Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 11-16-2016 Nationalism as a Process for Making the Desired Identity Salient: Bosnian Muslims Become Bosniaks Mirsad Krijestorac Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FIDC001218 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Comparative Politics Commons Recommended Citation Krijestorac, Mirsad, "Nationalism as a Process for Making the Desired Identity Salient: Bosnian Muslims Become Bosniaks" (2016). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3004. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3004 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida NATIONALISM AS A PROCESS FOR MAKING THE DESIRED IDENTITY SALIENT: BOSNIAN MUSLIMS BECOME BOSNIAKS A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in POLITICAL SCIENCE By Mirsad Kriještorac 2016 To: Dean John F. Stack, Jr. Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs This dissertation, written by Mirsad Krijestorac, and entitled Nationalism as a Process for Making the Desired Identity Salient: Bosnian Muslims Become Bosniaks, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _____________________________________________________ Thomas A. Breslin ________________________________________________ Susanne Zwingel ________________________________________________ Russel E. Lucas ________________________________________________ Juliet Pinto ________________________________________________ Mohiaddin Mesbahi, Major Professor Date of Defense: November 16, 2016 The dissertation of Mirsad Krijestorac is approved ______________________________________________ Dean John F. Stack, Jr. Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs ______________________________________________ Andrés G. Gil Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean of the University Graduate School Florida International University, 2016 ii © Copyright 2016 by Mirsad Kriještorac All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION To my sister, Dr Sadeta Kriještorac, and our parents iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is the result of my quest to understand the relationship between nationalism and identity, and what has happened to me, my family, my people, and the country of Yugoslavia, where I was born, which does not exist anymore. Now that I have completed it, I feel that I know more than I knew when I first began this journey. Many people have helped me along the way, and I must thank all of them. Without their help and contributions, I could not have done it! Before anyone else, I have to thank my sister, Dr. Sadeta Krijestorac, who encouraged me to begin and supported me all the way through this project. Towards the end of my endeavor, my sister Sadeta was diagnosed with the terrible disease of ALS, and I want to dedicate my dissertation to her. During my time in graduate school, I studied with some amazing people and professors and in the very supportive Department of Politics and International Relations of Florida International University. From the first moment I met with my mentor, Dr. Mohiaddin Mesbahi, and then-graduate director, Dr. Ronald Cox, I received unwavering support. The concern that both of them showed for me and my progress was truly remarkable. It is inspiring to know faculty as supportive of their students as they are. Many other faculty, staff and students also provided full support for me throughout this journey. I must thank my first mentor, Dr. Russel E. Lucas, with whom I was fortunate to work for several semesters and from whom I learned so much. I must also thank Dr. Thomas Breslin for his patience and help in numerous ways throughout the whole dissertation process. I also want to thank Dr. Maria del Mar Logroño Narbona and Dr. v Juliet Pinto, who both believed in me while I was their undergraduate student and encouraged me to do this work. I am also grateful to Dr. Susanne Zwingl for her willingness to step in and provide feedback and useful critique of my work. Many thanks, too, to Dr. Kevin Evans and Dr. Adrian Ang for their time and valuable advice regarding the statistical parts of my work. I also wish to thank Dr. Harry Gould, Dr. Clement Fatovic and Dr. Tatiana Kostadinova for their valuable comments and support. I thank the rest of the department faculty who were all forthcoming and always willing to listen and help in their capacity. I also appreciate very much the help and support I received from our Department’s Office Manager, Maria Wilkinson-Diaz, and the rest of the staff who all went