Civil society in Bosnia Herzegovina. From the late ‘80s to nowadays: a historical perspective

A set of historical and political factors has shaped the evolution of civil society in Bosnia Herzegovina over the years. The socialist rule influenced the way in which citizens organized, while in the aftermath of the war the intervention of foreign donors and agencies brought about the prospering of domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In the recent period, protests and participatory practices emerged and spread throughout the country, stamping indelibly its social fabric and influencing the practices of formal organizations. This article provides an overview of the evolution of domestic civil society during the country’s recent past, examining how it evolved from the end of the socialist period to nowadays. The article begins by exploring the grassroots initiatives and the anti-war protests of the late 1980s, instances of an “unofficial” civil society stemmed from the liberalization of a socialist system on the brink of collapse. Next, it describes the mushrooming of civil society organizations in the aftermath of the war, before focusing on the grassroots civic initiatives unfolded in the 2000s, peaked with the 2013-14 protests and the surge of participatory assemblies known as “plenums.”