Bosnia Research Articles

Mapping the Relationships Between Sect and Class

Recently, scholarship on divided societies has come to focus increasingly on how sect and ethnicity intersect with other social identities. This article examines the relationship between sect and class in Lebanon, Bosnia–Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Iraq, identifying four types of sect-class interplay: (1) Class as competing with sect, (2) Class subordinate to sect, (3) Class moderating sectarianism, and (4) Sectarianization of class differences. The typology aims to guide further research, particularly on the dual role of class in challenging and reproducing sect-based politics. Moreover, it synthesizes knowledge from across regional literatures, addressing the study of sectarianism beyond the Middle East.

Healthcare workers’ attitudes regarding the assessment of dementia in the elderly

BackgroundDementia is a growing public health problem, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as a post-conflict LMIC with a complex administrative structure, currently lacks national guidelines, epidemiological data, and systematic approaches for dementia care. This study investigates healthcare workers’ attitudes toward dementia care and identifies both obstacles and practical opportunities for improving practice within BiH’s unique healthcare system.MethodsA qualitative cross-sectional study was conducted in primary healthcare settings across Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 25 participants, including family medicine doctors (n = 10), nurses (n = 10), and psychologists (n = 5). The data were analyzed using thematic analysis guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).ResultsDementia care in BiH is predominantly reactive, with healthcare professionals typically responding only after families have expressed concerns. Participants reported inconsistent use of cognitive screening tools (e.g. MMSE, MoCA), largely due to insufficient training, lack of clear national guidelines, and varying institutional practices. Many clinicians felt unprepared and unsupported in managing dementia cases. Cultural stigma and widespread misperceptions of dementia as a normal part of aging contribute to delays in diagnosis and reduce the likelihood that families will seek help early. These barriers are exacerbated by a lack of national prevalence data and fragmented care pathways.ConclusionsThe findings of this study indicate the need to change the approach to dementia care in BiH through concrete and realistic measures within the existing systemic frameworks. Practice-based guidelines, culturally adapted tools for early detection, reactivation of community-based care, accessible education, a pragmatic approach to prevention, and local initiatives for awareness-raising and multidisciplinary care are recommended.

Seroepidemiology of porcine toxoplasmosis: A cross‐sectional study in Bosnia and Herzegovina

BackgroundToxoplasmosis, caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is often linked with reproductive disorders in humans and animals. Despite this, its presence in animals in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) remains undocumented.ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection among domestic pigs in FB&H, assess associated risk factors for parasite transmission and provide insights into optimal management and biosafety practices for the pig industry.MethodsA two‐phase random sampling approach was employed to select 87 pig farms across 10 administrative regions in FB&H. A total of 437 pigs were sampled and tested for anti‐T. gondii antibodies using an indirect ELISA kit. Epidemiological data on potential risk factors were collected through a standardised questionnaire and analysed using logistic regression models.ResultsThe animal‐level seroprevalence was found to be 13.3% (95% CI = 10.4–16.8), with 44.8% of farms testing positive for T. gondii (95% CI: 34.8–55.3). Identified risk factors included exposure to cats, repeated occurrences of abortions within a single breeding season, swill feeding, type of housing, and type of operation. The robust association observed between recurrent abortions and Toxoplasma seropositivity indicates a significantly greater potential involvement of T. gondii in reproductive disorders among pigs in FB&H than previously acknowledged.ConclusionsThis study provides the first report on T. gondii infection in animals in FB&H, highlighting the need for further research to explore its presence in other meat animals and meat products consumed in the region. The findings underscore the importance of biosafety measures in mitigating T. gondii transmission and call for enhanced surveillance and management strategies in FB&H's pig industry.

Examining the dark personality traits of youth in the context of tourist visits to memorial sites in the challenging post-conflict Balkan setting

ABSTRACT This positivist study elucidates the impact of the 1990s conflict and subclinical negative personality traits on the visits of young Serbians to memorial sites in the challenging post-conflict Balkans. Integrating collective memory, dark tourism, and dark personality traits, the study encompasses a homogeneous sample of 281 respondents within a multinational region, including Kosovo and Bosnia–Herzegovina as global hotspots. The often-neglected non-Western perspective is revealed by employing cross-tabulation with Fisher’s Exact Test and univariate and multivariate general linear modelling. The post-conflict generation, quite possibly experiencing ‘secondary traumatisation’, exhibits heightened vulnerability to narcissism and moderate interest in visiting memorial sites. Regardless of family exposure to conflict, the predominant reasons for visiting include learning, commemorating, and empathising, with no psychopathological links found. The study thus suggests that dark personality traits do not reliably predict visits to regional memorial sites, while the country of residence and the ability to understand one’s family do.

