Circles on the Mountain

Bosnian Women in the Twenty-First Century

By (author) Janet M. Powers, Marica Prozo

Publication date:

25 July 2016

Length of book:

234 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498535304

This book combines scholarly research with first-person interviews to examine the current state of women in Bosnia twenty years after the Balkan War—their emotional recovery, their economic situation, and their prospects for the future. It describes how two of the worst issues affecting Bosnian women today are domestic violence and trafficking. Both are being addressed successfully by Bosnian women’s organizations applying skills developed earlier in coping with rape and war trauma. It demonstrates how these organizations shoulder a societal load that various levels of government have no will or budget to address, and shows that in parts of central Bosnia feelings still run high between Christians and Muslims. The authors argue that where ethnic hostility persists in rural areas, successful peace building should include ethnic song and dance as well as dialog groups.

Introduction: Not Just a Piece of Earth in the Balkans
Chapter 1: Should We Start with the War?
Chapter 2: Two Villages
Chapter 3: Fojnica: Its Women and Its Schools
Chapter 4: Grassroots Peacebuilding
Chapter 5: Dancing the Kolo
Chapter 6: Interethnic Marriages, Here and There
Chapter 7: NGO’s Fighting Poverty
Chapter 8: Women Struggling with Patriarchy
Chapter 9: Trafficking: Transit and Origin
Chapter 10: Assessing the Future of Women in Bosnia
Appendix: Interview Questions

Postwar conditions are always gendered, and they can last several lifetimes. Circles on the Mountain reveals the diversity and complexity of the postwar lives of Bosnian women. Readers will find in this book numerous lessons and insights—about silences, trust, violence, organizing, and what it takes to reweave the fabric of civic life that has been unraveled by war.