The Divided City and the Grassroots: The (Un)making of Ethnic Divisions in Mostar (The Contemporary City)

Focusing on Mostar, a city in Bosnia Herzegovina that became the epitome of ethnic divisions during the Yugoslav wars, this cutting edge book considers processes of violent partitioning in cities. Providing an in-depth understanding of the social, political, and mundane dynamics that keep cities polarized, it examines the potential that moments of inter-ethnic collaboration hold in re-imaging these cities as other than divided. Against the backdrop of normalised practices of ethnic partitioning, the book studies both ‘planned’ and ‘unplanned’ moments of disruption; it looks at how networks of solidarity come into existence regardless of identity politics as well as the role of organised grassroots groups that attempt to create more inclusive; and it critically engages with urban spaces of resistance. Challenging the representation of the city as merely a site of ethnic divisions, the author also explores the complexities arising from living in a city that validates its citizens solely through ethnicity. Elaborating on the relationships between space, culture and social change, this book is a key read for scholars, students, and urban practitioners studying ethnically divided cities worldwide. Preface Contents Abbreviations List of Figures List of Maps and Picture Chapter 1 Introduction Ethno-nationally Divided Cities and the Relevance of Mostar as a Case Study Henri Lefebvre and the Production of Space in Mostar The Spatial Triad, or on the Process of Unravelling Space in Mostar The Notion of Space as Becoming Space Is Always Political ‘The Urban’ and the Nation-State Approaching the Study of Mostar, Methodologically Structure of the Book References Chapter 2 Imagining, Planning, and Building Mostar After the War Introduction Mostar Before the War: Embracing Contested Memories of Unity and Division The Wars in Mostar: Urbicide The Dayton Peace Agreements (1995) and the Geopolitical Context of Bosnia and Herzegovina EUAM (1994–1997): Dividing Mostar, Temporarily OHR (1997–2010): Conceiving Mostar, (Re)united Distracted Politics or the Politics of Division? Garbage Collection and Electricity Infrastructure, or How to Keep a City Divided When Declaring Its Reunification But You Are Safe! The Logics of Pastoral Politics in a Dangerous World The Administration of Mostar Today: The Challenge of Political Representation Conclusion References Chapter 3 The Everyday Life of Mostar The Everyday Life of Mostar Urban Imaginaries. Navigating Shifting Patterns of Pre- and Post-war Mobility in Mostar The Infrastructures of Socialisation Mostar, the City That We All Fear Everydayness: Flexible Identities, Porous Borders, and Surviving Mostar The Vibrancy of Sameness and the Opening to Difference Space, Time, and Affect: Everydayness and the Possibility of Transformation Conclusion References Chapter 4 Grassroots Movements and the Production of (Other) Space(s) Civil Society, Cultural Projects, and the (Potential) Dissolution of Divisions Civil Society and Conflict Resolution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Review OKC Abrašević: More Than Two Decades of Radical Activism in Mostar The Festival of Arts in Divided Cities Lažne Priče iz Historije Mostara (False Stories from Mostar’s History) Re-animating the City: The Ephemeral (and Contradictory) Art of Festivals (Re)collecting Mostar—Abart 2010–2011 Art Intervention One: Repurposing Memories Art Intervention Two: Reinhabiting Ruins Art Intervention Three: Confronting History Conclusion: Conceptualising Resistance in Mostar, Spatially References Chapter 5 Conclusion Mostar’s Space Production—A Post Scriptum Representations of Space/Representational Spaces: The Cosmos of Capital and the Nomos of National Identity The Production and Contestation of Scales The Production of Fear The Contradictions of Everyday Life as the Conditions of Transformation Stasis (The Civil War), Immobility, and Ambiguity Heterotopias and the Subversion of Abstract/Absolute Space Mostar Is More-Than-Divided The Ethnography of Everyday Life References Index