Living (Critically) in the Present: Youth Activism in Mostar (Bosnia Herzegovina)

This paper reflects upon the conditions and implications of living in a protracted state of social

and political crisis. Through these considerations, I will explore the strategies implemented

by a youth organisation in Mostar that deals with the socio-political inconsistencies of the

post-conflict scenario. The paper starts by unravelling the significance of the particular form of

normalised crisis by discussing how the problem-solving approach to the Bosnia Herzegovina

emergency created by the wars in the 90s led to the creation of a political and administrative

system unable to guarantee stability. In particular, the paper critically engages with the present

of Mostar, characterised by stillness, immobility, stagnancy, and the general withdrawal from

a proactive engagement with politics. The specificity of Mostar as a city, where nothing seems

to happen, leads to the perception that change is difficult to achieve or even to imagine. Yet,

this paper is also interested in providing a glimpse of how living in a critical present empowers

young activists who feel the urge to create moments of urban disruptions in which the very

possibility of a more just and peaceful future could be imagined. In particular, this paper

critically examines the activities implemented by Abart, a platform for art production and urban

research with the aim of exploring the ways in which creative practice becomes an instrument

of political intervention. Further, this paper argues that by embracing nostalgia, as a means

of re-appropriating Yugoslav ideals of peace and togetherness among different ethno-national

communities, young activists draw on the past to critically imagine how a different future could

be built.