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international personnel can do a limited job, the citizens should participate and take
responsibility in democratic grassroots projects. 237
Paradoxically, there are some experts who argued that Bosnians are not
experienced enough to initiate their own grassroots projects, which can lead to civil
society development. 238
contested the above argument that:
However, Civil Society Report of the Soros Foundation
Bosnia has a history of civil society even restricted depending on the
definition of the term. Former Yugoslavia was known to have developed
forms of social organization. There were different civic associations and their
role was mainly in the field of culture and sports. When the issues became
political the Party used to intervene. Even in such conditions the creation of
public opinion could achieve a certain measure of autonomous dynamics and
exercise authentic influence over the decision-making. 239
After the war, civic associations started to be defined as non-governmental
organizations and the civil society concept became a general point of reference.
However, the content of the concept for different speakers referred not the same
issue, and this created confusion in the public discourse. Meanwhile, numerous
NGOs have been established and those with pre-war history have been revived. They
all tried to adjust to the current situation in accordance with their own understanding
of the idea of civil society. Thus, possible development of civil society depends on
the understanding of the very concept of civil society “among the general population
as well as activist, the people who founded different NGOs and developed specific
projects.” 240
In general, Bosnian view of civil society and its functioning among the local
NGO participants is compatible with the international view, as an “elementary
space” for the “development of democracy and human rights”. 241
Similar to
237 ‘OSCE Democratization Branch’, Monthly Report, No.1, February 1997. Cited in David Chandler,
Bosnia: Faking Democracy After Dayton, p. 136.
238 For more information see David Chandler, ‘The Limits of Peacebuilding: International Regulation
and Civil Society Development in Bosnia’, p. 119.
239 ‘The Longest Road To A Distant Goal’, 2001 Civil Society Report, http://www.soros.org, p. 2.
240 Ibid., p. 6.
241 Roberto Belloni, ‘Building Civil Society in Bosnia and Herzegovina’, Human Rights Working
Papers, p. 13.
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