well beyond their duties to help me survive graduate school and reach this goal. I cannot fail to mention my dear student colleagues who have all helped me in numerous ways, my friends Bilal Ciplak, Sylvan Lee, Ransford Edwards, Joaquin Pedroso, Ana Podcameni, Nima Baghdadi, T.J. Ligouri, Michael Bender and Therese Sollien. Thank you for your friendship and support, guys. This work was supported by funding from the FIU Graduate School Fellowships and the Department of Politics and International Relations, for which I am grateful. Just before I started the research phase of my dissertation, I met an incredible person, our Graduate Librarian, Stephanie Brenenson. What an asset she is for FIU and us graduate students! I don’t know if I will ever be able to thank her enough for all the hours she gave of her time and efforts to help me. vi I must also thank FIU’s statistical consultants, Alejandra Matamala and Tyler Stout, for their incredible work, help and patience. I am also grateful to Dr Adrian U-Jin Ang, Dr. Fatih Demiroz and Imad Boucekkine for their time and help with the statistical part of my work. I also thank Dr. Diana Bloom for her meticulous work which made this dissertation much better. I also wish to thank all the following people for their support during my several months of long field work: Hajrudin Čaušević, Samir Karabegović, Suad Obić, Skender Škretović, Sead Alibašić, Bakija Aslani, Muriz Mešić, Senad Agić, Enes Čirkić, Murisa Čirkić, Mediha and Nihad Halilović, Abdurahman Salkanović, Amir Čauš, Djerlek Ruždija, Huso Dedić, Rahima Kano, the Sisters’ section of Džemat Sahva, Mesud Kuluzović and the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago in Northbrook, the Bosnian Islamic Cultural Center Western, and the Sulzer Regional Library in Chicago. In St. Louis, I thank Muhamed Dizdarević, Dževad Tursunović, Avdulah Pilica, Fuad Fazlagić, Uma Aličković, Muhamed Hasić, Enver Kunić, Elvira Husetovic, Rifet Buljubašić, Amir Kundalić, Mustafa Djerhović, and Akif Cogo, the Department of Political Science of the University of Missouri, Saint Louis, and especially Dr. Terry Jones; the St. Louis International Institute and Paul Costigan, and last but not least, Ahmed Serdarević and Džemat Nur of St. Louis for their hospitality during my stay in the city. In New York, I thank Mustafa Mrkulić Mrki, Hasan Tahirović, Mehdija Demirović, Mirsad Merhemić, Senahid Halilović, Esko Kriještorac, Faruk Ferizović Dolić, Esad Krcić, and Damir Husamović. vii From other places where data was also collected, I wish to thank Fehim and Emira Kriještorac, Nermin Kabahija, the unknown librarian of the Gazi Husrev Beg’s Library in Sarajevo, Sejad Melkić, Edib Makić, Mukrem Kamber, Šemso Kajtezović, Nedžad Halilović, Selva Dedović, Tidža Čaušević, Dr Zuhdija Adilović for their help. I hope they all know that their support meant a lot to me. Several people from the National Library of the Republic of Serbia helped me and I very much appreciate their contributions; my dear friend Snežana Vidanović- Zdravković, reference librarian Aleksandra Grozdanić, special event coordinator Svetlana Gavrilović, and archivist Ljubomir Branković. I also want to thank my mother, Tima Ljaljak, a WWII survivor who never had the opportunity to finish elementary school, but encouraged and supported several of her children to get doctoral degrees. I thank my father, Hanefija Kriještorac, who has taught me the value of education for as long as I can remember and whose dream was to see my dissertation. I also thank my brothers, Sadija Kriještorac and Nedžib Kriještorac who showed me how to be myself. I am forever indebted for her support to my wife, Lenka Kristić, who has been the most steadfast devotee on this journey. I must also thank my children, Timur, Nora, Dina, Mena, and Hanan, for their help and patience with me. I thank my aunt Izeta Kriještorac, and my brother Salko Kriještorac and his family for their support. Many thanks also to my closest friends, Suad and Sanja Begović, and Jazmir and Belma Bešlija for their support and encouragement during this process. viii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION NATIONALISM AS A PROCESS FOR MAKING THE DESIRED IDENTITY SALIENT: BOSNIAN MUSLIMS BECOME BOSNIAKS by Mirsad Kriještorac Florida International University, 2016 Miami, Florida Professor Mohiaddin Mesbahi, Major Professor This study is concerned with the particular relationship between the process of nationalism and a group’s salient identity. It proposes that nationalism as the independent