Protests, plenums and politics: An analysis of the Bosnian Spring and its political (dis)continuity.

Abstract

This paper discusses the protests in February 2014, Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina. While these protests resulted in the resignation of local governments, the elections that followed suggest a continuation of ethno-nationalist politics. This research explains how the characteristics that defined the collective identity of the protest movement are undermined over time and how this, together with a lack of strategy, created a negative climate for mobilization at the time of the cantonal elections, October 2014. Hereby, this research shows that while Dayton is often seen as the major obstacle, other factors also influence attempts at democratization and political reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina.