SOAS Research Online

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Abstract

In an interview for Al Jazeera Balkans, Safet HadžiMuhamedović, an anthropologist at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, argues that genocidal structures persist in the Balkans and beyond, sustained by nationalist ideologies that fracture plural communities. He critiques the misuse of the notion of “community” to justify nationalist and exclusionary agendas, contrasting it with real, lived interfaith and intercultural coexistence, exemplified by historical and contemporary Bosnian contexts. HadžiMuhamedović highlights the enduring human and cultural resilience despite systematic efforts to homogenise and erase diverse identities, as seen in Bosnia’s contested sacred spaces and shared traditions like Aliđun and Đurđevdan. The article connects these issues to global patterns of nationalist politics, including the weaponisation of identity and fear in Europe. Referencing protests in London and Sarajevo, he underscores the collective struggle against oppressive ideologies, emphasising that the plurality of shared spaces and values challenges the nationalist project. Suggesting that such rituals and traditions may be understood as repositories of intergenerational memory and resistance, HadžiMuhamedović envisions them as pathways to the restoration of harmonious and plural communities in Bosnia, Palestine and elsewhere.