatory and direct observations built the base for the data collection. The hermeneutic method is used as an approach to comprehend and to handle the findings. As my personal background contains pre-understandings of the chosen topic, I have chosen to use them throughout the research instead of ignoring them as the objective of this study is not to come to a final response of this topic, but instead to bring forward an alternative angle of the identified problem. The result of this study indicates that people in Bosnia and Herzegovina tend to identify in terms of ethno-national identity groups primarily where religion and territory have a decisive role in shaping identity, while a common Bosnian identity has fallen behind. It also reveals that the Dayton peace agreement damages the idea of a common Bosnian identity and questions the idea of Bosnia all together. This research suggests that a nation-state bottom-up process in Bosnia is little perceptible, due to the lack of a common Bosnian identity. The results from this study indicate that Bosnia does not fit the state-nation definition, nor the nation-state definition for several reasons while both state-nation and nation-state building are visible on regional levels. The Dayton peace agreement has initiated a very difficult political situation with extremely complex state structures and limited possibilities for change. The ethno-national division of three, and the constitutive tying of particular groups to specific territories, has hampered both the societal and political situation in Bosnia.