Socioeconomic Justice: International Intervention and Transition in Post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina

Description

Does socioeconomic justice belong within transitional justice? Daniela Lai provides the first systematic analysis of experiences of socioeconomic violence during war and how they give rise to strong, but unheeded justice claims in the aftermath. She redefines socioeconomic justice as the redress of violence rooted in the political economy of conflict, and transitional justice as a social practice that belongs among grassroots activists as much as it does in courtrooms and truth commissions. Furthermore, she examines the role of international actors that rely on narrow, legalistic approaches to transitional justice, while also promoting economic reforms that hinder the emergence and pursuit of socioeconomic justice claims by conflict-affected communities. Drawing on a unique set of in-depth interviews with Bosnian communities, international officials and grassroots activists, this book provides new theoretical and empirical insights on the link between justice and political economy, on international interventions, and on Bosnia's post-war and post-socialist transformation.

Dr Daniela Lai is a Lecturer in International Relations at London South Bank University. She has published articles in journals including International Relations, Ethnopolitics, and the Review of International Political Economy.

'War and violence are material processes that have material effects; they not only kill and maim but destroy everyday livelihoods and human dignity with it. Daniela Lai's book is a tour de force connecting critical political economy analysis with theories of transitional justice, in so doing revealing the foundations for sustainable peace.' Jacqui True, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Monash University 'The disillusionment in former Yugoslav territories with transition out of socialism and into a faux capitalist utopia is brilliantly analysed in Daniela Lai's study of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moving beyond concepts of the formal law, her work captures the essence of socio-economic justice and material existence as experienced by citizens. For over twenty years international and local elites in Bosnia and Herzegovina have narrowly conceived justice or recast it in the service of unruly capital accumulation. Lai's research will attract readers for its rich addition to studies of transition, social mobilisation and political economies of war and peace.' Michael Pugh, Professor Emeritus, University of Bradford '... this book is an invaluable source for all those interested in teaching or researching post-conflict or transitional societies, grassroots approaches to justice, critical international relations, as well as political economy of war and peace.' Zoran Vuckovac, KULT_online