Hunger & Fury: The Political in Bosnia and Herzegovina Jasmin Mujanović A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Re- quirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Political Science York University Toronto, ON May 2016 © Jasmin Mujanović, 2016 Abstract This text is an attempt to (re)approach the process of political and social transfor- mation in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) over the past century and a half through the prism of popular agency. The primary research question of this dissertation asks why given nearly uni- formly catastrophic social indicators across virtually all socio-economic categories there are so few instances of overt popular dissatisfaction (e.g. protests and/or energetic voter turnout) with the prevailing political order in BiH? In addressing this question through an analysis that straddles political theory, international relations, and political economy literatures I focus on the role played by the specific local variant(s) of the nation-state form in essentially depoliti- cizing the majority of the population in this polity. My central argument is that rather than creating the conditions for rational-legal public administration and multi-party competition, the state in BiH has historically served to deny political agency to would-be citizens. The state in BiH has actively sought to eliminate civil society, in other words, and that therefore the de- fining political and social crises in contemporary BiH must be understood in the context of nearly two centuries of this particular and peculiar state (and nation) formation process. I ar- gue that the historic evolution of the BiH polity has been characterized by a form of elastic authoritarianism; the process of seemingly persistent ideological mutation contrasted by static political and economic patterns. Uniquely persistent patterns marked in BiH primarily by oli- garchic political and parasitic economic practices. Thus despite decades of international ―de- mocracy promotion‖ efforts in BiH since the conclusion of the war in the 1990s, it is these broader patterns of state formation (and perpetuation) that have suffocated attempts at genuine popular participation in the country‘s politics. ii For Amra, Refik, Emina, and Ayna. iii Acknowledgements The completion of this dissertation is only partially the result of my own efforts. In fact, it is mostly the product of the support, patience, and mentorship of a constellation of people who have navigated me through this journey. My sincere thanks to Terry Maley, Daphne N. Winland, and Robert Latham for their intellectual and scholarly guidance, accommodation, and vigour. Each of them has read this work through a different lens and each of them has improved it infinitely as a result. Their generosity in supporting this, at times, rather unorthodox project has made the entire endeav- our a rewarding challenge, rather than a punishing trial, for which I am genuinely grateful. I am also indebted to Dejan Guzina and Amila Buturovic for their assistance in giving this text a final polish. The role my parents and family have played in this undertaking is difficult to encapsu- late, no less so the significance of its completion in their eyes. My parents‘ eternal dedication, bravery, and sacrifice for their family is something I have only grown more awed and hum- bled by with age. My sister, to whom I have scarcely often enough expressed gratitude for her friendship and affection, has also ensured that the collective trials and triumphs of our little tribe will be remembered by at least one more generation. Watching Ayna (currently eight going on ninja) grow up over the course of writing this text has only further convinced me of the importance of autonomy and agency—as both a principle of politics and pedagogy. It has been from Elise Wang, however, that I have learnt the finer points of function- ing personhood. Where I middle at opining, she is the scholar. Yet above all, she is my friend, always; an exhausting feat for which I am forever indebted. Because I am humbled by them all, the reader will recall that all errors, typos, and gross (mis)generalizations in this text are solely my own. iv Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication. ................................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iv Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter I: Politics, the Political & the State in BiH ................................................................. 21 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 21 Remember Bosnia? ............................................................................................................... 24 Thinking about BiH .............................................................................................................. 28 Defining Democracy ............................................................................................................. 42 Praxis .................................................................................................................................... 48 Conclusion(s) ........................................................................................................................ 56 Chapter II: States, Nations & Federations ................................................................................ 58 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 58 The Early Political Economy of the Balkans ........................................................................ 61 Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Reform Efforts .................................................................. 70 Creating the State, Inventing the Nation .............................................................................. 77 The Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the National Question ..................................................... 92 The Balkan Federation ........................................................................................................ 102 Conclusion(s) ...................................................................................................................... 108 Chapter III: The Self-Managed Society & the Authoritarian State ........................................ 110 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 110 The Origins of the Communist Movement in Yugoslavia ................................................. 114 A New Ideology .................................................................................................................. 121 New Class, Old Forms ........................................................................................................ 129 Protests & Purges ................................................................................................................ 137 Conclusion(s) ...................................................................................................................... 148 Chapter IV: The Political Undone .......................................................................................... 151 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 151 Theorizing Regime Collapse (and Renewal)…………………………….......……………155 And after Tito… ................................................................................................................. 158 …Milošević ........................................................................................................................ 161 The Western Confederacy .................................................................................................. 168 Contextualizing the 1990 Elections in BiH ........................................................................ 171 A House Divided ................................................................................................................ 181 A Political Moment ............................................................................................................ 189 v Conclusion(s) ...................................................................................................................... 194 Chapter V: Towards the Polis in BiH ..................................................................................... 196 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 196 The Dayton Constitutional Order ....................................................................................... 198 The (Impossible) Task of Reforming Dayton ..................................................................... 210 Political Vignettes ............................................................................................................... 220 Contesting Democracy ......................................................................................................