Publications

The Peace Academy was a partner with the Network for Peacebuilding in translating and publishing five academic books dedicated to the fight against right-wing populism, religious and ethno-national radicalization and violent extremism intended for the academic and activist communities. This project was initiated to make globally important topics additionally accessible to the BiH academic and activist communities by presenting and distributing the books free of charge.

The fifth and final book Democracy's Paradox: Populism and its Contemporary Crisis (Berghahn Books, New York / Oxford, 2019), edited by Bruce Kapferer and Dimitrios Theodossopoulos thematizes populism as something inherent in (integral to) democratic processes, not such a new phenomenon, and as one to be viewed within a specific socio-historical context. Through studies of Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Spain and Greece, authors analyze the aspirations of populist parties in those countries in historical perspective, and try to find out whether, in addition to negative (exclusionary effects), populism can produce some emancipatory effects - towards social equality. The conclusions of the authors on this issue vary.

Access to the BCS translation can be found via the BCS Publications pages.

The project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implementation was supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) within the BHRI program.

The Peace Academy was a partner with the Network for Peacebuilding in translating and publishing five academic books dedicated to the fight against right-wing populism, religious and ethno-national radicalization and violent extremism intended for the academic and activist communities. This project was initiated to make globally important topics additionally accessible to the BiH academic and activist communities by presenting and distributing the books free of charge.

The fourth book entitled Les enfants du chaos: Essai sur le temps des martyrs [Children of chaos. Essay on the time of martyrs] (Editions La Découverte, Paris, 2016), by French anthropologist Alain Bertho, is a collection of personal reflections on the pervasiveness of violence around the world, on the one hand, and on the global sense of uncertainty and the disappearance of politics (understood as what is a potent, utopian project), which leaves a gap in the human need for anticipation, hope and vision of the future. The consequences of this are especially devastating for young people. Although the French public is the one addressed by the author, the book could also be interpreted as a kind of call to seek the cause of radicalization within one's own society.

Access to the BCS translation can be found via the BCS Publications pages.

The project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implementation was supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) within the BHRI program.

The Peace Academy was a partner with the Network for Peacebuilding in translating and publishing five academic books dedicated to the fight against right-wing populism, religious and ethno-national radicalization and violent extremism intended for the academic and activist communities. This project was initiated to make globally important topics additionally accessible to the BiH academic and activist communities by presenting and distributing the books free of charge.

The third book Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, 2016 [2007]) by Cynthia Enloe is dedicated to the unbreakable link between militarism and patriarchy. By dealing with well-known events around the world and everyday "small" situations through the gender prism, the author deconstructs notions of globalization and militarism in all its forms, revealing entirely new dimensions in relation to the way they are commonly approached. Given the common logic behind their background, Enloe offers guidance for change.

Access to the BCS translation can be found via the BCS Publications pages.

The project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implementation was supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) within the BHRI program.

The Peace Academy was a partner with the Network for Peacebuilding in translating and publishing five academic books dedicated to the fight against right-wing populism, religious and ethno-national radicalization and violent extremism intended for the academic and activist communities. This project was initiated to make globally important topics additionally accessible to the BiH academic and activist communities by presenting and distributing the books free of charge.

The second book Headlines of the Nation, Subtexts of Class: Working Class Populism and the Return of the Repressed in Neoliberal Europe (Berghahn Books, New York / Oxford, 2011) edited by Don Kalb and Gábor Halmai explores the rise of nationalism in Europe through a class prism. One of the key questions raised in this piece is why the working class in Europe is giving more and more votes to far right populist parties. The book consists of studies from Western and Eastern Europe, including Serbia, Romania, Hungary, Italy and Austria. Given that the class prism is under-represented and almost non-existent in thematizing ethno-nationalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this book can provide information and help more serious research in this area.

Access to the BCS translation can be found via the BCS Publications pages.

The project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implementation was supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) within the BHRI program.

The Peace Academy was a partner with the Network for Peacebuilding in translating and publishing five academic books dedicated to the fight against right-wing populism, religious and ethno-national radicalization and violent extremism intended for the academic and activist communities. This project was initiated to make globally important topics additionally accessible to the BiH academic and activist communities by presenting and distributing the books free of charge.