The Role of Support Mechanisms in Reducing Burnout and Turnover Intention: A Study of Healthcare Professionals

The shortage of healthcare employees is a significant concern today. High levels of burnout and workforce turnover remain a challenge in the healthcare sector in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). This study examines the relationships between leader support, team support, emotional exhaustion, affective commitment, and turnover intention among healthcare employees, with a specific focus on the mediating role of emotional exhaustion. The research surveyed 125 employees from public and private healthcare institutions using validated measurement scales. Structural equation modeling was applied to test both direct and indirect effects. The findings revealed that leader and team support significantly reduce emotional exhaustion and positively influence affective commitment, while emotional exhaustion itself strongly predicts turnover intention. However, emotional exhaustion did not significantly mediate the relationships between support mechanisms and either affective commitment or turnover intention. Team support showed a positive relationship with turnover intention, suggesting that team dynamics or organizational stressors may play a complex role in shaping employee decisions to stay or leave. By offering a comprehensive analysis of how leader and team support influence emotional exhaustion, commitment, and turnover intention, this study provides critical suggestions to reduce burnout and enhance retention in healthcare institutions.

Agonistic Democracy at Work: Managing Minorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo

This essay explores how agonistic democracy manages majority-minority relations in post-conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) and Kosovo at the expense of non-ethnic solidarity movements. For more than 25 years in the post-conflict period, spontaneous civic solidarity initiatives occasionally challenge the control of the ruling ethno-political elites as deliberative democratic alternatives. However, the essay argues that the elites respond to such emerging threats that may potentially transform and end the ethno-politics, by utilizing established agonistic structures to restrict civic democratic space before they spread. The ethno-political elite manipulates the rigidity of political-legal frameworks, performance of public and institutional spaces along with compliance to inclusionary principles, the three main pillars of agonistic democracy, to suffocate non-ethnic solidarity initiatives in two country case studies.

Factor Analysis of Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Partnership with Parents

The interaction between family and school is of utmost importance for recognizing the specific factors in the educational process. The key factors related to the development of partnerships between the family and the school are the interaction of teachers with parents, the participation of the family in school activities and the educational process and creating an environment which will encourage parents to be more open for giving back feedbacks. The aim of this study is to examine the factors which strengthen family – school partnership. The study involved 164 elementary school teachers and the research was conducted in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Data collection was done through a questionnaire consisting of 17 statements, designed specifically for the purposes of the study. Factor analysis of the attitudes of teachers towards partnership with parents is based on the processing of the results obtained by survey collection of opinions and attitudes. The study resulted in the extraction of four factors. The factors that teachers consider to contribute to strengthening partnerships are providing parental support, transparency of school work, active encouragement of parents and providing support for child development.

Rural Tourism as a Factor of Rural Revitalization and Sustainability in the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Due to negative natural changes in the population and intense emigration over the past three decades, from the end of the 20th century, the Republic of Serbia (RS) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have faced a demographic decline of villages. Even villages closer to larger cities struggle with natural population decrease. Agriculture has an increasingly smaller impact on rural sustainability. Rural tourism is one of the activities that can save villages. The aim of this study is to, using a comparative analysis of the attitudes of the citizens of the two aforementioned countries, determine their familiarity with rural tourism and available development support funds, their interest in engaging in rural tourism as an additional or primary activity, and their satisfaction with the involvement of the local community in providing education for rural tourism. To obtain a response, we carried out interviews with 12 respondents from RS and 12 from BiH. The research instrument was the semi-structured in-depth interview. The respondents from BiH are more determined and more engaged in rural tourism than in RS. They are aware of how important rural tourism is for villages, since that is their only option for recovery and sustainability. The respondents from both countries agree that they need the support of the local administration to develop rural tourism. This kind of tourism also requires the demographic improvement of villages, since, without human resources, it is more difficult for the majority of the older population to engage more intensely in rural tourism.

