Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers a reversal of perspectives by considering post-war Bosnia from below. It demonstrate the Bosnian mosaic that has always been and continues to be multilayered: while there are still some forms of interethnic coexistence in Bosnia, the war has not only affected ethno-national identifications, but also a large array of other categories such as urbanity and rurality, gender, generation, class and occupation. The book sheds new light on the multiple social groups and conflicts, individual and collective memories, moral categories and claims that shape Bosnian society, the various interactions unfolding between local and global actors, and the ruptures and continuities of the post-war period. In 1939, the growing rivalry between Serbs and Croats within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia led to the first territorial partition of Bosnia.