Lero, N. (2023) Mothers and children of the republic of Srpska: locating nationalism in pronatalist discourse in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. SEEU Review, 18 (2). pp. 35-54. ISSN 1857-8462
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Two phenomena have been present in multiethnic/multinational Bosnia and Herzegovina since its independence from SFR Yugoslavia: massive depopulation and strong nationalism(s). Although nationalism influences which nation/ethnic group should produce and how, the links connecting these nationalistic ideologies and pronatalist population policies in the country/entity have been, almost paradoxically, left on the margins of the previous studies. This paper asks to what extent nationalist ideologies are present in the pronatalist population policy discourse in the Serb-dominated entity Republic of Srpska and what nationalism it is. After developing Spectrum of Nationalism(s), a framework underlined by Siniša Malešević's views on nationalism and ethnicity as ideologies, the paper provides an overview of Bosnia's demographic processes and brief insights into Republic of Srpska pronatalist policies through a semi-structured literature review. Keeping in mind that media profoundly influences public opinion, discursively moulding policy debates, two most recent cases of pronatalist campaigns and programs in the Republic of Srpska: Let Our Children Be Born and National Programme of Demographic Revival, are analysed via critical discourse analysis (CDA). Selected media articles predominantly cover the period from 2018 onwards, concentrating on the SEEU Review Volume 18 Issue 2, 202336commentaries of the ruling SNSD political nomenklatura. The analysis displays the powerful influence of nationalism on the discourse on population policies. However, on the spectrum of nationalism(s), civic nationalism seems only to be pro forma defined, while in RS's reality, the above mentioned path has continued toward an ethnonationalism direction
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 Nikola Lero, published by Sciendo. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Republic of Srpska; Bosnia and Herzegovina; nationalism; population policy; critical discourse analysis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Landscape Architecture (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 05 Jan 2024 15:37 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jan 2024 15:37 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Walter de Gruyter GmbH |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.2478/seeur-2023-0056 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:207134 |