Profiting from help

Abstract This article ethnographically explores the widespread practices of guarantorship in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in order to investigate the persisting practices and rhetoric of mutual, private help that support value extraction in postwar financialization. Approaching warfare as an accelerating mechanism for neoliberal restructuring in the country, it addresses the structural transformations by which wartime dependence on transnational humanitarianism has been replaced by postwar dependance on loans provided by foreign multinational banks. In this framework, “financialized vernacular humanitarianism” is interpreted as an essential strategy that enables banks to access a vast postwar subprime market. Furthermore, this strategy reproduces a hierarchical form of governance and situated extraction through which finance seeks to profit from global warring and other social emergencies caused by crises of contemporary capitalism.

The Dayton Peace Process: A Keyhole into Russian and Chinese Engagement with Liberal Peacebuilding

ABSTRACT The paper examines the roles of Russia and China in a long-standing peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the broader implications of this for liberal peacebuilding. Using an original dataset of statements from UN Security Council debates (2000–2023), we analyse shifts in their discourse and sentiments. While both countries experienced a negative trend in sentiments towards the liberal peacebuilding project in BiH over time, there are substantial differences in their approaches. Russia places a far greater emphasis on rejection of liberal components of the process (integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions, attempts to preserve the unity of BiH by empowering central institutions to perform their function, and attempts to sanction genocide denial). Meanwhile, China primarily raised concerns around procedural matters but did not object to the liberal components. The findings show that Russia and China’s actions complicate liberal peacebuilding efforts but also highlight the need for adaptable strategies that consider the diverse motivations and actions of emerging powers in different peacebuilding sites. They also underscore the need to move beyond the West vs. non-West dichotomy.

Illusory Disparities: Unravelling the Paradox of the Absence of Horizontal Inequalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract The article investigates perceived and objective inequalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on Republika Srpska amid rising societal tensions, bolstering the secession narrative, and political mobilization. Aimed at identifying objective inequalities that might fuel grievances causing societal upheaval, the findings reveal no significant disparities between Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the absence of objective economic, social, or political inequalities, a perception of disparity persists among Bosnian Serbs, driven by the nationalist rhetoric of local leaders. Hence, the research underscores the gap between perceived inequalities and objective disparities, challenging conventional beliefs about the causal chain from objective horizontal inequalities to social mobilization by demonstrating how unfounded grievances can still drive tensions and secessionist agendas.

Morphometric description of the Boric Arabian horse mare families

The Boric Arabian horse has a long tradition of breeding in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) dating back to 1884. The Borike Stud Farm, which ceased operations in 2018, played a significant role in breeding this population of horses. Today, the Boric Arabian horse is preserved in BiH thanks to private breeding. The aim of this research was to determine whether there is phenotypic uniformity between different mare families: Kadina, O’Bajan, Luna, El Hafi, and Hamdani. In this study, a total of 36 mares were measured, and 7 measurements were taken from each mare: withers height, back height, croup height, chest circumference, cannon bone circumference, body length, and back length. A simple analysis of variance with unequal repetitions was conducted to assess the significance of differences between mares of different families. The significance of the obtained differences was tested using Duncan's test. The average: withers height ranged from 142.6 cm (Luna and El Hafi) to 144.98 cm (Kadina), back height from 134.8 cm (El Hafi) to 137.12 cm (Kadina), croup height from 137.12 cm (Kadina) to 144.4 cm (El Hafi). The average chest circumference ranged from 166.91 cm (O’Bajan) to 176.62 cm (Kadina), and cannon bone circumference ranged from 17.23 cm (O’Bajan) to 17.75 cm (Luna). The average back length ranged from 73.45 cm (O’Bajan) to 77.4 cm (El Hafi), and body length ranged from 135 cm (O’Bajan) to 137 cm (El Hafi). The results showed no statistically significant differences in measurements between different mare families.

