Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Performance and Transformation of Citizenship in Bosnia

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Doctoral student Natasa Garic-Humphrey, supervised by Dr. Esra Ozyurek, will research how alternative forms of citizenship and political subjectivities emerge in moments of societal transition. This research will investigate how young Bosnian activists adopt, reject, and/or re-interpret ideologies and models of the future created by local and international elites, and will study what kinds of strategies, subjectivities, and forms of alternative citizenship they develop in the process. Specific objectives are: (1) to identify how young activists engage in political debates permeating Bosnian society; (2) to document the ways Bosnian activists perform resistance against the current socio-political situation in the country, and to identify the stances they may take vis-à-vis the state; and (3) to evaluate forms of moral alignments and worldviews that are indexed by activists' performances in order to understand their ideas of what constitutes a "good citizen."The researchers will utilize social science research methods such as participant observation and informal, semi-structured, and person-centered interviews in order to gain an understanding of young activists' experiences of nationalism, citizenship, and emerging political subjectivities. Video recording of public discourse and activists' performances will be an important data collection method as well, in order to enhance the study with subjective and experiential depth. This research is important, as its findings will contribute to debates on post-conflict and transitional societies, and will further elaborate the broader understandings of postsocialism. The focus on individual experiences and performative strategies will add to larger discussions about citizenship, nationalism, ethnic relations, and state-building. Furthermore, this project will show that young people's experiences are integral to the structural issues of peace- and state-building. In addition to contributing to the training of a graduate student, the research will also inform policymakers, international intervention programs, and NGOs about everyday Bosnians' lived experiences, thereby further illuminating and perhaps resolving region's the ethnic conflict.