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Constructing “Ideal Victim” Stories of Bosnian War Survivors

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  • Goran Basic

    (Department of Sociology, Lund University, Sweden)

Abstract

Previous research on victimhood during and after the Bosnian war has emphasized the importance of narratives but has not focused on narratives about victimhood or analyzed post-war interviews as a competition for victimhood. This article tries to fill this gap using stories told by survivors of the Bosnian war during the 1990s. In this analysis of the retold experiences of 27 survivors of the war in northwestern Bosnia, the aim is to describe the informants’ portrayal of “victimhood” as a social phenomenon as well as analyzing the discursive patterns that contribute to constructing the category “victim”. When, after the war, different categories claim a “victim” status, it sparks a competition for victimhood. All informants are eager to present themselves as victims while at the same time the other categories’ victim status are downplayed. In this reproduction of competition for the victim role, all demarcations that were played out so successfully during the war live on.

Suggested Citation

  • Goran Basic, 2015. "Constructing “Ideal Victim” Stories of Bosnian War Survivors," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(4), pages 25-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v:3:y:2015:i:4:p:25-37
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Bank & Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina & FBiH Institute for Statistics & RS Institute for Statistics, 2015. "Bosnia and Herzegovina," World Bank Publications - Reports 22471, The World Bank Group.
    2. John D. Brewer & Bernadette C. Hayes, 2013. "Victimhood Status and Public Attitudes Towards Post-conflict Agreements: Northern Ireland as a Case Study," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 61(2), pages 442-461, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Goran BASIC & Zlatan DELIC, 2019. "Post-Genocide Society, Social Capital, And Pedagogy Of Lifelong Learning: An Analysis Of The Empirical Example Of Bosnia And Herzegovina," Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Department of Communication, Journalism and Education Sciences, University of Craiova, vol. 6(2), pages 31-62, November.

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