Boshnjaks. In other words: Jihad vs. McWorld and other theories...

Justyna Pilarska

doi:10.15503/jecs20102.67.77

Abstract

The Ottoman invasion of the Balkans that began in the 14th century led to an imbalance in the process of self-identification among the Bosnian people, having crucial influence on the process of establishing their sense of belonging, identification and national awareness. It particularly influenced the process of conceptualizing the cultural identity of Boshnjaks, whose ancestors converted to Islam and changed the ethnic and religious landscape of Balkans to a large extent. The author focuses on the political and social factors determining the shape of Bosnian identity, its origin and historical circumstances which influenced not only identification processes but also the course of the conflict in the Balkans between 1992 and 1995. This paper also provides data on many controversial facts regarding influences of Islamic radicals on Bosnian society before and after the fall of Yugoslavia. On the basis of social and historical analysis the author indicates that contemporary theories on cultural origin of conflicts, reduced to the dichotomy Jihad vs. McWorld are not applicable in the case of the unique, multicultural identity of Bosnian Muslims.

Highlights

In his book “Jihad vs. McWorld” made attempts to prove that globalization processes (McWorld) and separatist tendencies (Jihad) constitute a specific feedback affecting one another, motivating the social life figures to active participation (Barber 1996). Are these the same forces that determined the course of conflict that look place in Bosnia? The question is well justified taking into consideration the involvement of the Afghan squad, that in this context was rather significant, it paradoxically contributed to the failure of militant Islam, as it found no well received ground among secular, multicultural Bosnian Muslims
It is probably the only sphere of cultural self identification in the Islamic world that allows the citizen to be a Muslim in the category of nationality2 and atheist in respect of religious status [sic!]. It is the European area which in political and sociological analysis appears to be perceived as a tinderbox taking into consideration religious and ethnic factors. It is worth asking the question what kind of living conditions exist in this country for Boshnjaks? How do they find their Lebensraum and Volksgeist there, bearing in mind, that only Muslims define themselves as Boshnjaks, whereas Serbs from Bosnia call themselves Bosnian Serbs and Croats being citizens of Bosnia prefer to refer to themselves as Bosnian Croats
The Turkish/Muslim domination has left its imprint on culture and the processes of conceptualization of Bosnian identity that had taken place ceaselessly until the end of the 17th century where after The Treaty of Karlowitz in 1799, steady, consequent loss of Bosnian territory in favour of the Hapsburgs started taking place, to be lost entirely after The Berlin Treaty constituting the final act of The Congress of Berlin in 1878

Summary

Introduction

The Turkish/Muslim domination has left its imprint on culture and the processes of conceptualization of Bosnian identity that had taken place ceaselessly until the end of the 17th century where after The Treaty of Karlowitz in 1799, steady, consequent loss of Bosnian territory in favour of the Hapsburgs started taking place, to be lost entirely after The Berlin Treaty constituting the final act of The Congress of Berlin in 1878. Notwithstanding, it should be borne in mind that at the beginning of 20th century Bosnia was dominated by non-fundamental, modern Islam, having its cause in the fact that after the WW II most of the Muslims represented the pro-Yugoslav orientation

Results

Conclusion