War by Other Means: Cultural Policy and the Politics of Corporate Consociation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Civil war obliterates memories of past coexistence. Yet, memories can also be erased through peacetime denial of legitimacy and funding to institutions preserving artifacts and remains testifying to a past of cultural hybridity. This article examines the interplay between cultural policy and constitutional framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to explain the recent closure of Sarajevo's museums. It argues that the institutions’ demise reflects a new state-building project founded on the separate development of mutually exclusive cultural and ethnic communities. Amnesia about past coexistence is instrumental to the political stability of BiH's corporate consociation but may hamper long-term conflict resolution.