Law, political economy and war reparation: The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

What are the after-effects of the Bosnia and Herzegovinian (BH) transition from a post-socialist, post-genocide, and post-ethno-nationalist state into a European liberal democracy? This article makes a case for war reparation and argues that while poverty reduction has not been among the stated aims of transitional justice mechanisms, it is of critical importance to study war victims' deprivation in the context of historical patterns of structural injustice and examine liberal reconstruction policies that failed to provide compensation and legal redress for gross violations of human rights and serious violations of humanitarian law. The article uses the historical sociology approach as a method of analysis to investigate how moving away from a socialist to a capitalist economic model, from war to peace, and from one party political system to liberal democracy has resulted in structural injustice and growing levels of poverty that adversely impact most vulnerable Bosnians. The article presents an argument that the lack of post-war reparation programs, coupled with an inadequate emphasis on political regime change, poverty reduction programs and social and economic rights such as access to welfare, cash assistance, food, transportation, education, pension, and disability benefits to ensure the quality of living is detrimental to everyday lives of war victims and people who live at the bottom of the society.