Catalogue of the genus Eurythyrea Dejean, 1833 (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) specimens deposited in the State Museum of Natural History NASU, Lviv, Ukraine

Palaearctic genus, includes 7 species (Löbl, Löbl, 2016), 3 of them occur in the territory of Ukraine. There are 2 species in the museum's collections. Eurythyrea austriaca (Linnaeus, 1767) has been distributed in Albania, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, southern European territories of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Algeria (Löbl, Löbl, 2016). Larvae develop in the wood of Abies alba Mill., 1768 (Bílý, 2002). Mentioned from Kamianets-Podilskyi (Belke, 1859), Drohobych (Łomnicki, 1866, 1867), Ivano-Frankivsk vicinity (Mount Vovchynets) (Łomnicki, 1875, 1886), "Podolia" (Łomnicki, 1884), Koropets, Chortkivskyi district, Ternopilska state province (Łomnicki, 1886), Mykhailivka, Kamianets-Podilskyi district, Khmelnytska state province (Hildt, 1893), Podillia, Kyiv provinces (gubernias) (Yakobson, 1905), Uzhhorod – Uzhok (Vávra, 1928), Mykhailivka, "Litin district" – now Vinnytska state province (Pjatakowa, 1930), Uzhhorod, Stavne, Uzhhorodskyi district, Zakarpatska state province, Kuzii, Rakhivskyi district, Zakarpatska state province (Roubal, 1936), Mukachevo, Bohdan, Rakhivskyi district, Zakarpatska state province, Uzhhorod, Uzh river valley (Kaszab, 1940), Truskavets, "Davydeny" – now Davydivka, Storozhynetskyi district, Chernivetska state province (Zahaikevych, 1978). Eurythyrea quercus (Herbst, 1780) has been distributed in Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, central and southern European territories of Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine (Löbl, Löbl, 2016). Larvae develop in the wood of Quercus robur L. (Bílý, 2002). The species mentioned from "Halicia" (Łomnicki, 1884, Yakobson, 1905), Kyiv, Kharkiv provinces (gubernias) (Yakobson, 1905), Uzhhorod (Roubal, 1936), Korolevo, Berehivskyi district, Zakarpatska state province, Uzhhorod (Kaszab, 1940), Crimea (Zahaikevych, 1978), Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkivska, Luhanska, Donetska state provinces (Prokhorov, 2010). From Sokal, Sheptytskyi district, Lvivska state province (Łomnicki, 1886, Zahaikevych, 1978) was mentioned by mistake; was actually found in Sokolniki, Tarnobrzezki County, Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland (Łomnicki, 1874). In the collection of the State Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (SMNH) 43 specimens of the genus have been deposited, collected in Chernivetska, Ivano-Frankivska, Lvivska, Ternopilska state provinces, Crimea AR, Austria, Poland, Slovenia. The illustrated catalogue of those specimens is presented below. The findings are collected by the following collectors Łomnicki M., Nowicki M., Sagan M., Stöckl A., Verkhratskyi I., Zahaikevych I. in the period of ~1864 – the middle of 20th century.

Borrowed sovereignty and its institutional effects in deeply divided societies

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate international community approaches towards resolving institutional problems in deeply divided societies that have experienced the trauma of civil war in their recent past. International actors decided to “borrow sovereignty” to these countries through different international interventions. With temporal distance, we can now conclude that the cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are proof that similar intervention arrangements can have completely different outcomes. The main problem in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is that the Office of High Representative (OHR) has transformed a “permanent peace process” into a “permanent Berlin Congress.” In comparison to Kosovo, the different outcomes in the two cases are the result of two different paradigms of foreign intervention: one is a “parasitic paradigm” (BIH), in which external actors perpetuate an extraordinary state without stability and democratisation; the second is a “decomposing paradigm” (Kosovo), in which the same actors slowly weaken their positions by transferring powers to domestic institutions.

Administrative Reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Comparative Perspective

This paper illustrates and critically analyses administrative and public management reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) over the period from 1995 to 2020, thereby filling a gap in the literature on post-socialist transition in Europe, which has largely missed this important case. Reforms in both the field of personnel management and the field of financial management are considered. Specifically, the features of the civil service system and management, the use of HRM databases, recruitment, training and development, and remuneration are analysed in relation to personnel management, and budgeting, accounting, and auditing processes are examined in relation to financial management. The BiH case of reform is investigated through the analytical-theoretical lens of the “Pollitt and Bouckaert model”, a prominent and widely employed framework developed by the late C. Pollitt and by G. Bouckaert. The P&B model provides a lens through which to investigate the BiH case and make it amenable to comparative analyses and discussion. At the same time, the uneasy way with which the BiH case can be accommodated into the P&B model enables us to revisit certain features of this very model, thus contributing also theoretically to knowledge generation in the field.

