Citizenship as (Not)Belonging? Contesting the Replication of Gendered and Ethnicised Exclusions in Post-Dayton Bosnia-Herzegovina

The Other Side of Belonging

“…These cooperative behaviours are considered more likely amongst people who do not see each other as strangers and who share some of the same values and expectations of social life. Whilst theorists are constantly trying to reshape and rethink what it is to be a citizen so much so that citizenship is now regularly viewed as a dialogical process (Yuval- Davis 2006;Guibernau 2013), more recent feminist interrogations of citizenship suggest going beyond the traditional nation-state to consider the topic though the lens of more globalised human rights (Deiana 2013;Yuval-Davis 2011. Current research has seen a move away from overly concentrating on state-recognised membership belonging as a focus of address, towards an understanding of social, political and civil 'rights' and 'good' citizenship practices (for example Patton 2014).…”

“…The starting point for this journey is that there is some ambiguity in the complex uses of the term 'not-belonging' that previous research has so far failed to untangle. Whilst it has some usage within discourses associated with the intersectionality of race, gender or social exclusion (for example Richmond 2002;Solhjell et al 2019;Trudeau 2006;Deiana 2013), here I want to pick out three distinct conceptual usages from this vast literature that may be helpful to this philosophical endeavour.…”

To settle for a gendered peace? Spaces for feminist grassroots mobilization in Northern Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina

“…Further to this, the agreement has worked to preserve ethno-national discourses within the politics of BiH. It reinforces a highly divisive political life whereby dominant nationalist parties continue to mobilise the legacy of Citizenship Studies 3 conflict and the negative constructions of 'the Ethnic Other' in order to ensure support for nationalist politics (Deiana 2013a). In Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement was also the outcome of complex negotiations aimed at ending the three decades of political conflict between the two dominant ethno-national communities.…”

“…Outside the institutional domain, gender stereotypes fostered by ethno-nationalist politics persist, as nationalist parties continue to pursue different strategies and policies that relegate women's role to motherhood and that narrowly define the acceptable parameters of women's behaviour (Deiana 2013a). Evidence suggests that strong social pressure is in place to silence and publicly discredit women and feminists who dare to openly critique the correlations between the current status quo, the nationalist grip on power and the gender inequalities underlying nationalist politics (Deiana 2013a).…”

“…Evidence suggests that strong social pressure is in place to silence and publicly discredit women and feminists who dare to openly critique the correlations between the current status quo, the nationalist grip on power and the gender inequalities underlying nationalist politics (Deiana 2013a). Outspoken women, antinationalist activists, journalists and feminists in particular continue to be overtly referred as trouble makers, traitors and 'witches', a misogynistic term often used to discredit women who dare to challenge ethno-nationalist power.…”