Bosnian Refugees in Chicago: Gender, Performance, and Post-War Economies studies refugee migration through the experiences of survivors of the 1990s wars in former Yugoslavia as they rebuild home, family, and social lives in the wake of their displacement. Ana Croegaert explores post-1970s Yugoslav-era socialism, American neoliberal capitalism, and anti-Muslim geopolitics to examine women’s varied perspectives on their postwar lives in the United States. Based on more than a decade of fieldwork, Croegaert takes readers into staged performances, coffee rituals, protests, memorials, homes, and non-governmental organizations to shine a light on the pressures women contend with in their efforts to make a living and to narrate their wartime injuries. Ultimately, Croegaert argues that refugee women insist on understanding their wartime losses as simultaneously social and material, a form of personhood she labels “injured life.” At a time of mass displacement and heated political debates concerning refugees, Croegaert provides an engaging portrait of a lively and diverse group of women whose opinions on citizenship and belonging are needed now more than ever.

In April of 1992, war began in Bosnia. Sarajevo, site of the 1984 Winter Olympics, and, we were told, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, became a city under siege. For all of the people of Bosnia, life shifted in unimaginable ways in a matter of hours, days, or weeks. An immediate exodus began from Bosnia, and people who had never anticipated leaving their country became refugees, dependent upon a world system of resettlement for displaced persons. This book relates the experiences of a hundred Bosnian families who came to Utica, a town in upstate New York. Bosnians in Utica came here as refugees - ginning in 1993, having ?ed from the wars of succession in the former Yugoslavia. Our study evolved over several years as a result of our interests in the war in Bosnia and the massive ?ow of refugees that it precipitated. We began work on the project in the late 1990s as we set out to learn about the war and to explore refugee experiences of displacement, transit, and resettlement. Our intent is to portray the experience of Bosnian refugees in one American city and to capture, in their words, in as much detail as possible their adjustment to a new community and a new culture.

This book is a first attempt to analytically study and discuss the Bosnian community of Rochester. It is focused on the lives and experiences of a sample of 100 Bosnian families living in Rochester, most of whom have successfully adjusted to a new environment, while facing many religious, cultural, and linguistic challenges. According to the testimony of many Bosnian refugees residing in Rochester, New York, as refugees and newcomers to the city, they faced many challenges including: the language barrier, cultural differences, isolation, fear of being different and not accepted, fear of losing their ethnic and religious identity, prejudice, discrimination, and uncertainty of the future for their children. They also had to overcome inhumane treatment, deportation, grieving, trauma, revenge, forced labor, rape, destruction of cultural and religious monuments, illegal detention, starvation, loss of family members and more. The majority of the participants in this research are Bosnian refugees who fled Bosnia as teenagers or young adults. As such, they were old enough to have formed personal connections to their home culture, religion and language, yet young enough to master and adapt to the systems of an American life. This group must shoulder the burden of fostering solidarity, trust, cultural and religious appreciation among Bosnians in America while simultaneously having to prove their loyalty to their families and their home country. All of this while still facing personal challenges with their older parents, who live either in Bosnia or with them in Rochester. In addition, they face challenges with their own children, who have no memories of living in Bosnia and do not see their religion, language and culture through their parents' lens.

The Bosnian Diaspora: Integration in Transnational Communities provides a comprehensive insight into the situation of the Bosnian Diaspora, including not only experiences in 'western' countries, but also the integration experiences of Bosnian migrants in neighbouring territories, such as Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The book presents the latest trans-national comparative studies drawn from the US and Australia as well as countries across Europe, to explore post-crisis interactions among Bosnians and the impact of post-conflict related migration. Examining the common features of the Diaspora, including the responses of migrants to changes within Bosnia and the position of displaced people in both Bosnian society itself and local political discourses, this volume addresses the influence of global anti-Muslim rhetoric on the Bosnian Diaspora's self-identification and refugees' relationships to their home country. The extent to which refugees and returnees can be described as agents of globalization and social change is also considered, whilst addressing the issue of Bosnian integration into various receiving countries and the influence exercised by European reception policies on receiving nations outside Europe. An extensive exploration of a major post-conflict European Diaspora, this book will appeal to those with interests in migration, ethnicity, integration and the displacement effects of Yugoslav conflicts.

As a Slavic-speaking religious and ethnic “Other” living just a stone’s throw from the symbolic heart of the continent, the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina have long occupied a liminal space in the European imagination. To a significant degree, the wider representations and perceptions of this population can be traced to the reports of Central European—and especially Habsburg—diplomats, scholars, journalists, tourists, and other observers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This volume assembles contributions from historians, anthropologists, political scientists, and literary scholars to examine the political, social, and discursive dimensions of Bosnian Muslims’ encounters with the West since the nineteenth century.

Immigration from Eastern Europe to the United States has grown significantly in the last few decades. While Asian and Latin American immigrations have been central to the discourse of migration to the US, the rapid growth of Eastern European immigrants has received insufficient attention. Robila fills this gap by presenting key issues related to immigration from Eastern Europe, such as child-rearing beliefs and practices, cultural beliefs, second-generational conflicts, as well as the challenges faced by Eastern European immigrants as they immigrate around the world.

This monograph provides a comprehensive overview of fundamental scientific insights into the geographical features of a country which was and still is in the centre of the geopolitical battle of the large world powers and especially neighboring countries. The book presents the scientifically proven reserves of individual resources such as: mineral riches, land, forests, flora and fauna, water and climate features, to the extent needed, through statistical indicators and geographic maps. The authors point to features and specifics of the existing interdependence of economic and political development and impact of natural resources on spatial development which can be useful for potential investors, spatial planers, decision makers, politicians, geographers, students, large Bosnian diaspora and anyone interested in area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This book fills the gap in geographical literature on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the English language. The monograph appeals to researchers and scholars of all levels in the fields of geography, geopolitics, history and related fields and everyone interested in this country between East and West.