Behavioral insights during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: the role of trust, health literacy, risk and fairness perceptions in compliance with public health and social measures.

Public health and social measures (PHSM) are critical aspects of limiting the spread of infections in pandemics. Compliance with PHSM depends on a wide range of factors, including behavioral determinants such as emotional response, trust in institutions or risk perceptions. This study examines self-reported compliance with PHSM during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH). We analyze the association between compliance and behavioral determinants, using data from five cross-sectional surveys that were conducted between June 2020 and August 2021 in FBIH. Quota-based sampling ensured that the 1000 people per wave were population representative regarding age, sex, and education level based on the data from the latest census in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify significant changes between studies on determinants and PHSM measures. Regression was used to find relations between behavioral determinants and PHSM. Participants reported strong emotional responses to the rapid spread of the virus and its proximity to them. Risk perception was spiking in December 2020 when rates of infection and death were particularly high. Trends in policy acceptance were divergent; participants did not rate PHSM as exaggerated, but perceived fairness was low. Trust in institutions was low across all waves and declined for specific institutions such as the health ministry. In five wave-specific regression analyses, emotional response (βmin/max = .11*/.21*), risk perception (βmin/max = .06/.18*), policy acceptance (βmin/max = .09/.20*), and trust in institutions (βmin/max = .06/.21*) emerged as significant predictors of PHSM. This study contributes to the body of research on factors influencing compliance with PHSM. It emphasizes the importance of behavioral monitoring through repeated surveys to understand and improve compliance. The study also affirms the impact of public trust on compliance, the risk of eroding compliance over time, and the need for health literacy support to help reinforce protective behaviors.

Perceptions and Drivers of Civic Activism

Perceptions and Drivers of Civic Activism

Overview of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina throughout four waves of the pandemic.

AimCOVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has had a profound impact on global health, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which faced unique challenges due to limited testing and high mortality rates. This analysis aimed to identify mutations and detect different SARS-CoV-2 lineages across four pandemic waves.MethodologyA total of 127 SARS-CoV-2 samples were collected and sequenced from patients from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, providing a comprehensive overview of the viral genetic diversity in this region. Two sequencing platforms, Ion Torrent and Illumina, were used, whereby 37 samples were sequenced on the Ion Torrent platform, while others were sequenced on the Illumina platform.ResultsThis study presents a genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina over four distinct pandemic waves, spanning from March 2020 to April 2023. Examination of genomic variations across these waves revealed key mutations associated with transmission and potential virulence.ConclusionThese genomic insights into SARS-CoV-2 evolution in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina emphasizes the importance of continuous surveillance to understand viral evolution and strengthen public health responses to future pandemics.

Evaluating Thermal Insulation Strategies for High-Rise Residential Buildings in Sarajevo

Aging residential buildings in urban areas require effective thermal insulation to enhance energy efficiency and indoor comfort. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), expanded polystyrene (EPS) is the most commonly used insulation material due to its affordability, despite concerns regarding its flammability and environmental impact. While regulatory changes since 2019 have recommended rock wool for high-rise buildings, the absence of binding fire safety regulations has allowed the continued use of EPS, often driven by financial constraints. This study examines energy efficiency refurbishments in Sarajevo’s high-rise residential buildings and analyze the implications of the partial implementation of recommended measures. Using case studies, surveys, and expert interviews, this research identifies key challenges, such as limited funding, fragmented renovations, and inconsistent coordination between stakeholders. The findings indicate that facade insulation is often prioritized over comprehensive upgrades, including window replacement and heating system improvements, leading to suboptimal energy savings and minimal cost reductions for residents. Additionally, the complexity of multi-apartment ownership structures hinders uniform improvements in energy efficiency. Despite these challenges, property values tend to increase after renovation, highlighting the long-term financial benefits. To maximize energy savings and ensure sustainable urban housing, stronger interdisciplinary collaboration, improved funding mechanisms, and adherence to fire-safety standards are necessary. These measures would enhance the effectiveness of renovations and support long-term energy efficiency strategies.

Determinants of subcentral public debt: evidence from cantons in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Determinants of subcentral public debt: evidence from cantons in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina