Did we get civic activism wrong? Understanding the waltz between constructive and aggressive civic tendencies in Bosnia–Herzegovina
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-01-2022-0674 |
| Published date | 12 May 2022 |
| Date | 12 May 2022 |
| Pages | 378-393 |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Aggression,conflict & peace,Sociology,Gender studies,Gender violence,Political sociology,policy & social change,Social conflicts,War/peace |
| Author | Alexander Guest,Ilke Dagli,Marian Machlouzarides |
Did we get civic activism wrong?
Understanding the waltz between
constructive and aggressive civic
tendencies in Bosnia–Herzegovina
Alexander Guest, Ilke Dagli and Marian Machlouzarides
Abstract
Purpose –Despite the end of conflict in 1995, Bosnia–Herzegovina still suffers from unresolved ethnic
and social tensions, where fostering social cohesion, active citizenship and mitigating ethnonationalist
tensions and politically motivated violence remains among the main goals to achieve transformative
peace. This paper, basedon quantitative analyses of 3,637 adult respondents, showsthat the tendency
of Bosnians to be active or violent citizens sometimes overlaps and are not very distinct patterns of
behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that differentiate pathways and help explain
(un)civilcivic behaviours and inform the work of peace and developmentactors.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper is based on a quantitative household survey conducted
with a representativesample of 3,637 adults in Bosnia and by using a wide range of statisticaltools from
scaling to correlation analysis. This data set measures factors and conceptual notions associated with
passive, constructive and aggressive civic tendencies and social cohesionin a nuanced way by using
different metrics and scales. The survey was designed and conducted by The Centre for Sustainable
Peace and DemocraticDevelopment (SeeD) and the Bosnia–HerzegovinaResilience Initiative in 2020,in
partnership with The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/The Office of
Transition Initiatives (OTI) and The International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the SCORE
Bosnia–Herzegovinastudy (SeeD, 2020).
Findings –Overall, thefactors that were discovered to be linked tothe manifestation of constructive and
aggressive civic tendencies are multidimensional, and range from intergroup relations (e.g. tension,
tolerance) to political and civic attitudes (e.g. ethnonationalism, civic responsibility, gender equality),
from individual traits (e.g. education, economic stress) to the media landscape (e.g. information
consumption).While the empirical evidence shows that some of these factors can push citizenstowards
both active and violentcivic behaviours simultaneously, this study identifiesand distinguishes those that
can reduceaggressive civic tendencies while increasingconstructive civic tendencies.
Practical implications –This paper proposes a replicableapproach and evidence-based conclusions
which can help validate the theories of change for the peace and development actors to ensure that
scarce peacebuilding resources are invested where the impact is greatest, and theactors can protect
the sanctityof their responsibility to do no harm.
Social implications –This paper seeks to provide a robust empiricalunderstanding for more effective
policy-makingand programming that can support Bosnia–Herzegovina’sendogenous resilience against
socio-politicalshocks and transformative peace trajectory. This paper seeksto demonstrate how peace
and developmentactors can build and use an evidence-base for understandingcivic behaviours and as
a result formulate tailored efforts with greater likelihood of impact. This would help fulfil commitments
towardssustainable development goals andthe 2030 global agenda (UN General Assembly,2015).
Originality/value –This study contributes insights to the emerging literature at the nexus of
peacebuilding, individual skills/attitudes and civic behaviour. While the conclusions are highly
contextual, the methodology is informed by multidisciplinary literature and is replicable in other post-
conflict and non-conflict contexts, and thus can be used for cross-country comparisons and theory
building around civic activism and constructive citizenship. The approach distinguishes between
Alexander Guest, Ilke Dagli
and Marian Machlouzarides
are all based at the Centre
for Sustainable Peace and
Democratic Development,
Nicosia, Cyprus.
Received 13 January 2022
Revised 13 February 2022
Accepted 13 February 2022
The United States Agency for
International Development
(USAID), Office for Transition
Initiatives (OTI) and the
International Organization for
Migration (IOM).
PAGE 378 jJOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICTAND PEACE RESEARCH jVOL. 14 NO. 4 2022,pp. 378-393, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599 DOI 10.1108/JACPR-01-2022-0674
passive citizens, constructive activists, aggressive activists and purely violent citizens. This study
discovers that the bifurcationis between passive citizens and active citizens, and although constructive
and aggressive civic tendencies might be theorised to be contradictory, they overlap and tend to co-
occur.
Keywords Citizenship, Activism, Social cohesion, Civic behaviours,Transformative peace,
Conflict transformation, Bosnia–Herzegovina, Inter-group relations, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Evidence-based peacebuilding, Political violence, Quantitative sociology
Paper type Research paper
Introduction and purpose
This paper unpacks overlapping pathways between constructive and aggressive civic
tendencies and behaviours to inform peacebuilding, reconciliation and democratisation
efforts with a more nuanced understanding of the citizenry’s role and behavioural
manifestations (e.g. civic participation, constructive citizenship), using survey data from
Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have two main goals and hence, two key contributions to the
literature; the first is empirical and policy-driven,while the second is theoretical and method
driven.
Firstly, we seek to provide a robust empirical understanding for more effective policy-
making and programming that can support Bosnia–Herzegovina’s endogenous resilience
against socio-political shocks and transformative peace trajectory. We seek to demonstrate
how peace and development architects can build and use an evidence-base for
understanding civic behaviours and, as a result, formulate tailored efforts with greater
likelihood of impact. This would help fulfil commitments towards sustainable development
goals and the 2030 global agenda (UN General Assembly, 2015). We argue that without a
more nuanced understanding of civic behaviours, especially the relationship between non-
violent and violent civic activism, efforts that promote civic participation and engagement
could inadvertently lead to polarisation, social fractures and instability. As such, our paper
can help peace and development architects improve their conflict sensitivityand uphold the
sanctity of the “do no harm” principle.
Secondly, we seek to contribute to the literature around civic behaviours with quantitative
analyses to strengthen the theoretical nexus between peacebuilding, social cohesion and
civic participation. As such, we build an evidence-based theory of change which can help
illuminate the pathway to nudging citizens towards more constructive civic choices in
Bosnia–Herzegovina and elsewhere. While our conclusions are highly contextual, our
methodology is informed by multidisciplinary literature and is replicable in other post-
conflict and potentially non-conflict contexts, and thus can be used for cross-country
comparisons and theory buildingon and around civic activism and constructive citizenship.
We do this by analysing data from a quantitative household survey conducted with a
representative sample of 3,637 adults in Bosnia and by using a wide range of statistical
tools from scaling to correlation analysis[1]. This data set measures factors and conceptual
notions associated with passive, constructive and aggressive civic tendencies and social
cohesion in a nuanced way by using different metricsand scales. The survey was designed
and conducted by The Centre for Sustainable Peace and Democratic Development (SeeD)
and the Bosnia–Herzegovina Resilience Initiative (BHRI) in 2020, in partnership with USAID/
OTI and IOM for the SCORE Bosnia–Herzegovina study [The Centre for Sustainable Peace
and Democratic Development (SeeD),2020].
We quantitatively investigate the differences, overlaps and pathways between constructive
and aggressive civic tendencies. We avoid monochrome dichotomies such as violent
versus non-violent, good versus bad citizens and punitive (e.g. Malcolm X) versus
reconciliatory (e.g. Martin Luther King) activism. Instead, we measure civic tendencies
depending on the strength and prevalence of constructive and aggressive civic behaviour
choices independently based on citizens’ responses to different civically and politically
VOL. 14 NO. 4 2022 jJOURNALOF AGGRESSION, CONFLICT AND PEACE RESEARCH jPAGE 379
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