Essays

Author: Emina Frljak (Sarajevo, BiH)

Populism is a word that we could often hear in the public discourse in the last few years. It is a word that is widely used by academics, journalists, political analysts, activists, and common people as well. Often people use this word without knowing its actual meaning. Nowadays people tend to label many things as populism and many different political figures as populists. But is there a difference among these “populists” and their approach?

Simple Google search shows 22 200 000 results for the word “populism” and many articles that pop up have titles like: What is populism, and what does the term mean? (BBC) or What actually is populism? And why does it have a bad reputation? (The Conversation) or Does anyone know what “populism” means? (The Atlantic). These are just few titles that come among the first ones when one “googles” term populism.

Author: Christine Mason (Austin, TX, USA)

I participated in a course held through the Fondacija Mirovna Akademija in summer of 2020 titled, "Resisting Nationalism and Populism: Lessons from the Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina." In addition to learning about how to define nationalism and populism, feminist peacebuilding, local activism, and the role of international organizations in Bosnia, I learned about researching the workplace as a potential site of resistance and peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the course, Dr. Jasmin Ramović presented his research about solidarity aspects of worker self-management in the former Yugoslavia and how the peace framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina is missing key elements of the self-management system that, in the past, protected the working class and fostered interethnic collaboration and community development. In this essay, I will present additional research on the Yugoslav self-management system and solidarity economy, an overview of economic changes that led to war in the 1990s, the consequences of neoliberal, capitalist policies resulting from the Dayton Agreement of 1995, and through the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the need for international peace plans that counter all forms of violence, inlcuding economic violence, and consider local history and context when constructing peace plans.

Author: Milena Sosic (Belgrade, Serbia)

Introduction

The “blue wall of silence” – the phenomenon that police officers will not testify against each other in the cases of police brutality, extensive use of force, torture and similar situation - has its roots in an essential associational virtue, loyalty, which, in the context of friendship and family relations, is of crucial importance.¹ This rule has its basis among other issues its frequent corruption in the covering up of severe criminality and attempts to offer criteria for determining when to testify and when to respond in other ways to the faults of companion officers. Besides, behind the code of silence lies a legitimate interest in maintaining the integrity, value, and probably also the usefulness, of individual relationships. At some level, the blue wall of silence is of a piece with other associational expectations. Moreover, this also goes to the matter of its complexity.² It could be claimed that prosecutors are generally reluctant to bring charges against members of the police force, which is, after all, a cooperating state agency's personnel,³ while the judges may often be unwilling to disbelieve officers.⁴