engleski

The Rejection of Reconciliation: Ivo Josipovic and the Challenges of Dealing with the Past in Post-Conflict Croatia

This paper is theoretically grounded in an analytical framework of post-conflict reconciliation developed in the literature on conflict resolution. In order to explore the politics of reconciliation pursued by the former Croatian President Ivo Josipović the sociolinguistic analysis of political discourse will be utilised. The analysis draws on textual analysis of language by the political actor who systematically pursued a goal of inter-ethnic reconciliation. It primarily focuses on his public speeches and official statements that had voiced a reconciliatory frame, focusing on the rhetoric forms recruited by the political leader. The paper argues that a demand of reconciliation in Croatia has been imposed by the external actors and was instrumentalised by the political elites, failing to tackle a broader society. It then argues that, at a symbolic level, public apologies by political leaders constitute the first step towards re- rapprochement of formerly warring ethnic groups. Croatian President Ivo Josipović’s politics of reconciliation resonates among the Croatian public, predominantly among rightist political parties and the war veteran groups that have the most openly resisted any attempts of facing with wrongdoings of the Croatian side in the war waged against Serb minority and the Yugoslav army. In a climate of intolerance and nationalism, which has been constantly on rise in Croatia since the country joined the European Union in summer of 2013, any additional systematic approaches on reconciliation are yet to emerge.

post-conflict reconciliation in Croatia, President Josipović, reconciliation conditionality, politics of reconciliation ; apology in politics

nije evidentirano