This thesis seeks to answer the question of the meaning of the destruction of the urban environment in the 1992-95 Bosnian war. The inquiry begins with the destruction of the Old Bridge in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. This event constitutes an exemplary instance of the destruction of urban environments. The destruction of the Old Bridge is not, however, an isolated event: urban destruction was widespread during the Bosnian war. It is argued that a clue to the meaning of this destruction lies in the fact that it is shared spaces that are destroyed. The `logics' of urban destruction are then considered. Such destruction cannot be properly Accounted for by either the traditional notion of military necessity or the regimes established to protect cultural heritage. Rather, it is argued that the destruction of urban environment comprises `urbicide'. Urbicide is defined as the destruction of that which characterises the urban: heterogeneityI.t is argued that destroying buildings represents the destruction of the conditions of possibility of heterogeneity. The thesis then addresses the relation between shared spatiality and heterogeneity. Drawing on Heidegger's account of Being-in-the-world, it is argued that existence is both spatial and shared. The fundamental sharing of existential spatiality constitutes existence as a heterogeneous Being-with-others. The Heideggerian notion of Mitsein (Being-with) is proposed as an initial account of the nature of this heterogeneity. This account of Mitsein is developed through a consideration of the work of Jean-Luc Nancy. In particular the implication of Being in community is noted. An account is given of the politics of Being-with at stake in urbicide. In conclusion it is argued that urbicide comprises an ethno-nationalist attempt to cover over the Heterogeneous nature of existence. The proper starting point for a response to ethno-nationalist violence must be a recognition of the heterogeneity and community at stake in urbicide.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Music. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29299

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The thickening line crafted as a ‘temporary’ border thirteen years ago during the Dayton Peace Agreement –dividing Bosnia into Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosniaks and Croats- is gaining an unsettling permanence in present-day Bosnia. As each of the three ethnic groups attempts to maintain their autonomy, they unwillingly share the divided country, while tangling the question of Bosnian identity into a perplexing web of religious and nationalistic ties. This thesis traces Bosnian history with a story of a singular building, the National Library. The library’s physical and programmatic changes parallel Bosnian political transformation through time. The destruction of the library during the siege of Sarajevo on many levels symbolizes the destruction of multicultural Bosnia as well. This thesis proposes a re-conceptualization of the Bosnian National Library as a new building where a dialogue between the segregated ethnic groups could to emerge through the use of a common shared secular space. This space will act as a point of cultural overlap that negates the idea of purity and homogeneity. Instead, through the building programme and its relationship with the city, the library will welcome diversity and encourage dialogue in order to attempt a dissolution of the boundaries between the group of inclusion and the “other”.

The thickening line crafted as a ‘temporary’ border thirteen years ago during the Dayton Peace Agreement –dividing Bosnia into Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosniaks and Croats- is gaining an unsettling permanence in present-day Bosnia. As each of the three ethnic groups attempts to maintain their autonomy, they unwillingly share the divided country, while tangling the question of Bosnian identity into a perplexing web of religious and nationalistic ties. This thesis traces Bosnian history with a story of a singular building, the National Library. The library’s physical and programmatic changes parallel Bosnian political transformation through time. The destruction of the library during the siege of Sarajevo on many levels symbolizes the destruction of multicultural Bosnia as well. This thesis proposes a re-conceptualization of the Bosnian National Library as a new building where a dialogue between the segregated ethnic groups could to emerge through the use of a common shared secular space. This space will act as a point of cultural overlap that negates the idea of purity and homogeneity. Instead, through the building programme and its relationship with the city, the library will welcome diversity and encourage dialogue in order to attempt a dissolution of the boundaries between the group of inclusion and the “other”.

The Bosnian war was not a purely “ethnic conflict,” as both in-group members and out-group members were sacrificed for the higher political objective, namely, ethnic homogenization of divided Bosnian territories. In particular, I argue the sacrifice of in-group members, especially those who lived on the out-territory, was integral to the violence directed against out-group members. The process of resettlement of the ethnic kin was just as important as the expulsion of the ethnic “other” for re-creating a new ethnic and political balance in select strategic areas. Furthermore, the practice of the appropriation of existing and the creation of new parallel state structures were the main mechanisms of the process of the sacrifice of in-group members from the out-territory. In turn, nationalist narratives were constructed not only to justify those new structures, but also to portray ethnic minorities as potentially dangerous and threatening. In order to complete ethnic homogenization, Bosnian nationalists directly targeted the private household, expelling Bosnians from their homes and appropriating and destroying their private property. I argue that violence against the household rendered the private sphere political. In the second part of the thesis, I reflect on actions and words of ordinary Bosnians, both in-group and out-group members, who resisted violence and helped each other during the war. In particular, I argue that although the lack of basic needs brought Bosnians of different ethnicities together, a long-term result of this necessity-driven action was political: the restoration of their citizenship and the preservation of their community at the local level for after the war.

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