The first book The Politics of Fear: What Right-Wing Populist Discourses Mean (Sage Publishing, London, 2015) by Ruth Wodak which explores the micropolitics of right-wing populist parties will soon be available to academic and activist communities in our language. This book makes an important contribution to understanding the various discourses (media, virtual communication, political speeches) within far right populism, making the ways they are enacted and the consequences they can produce more accessible. In this work, Wodak cites examples of nationalist, xenophobic, racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric that has been normalized in public discourse.

Access to the BCS translation can be found via the BCS Publications pages.

The project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implementation was supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) within the BHRI program.

The Peace Academy Foundation worked in cooperation with four research teams on a project called ‘Culture of Remembering in four local communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina’. This project researched what kind of culture of remembering on the war during ‘90s was established in four different communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and how these processes are interrelated with everyday life and social relations in these communities. Examining these links between the culture of remembering and everyday community life can give us a better understanding of today’s conflicts in society and helps to find constructive means for their transformation.

Two studies, one by the Nansen Dialogue Center (2010) and one by the Helsinki Citizens Assembly together with Žene Ženama (2008), showed that the lack of dialogue and common understanding about what happened during the war is one of the main drivers of conflict in BiH. The way in which a society remembers events from the violent past emerges as one of the key issues. Finding a more constructive approach to the culture of remembering is therefore an important, but understudied field, in peacebuilding and reconciliation.

From the Foreward to the translated version

This book has already fulfilled its purpose. Just by reading this forward you have become a potential ally (collaborator) in peacebuilding in this region. This translation is pioneering in lighting the way, I hope, for books from the field of peacebuilding which will follow to be published in the language understood by 80 million people, whatever they call it.  

The "Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding" challenges us just by its title. Even though it is a handbook in scope, it deals with something that is not common, at least in our societies. Peace is dealt with in different ways "from Vardar, Macedonia to Triglav, Slovenia" (it is interesting how that expression warms some of us and freezes others, a good sign that this book is needed, isn't it?). We are at the same time the victims of its absence, witnesses of its disappearance and reappearance and as active participants, with guns or without them. Still, only a few hundred of us are engaged in building peace. Fortunately for peace, many more people contribute to it and build it than the small community of those who do so intentionally, with planning and - as Lisa Schirch would say - strategically. Publishing this book will increase this community and delight and empower those of us who belong to it. In the same way that the inclusion of war veterans into peacebuilidng empowered us, the demanding, long, hard, but fruitful and worthwhile process will enrich us.

Goran Božičević, 

Miramida Centar – Regionalne razmjene mirovnih iskustava

LINK TO THE ENGLISH ORIGINAL

Anthology „Two Faces of Social Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina“

Editor: Svijetlana Nedimović

In cooperation with the Peace Academy and Open Society Fund, Puls Demokratije has published an anthology with the name "Two Faces of Social Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina". The authors of the anthology are former participants of the Post-Yugoslav Peace Academy and colleagues of Pulse of Democracy

The work on the anthology began in June 2013 with the intention to initiate public discussion in Bosnia and Herzegovina about social justice as a disturbing and at the same time neglected topoc of the social-political system. The resulting work of youth BiH authors is an anthology of articulated reflections about how the sites of resistance have disappeared. Can there be more just solutions in an unjust system? What is transitional justice without social? They ask in that sui generis reality in the rubble, can there be social justice and is there enough strength remaining for the jump of trust to once again imagine solidarity?

Advocacy in BiH: Possibilities for Improvement

The authors of the research are Randall Puljek-Shank and Tija Memišević.

A strong civil society (CS) which is able to successfully advocate for groups of citizens is often seen as central to democratization and peacebuilding.  Yet, after 17 years of donor support for CS, there are few signs of improvement in this direction.  What have been the direct and indirect outcomes of previous efforts?  What have both donors and CS actors learned from this?  Can donors constructively and effectively support change agents within CS?

In order to better understand the topic, the authors approached and interviewed the 10 donors providing the most funds for CS and reviewed documents regarding their programs. In addition, 10 CS activists with experience with advocacy and receiving donor funds as well as a reputation for independence were also interviewed.  The policy brief is also connected with an independent research project related to the legitimacy of CS actors and is based on additional interviews and academic literature.  The authors attempted to understand donor constraints and rationales and to seek a balanced perspective on both donor responsibility and the limitations of Civil Society Organizations in the present Bosnian context, with the goal of making realistic recommendations.

The brief addresses 3 key issues: which topics and forms of advocacy are most helpful; the effectiveness of donor support in building advocacy capacity; and the role of the EU.