69/ The Entrenched “Manliness” of Ethnic Power-sharing Peace Agreements (with Aida A. Hozić)

This is a conversation with Aida A. Hozić. She is an Associate Professor of International Relations and Associate Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida, United States. Her research is situated at the intersection of political economy, cultural studies, and international security. Her current research project explores interplays between feminist art, “manly” conceptualisations of warfare, and the growth of art markets in the 21st century.

A recent essay of hers, the focus of this conversation is: Dayton, WPS and the entrenched “manliness” of ethnic power-sharing peace agreements.

Topics Discussed:

• The 1995 Dayton Accords and its context
• The patriarchal aspect of these accords, and what they erase
• The gendered impact of the accords
• Women Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda: background and why it matters
• Bosnia-Belgium comparisons
• Bosnia-Lebanon comparisons, including looking at ongoing impacts of Ta’if in Lebanon and Dayton in Bosnia
• How Bosnia influenced the 2011 Arab Spring and responses to it
• The multiple Syrias, multiple Bosnias
• What do we really mean by ‘intervention’ (Bosnia, Rwanda, Libya, Syria)
• The work of Walid Raad
• The work of Azra Hromadžić
• ‘Peace’ accords as ‘appeasing men who have guns’
• The problem with simplistic ‘anti-imperialism’
• How the EU sees Bosnia
• ‘Big powers’ politics
• Fortress Europe and the ‘Balkan Route’
• The relationship between ethnic politics, the National Action Plans (NAPs), and the implementation of the Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s transition
• How gender analysis also helps us focus on ‘who else is missing’

Recommended Books

• A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture by Marguerite Feitlowitz
• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
• The Political Economy of Violence Against Women by Jacqui True

Resources I’ve mentioned:

• Post-War Reconstruction in Contested Cities: Comparing Urban Outcomes in Beirut and Sarajevo by Gruia Badescu
• Localise the Women, Peace and Security Agenda – WILPF