King's College London

TY - JOUR

T1 - War by Other Means

T2 - Cultural Policy and the Politics of Corporate Consociation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

AU - Fontana, Giuditta

PY - 2013/11/13

Y1 - 2013/11/13

N2 - Civil war obliterates memories of past coexistence. Yet, memories can also be erased through peacetime denial of legitimacy and funding to institutions preserving artifacts and remains testifying to a past of cultural hybridity. This article examines the interplay between cultural policy and constitutional framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to explain the recent closure of Sarajevo's museums. It argues that the institutions’ demise reflects a new state-building project founded on the separate development of mutually exclusive cultural and ethnic communities. Amnesia about past coexistence is instrumental to the political stability of BiH's corporate consociation but may hamper long-term conflict resolution.

AB - Civil war obliterates memories of past coexistence. Yet, memories can also be erased through peacetime denial of legitimacy and funding to institutions preserving artifacts and remains testifying to a past of cultural hybridity. This article examines the interplay between cultural policy and constitutional framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to explain the recent closure of Sarajevo's museums. It argues that the institutions’ demise reflects a new state-building project founded on the separate development of mutually exclusive cultural and ethnic communities. Amnesia about past coexistence is instrumental to the political stability of BiH's corporate consociation but may hamper long-term conflict resolution.

U2 - 10.1080/13537113.2013.847601

DO - 10.1080/13537113.2013.847601

M3 - Article

VL - 19

SP - 447

EP - 466

JO - Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

JF - Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

IS - 4

ER -