Hierarchical Sisterhood for Ella & Denni
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Hierarchical Sisterhood For Ella & Denni and in loving memory of Sadeta Vladavić (1959–1992) Moje duboko ubeđenje je da su žene svih generacija, u svom vremenu sa svim njegovim i svojim vlastitim ograničenjima, uradile što je bilo moguće. It is my deep conviction that women of all generations did what was possible, within their own limits and within the limits of their times. Historian Neda Božinović Örebro Studies in History 19 SANELA BAJRAMOVIĆ Hierarchical Sisterhood Supporting Women's Peacebuilding through Swedish Aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina 1993–2013 Cover illustration: Vladimir Tenjer Maps: Courtesy of the United Nations Pictures: Courtesy of Kvinna till Kvinna © Sanela Bajramović, 2018 Title: Hierarchical Sisterhood. Supporting Women's Peacebuilding through Swedish Aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina 1993–2013 Publisher: Örebro University 2018 www.oru.se/publikationer-avhandlingar Print: Örebro University, Repro 09/2018 ISSN 1650-2418 ISBN 978-91-7529-258-8 Abstract Sanela Bajramović (2018). Hierarchical Sisterhood. Supporting Women’s Peace- building through Swedish Aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina 1993–2013, Örebro Studies in History 19, 322 pages. This dissertation examines possibilities and challenges faced by interna- tional interveners in a post-socialist and violently divided area. The study object is the Swedish foundation Kvinna till Kvinna, formed in 1993 during the Bosnian war, originating from the peace movement and supported by the Swedish government aid agency Sida. The aim is to contextualize and analyze Kvinna till Kvinna’s two decades of engage- ment in peacebuilding in Bosnia. The encounter with domestic women’s NGOs is of particular interest. By focusing on rhetoric, practice and silences, the ambition has been to understand the international/local relationship from the perspective of both actors. In terms of methodology, this study combines a hermeneutic approach with that of oral history. The empirical material utilized consists of both written and oral sources, the majority of which appear in research for the first time. To capture the complexity of the peacebuilding endeavor, critically scrutinize it and discern its benevolence, this research draws inspiration from postcolonial and semiperipherality theories, as well as influential theorizing on peacebuilding, sisterhood and solidarity. This study shows that even well-intentioned, locally-focused external efforts, constrained by donor agendas and circumstances on the ground, contain problematic characteristics common in the era of liberal peace. While subscribing to the idea of transnational sisterhood, Kvinna till Kvinna also presented a belief in Swedish supremacy and demonstrated a lack of interest in local knowledge. It sought to educate and change its Bosnian counterparts by using soft methods. Further, the findings challenge idealized images of the ‘local’ as a peace-loving force for change and a powerless victim of Western domination. The hierarchical sister- hood that over time evolved between the two actors, founded on basic shared values related to women’s situation, was driven by mutual benefit. Acknowledging advantages of this type of transnational encounters in peacebuilding contexts, the study raises questions about dilemmas in them and underlines the importance of rhetorical listening. Keywords: sisterhood, Kvinna till Kvinna, international intervention, women, peacebuilding, Sida, local NGOs, Bosnia. Sanela Bajramović, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden, [email protected] Table of Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................... 12 Maps ....................................................................................................... 12 Pictures .................................................................................................... 12 Tables ...................................................................................................... 12 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................... 13 PROLOGUE ........................................................................................... 15 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 17 Introducing the actors ............................................................................. 20 Kvinna till Kvinna ............................................................................... 20 Bosnian women’s NGOs ..................................................................... 22 Sida ..................................................................................................... 24 Previous research ..................................................................................... 25 Women, gender, war and peace .......................................................... 26 International intervention, ‘the international’ and ‘the local’ .............. 31 Aims and research questions ................................................................... 36 Contributions .......................................................................................... 38 Structure of the study .............................................................................. 39 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES........................................................... 41 Women and peacebuilding ...................................................................... 41 On Balkanism, postcolonial perspectives and the semiperiphery ............. 46 Sisterhood, solidarity and transnational encounters ................................ 55 EMPIRICAL MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY .............................. 61 Written sources ....................................................................................... 61 Oral sources ............................................................................................ 63 Emancipatory ambitions of oral history .............................................. 65 Interviews with Kvinna till Kvinna: selection and carrying through .... 67 Interviews with NGOs in Bosnia: selection and carrying through ....... 69 Methodological considerations................................................................ 71 Ethical considerations and reflections ..................................................... 75 HISTORICAL CONTEXTS .................................................................... 81 Brief history of Bosnia – the socialist period ............................................ 81 Women in socialist Yugoslavia ............................................................ 83 Histories of women’s activism ............................................................. 86 Women during the 1992–95 war ............................................................ 89 Postwar Bosnia ........................................................................................ 91 International intervention .................................................................... 91 Divisions on the basis of ethnicity ....................................................... 94 Contacts and relations between Sweden and Bosnia ................................ 96 Reactions to the Bosnian war within Sweden ...................................... 96 Diplomatic and transnational relations after the war .......................... 98 THE BEGINNINGS AND FIRST ENCOUNTERS ............................... 101 The historical roots of Kvinna till Kvinna ............................................. 101 Initial organizing: who, when, why? ...................................................... 105 Ideological principles and the vision of the mission ............................... 106 Building opinion and fundraising in Sweden ......................................... 112 Broad support within Sweden ........................................................... 117 First encounters and trust building ........................................................ 121 Which women? ...................................................................................... 126 (Bosnian) women as (rape) victims .................................................... 127 Women as peacebuilders ................................................................... 131 The early encounter problematized........................................................ 134 Concluding remarks .............................................................................. 138 NEWCOMER IN DEVELOPMENT AID ............................................. 141 Swedish aid work abroad – a brief historical overview .......................... 141 Initial activities and becoming ‘the conscience of the world’ ............. 141 From popular enthusiasm to political strategy .................................. 143 Sida and Kvinna till Kvinna – a conditioned cooperation ...................... 145 Via Split to Sarajevo – establishing the office in Bosnia ..................... 146 Changing working conditions ........................................................... 149 Interactions between the two Sarajevo offices ....................................... 151 Creating an arena for influence ......................................................... 151 Differing perspectives on aid, peace and women ............................... 156 A closer cooperation? ........................................................................ 162 Concluding remarks .............................................................................. 165 BETWEEN