Dissertation
"Beyond Contact Theory: Personal Cross-Ethnic Networks in Divided Societies"
[anticipated completion April 2026]
What is the nature of cross-ethnic relations in deeply divided societies? My dissertation addresses this question through a mixed-method personal network study of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel—two countries with recurrent histories of ethnic conflict and varying degrees of intergroup contact. Drawing on 100 in-depth interviews and 416 randomized surveys conducted between 2021 and 2023, I analyze how cross-ethnic networks form, who inhabits them, the social spaces in which they occur, and the qualities of the ties they contain. While classic intergroup contact theory highlights the transformative potential of encounters, it often treats contact as fleeting and episodic. I argue instead that what matters for reconciliation is not only whether people meet, but whether they sustain enduring cross-ethnic relationships embedded in their personal networks. The analysis develops a typology of Relationship Orientation Types, showing how individual preferences, social status, and structural constraints jointly shape the propensity to form and maintain ties across ethnic lines. By systematically comparing two polarized societies, this study demonstrates that cross-ethnic networks are not rare anomalies but patterned outcomes shaped by context. The findings advance debates on intergroup contact, social networks, and reconciliation by shifting the unit of analysis from contact to relationships, while also offering policy-relevant insights for strengthening intergroup ties in post-war settings and beyond.
Method: mixed-method design combining ethnography, in-depth interviews, randomized surveys, and personal network analysis
Work in Progress
"Slow Peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Deploying accumulated memory to shift out of postwar liminality"
[revise and resubmit, Southeastern Europe]
Coauthored with Dr. Véronique Labonté and Emina Zoletić
This study examines how memory contributes to peacebuilding in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Drawing on qualitative fieldwork and in-depth interviews with memory activists, individuals maintaining cross-ethnic relationships, and multiple generations within families, it investigates how accumulated memories—formed through personal experience, family storytelling, and social observation—can challenge entrenched ethnonational narratives. The analysis highlights three pathways: 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. These mechanisms demonstrate how memory can be mobilized incrementally to reduce polarization, foster empathy, and cultivate spaces for dialogue. Importantly, the study shows that silence, restraint, and the slow accumulation of knowledge are not merely obstacles but can serve as subtle forms of resistance to divisive narratives. Intergenerational dialogues, as well as cross-ethnic and transnational solidarities, reveal the potential for memory to extend peacebuilding beyond immediate contexts. By situating grassroots practices alongside elite-level discourses, the research underscores the generative capacity of conflict and the power of ordinary individuals to negotiate complex pasts, offering both conceptual and practical insights for scholars and practitioners seeking to support reconciliation in divided societies.
Method: interdisciplinary, ethnography, thematic analysis
"The Problem with Memory Institutionalization: A case study of Prijedor, 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. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethnonational divisions shape official memory, producing exclusive narratives that define victimhood narrowly and impede reconciliation. This paper examines the effects of memory institutionalization through a longitudinal case study of the Omarska Concentration Camp in Prijedor, using the White Armband Day commemoration as a counterfactual. Drawing on typological theory, case study analysis, and process tracing, we construct a framework with clear analytical dimensions—goal, level, scope, truth, and remembrance—through which memory transitions from raw, to mobilized, to institutionalized forms. Our analysis shows how institutionalized memory relies on selective remembrance, codified memory lexicons, and public rituals, shaping social perceptions and excluding individualized experiences. By systematically tracing these mechanisms, we illustrate how memory institutionalization structures narratives, channels collective remembrance, and impacts both social cohesion and postwar identity. The study highlights the power of top-down memory politics and provides conceptual tools for understanding how institutionalized memory operates in divided societies. Focusing on the processes and consequences of memory institutionalization, this research contributes to the broader study of memory politics and post-conflict social dynamics.
Method: typological theory, case study analysis, process tracing