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.
Author(s): Giulia Carabelli
Series: The Contemporary City
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: xv+191
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
