Dissertation
"Personal Cross-Ethnic Networks and Ties in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel: Structure, Meaning, and Relational Orientation"
[successfully defended May 2026]
How do ordinary people sustain cross-ethnic relationships in deeply divided societies? This dissertation answers this question through a mixed-methods personal network study of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel, two cases shaped by ethnic segregation, mnemonic polarization, and recurring violence. Combining 100 in-depth interviews with ethnically representative anonymous surveys of 406 respondents across both countries, I shift the analytical focus from intergroup contact at the group level to the cross-ethnic personal networks, ties, and relationship orientations through which ordinary people navigate division. The dissertation develops a multi-level relational framework that treats cross-ethnic relationships as the primary analytic object and identifies systematic asymmetries in how structural position and individual preference shape cross-ethnic networks and ties. To synthesize the analysis, I develop Cross-Ethnic Relationship Orientation (CERO), a mid-range typological theory distinguishing five ideal types—Traditionalists, Hopefuls, Drifters, Outcasts, and Connectors—through the interaction of structural position and relational preference. By shifting the unit of analysis from contact to relationships, the dissertation reframes intergroup contact within a relational account of how divided societies sustain themselves and offers pathways for relational peacebuilding.
Method: mixed multilevel design combining formal and ethnographic analysis of personal networks with typological theory building and testing.
Publications
"Slow Peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Deploying memory to shift out of postwar liminality"
[Southeastern Europe]
Coauthored with Dr. Véronique Labonté and Emina Zoletić
This article examines how memory contributes to slow peacebuilding in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork and in-depth interviews with memory activists, individuals maintaining cross-ethnic relationships, and multiple generations within families, we identify three pathways through which accumulated memories challenge entrenched ethnonational narratives: activist strategies that reframe the past, everyday cross-ethnic interactions that prioritize relationships over "correct" memory, and intergenerational transmission that selectively preserves or omits wartime experiences. We show that silence, restraint, and the slow accumulation of knowledge are not merely obstacles but can serve as subtle forms of resistance to divisive narratives, extending peacebuilding beyond immediate contexts through cross-ethnic and transnational solidarities.
Method: interdisciplinary, ethnography, thematic analysis
Work in Progress
"When Memory Becomes Official: Memory Institutionalization and Social Division in Bosnia and Herzegovina"
[in preparation]
Coauthored with Ajla Henić-Sarajlić
Post-conflict societies often feature contested mnemonic spaces, where competing groups seek to control narratives of the past. This paper examines the effects of memory institutionalization in Bosnia and Herzegovina through a longitudinal case study with a counterfactual comparison. Drawing on typological theory, case study analysis, and process tracing, we develop a framework organized along the dimensions of goal, level, scope, truth, and remembrance that traces how memory transitions from raw to mobilized to institutionalized forms. The paper contributes to the broader study of memory politics and post-conflict social dynamics in divided societies.
Method: typological theory, case study analysis, process tracing