CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Ejubovic, Jasmina |
|---|---|
| Title | Who Will Remember (for) Us? Mothers of Srebrenica, the Srebrenica Memorial Center, and the Future of Women's Memory |
| Summary | This research examines the future of the memory of women’s experiences and roles in the context of the Srebrenica genocide, BiH. The Srebrenica genocide is a case of gendered genocide in which men were killed and women were forcefully displaced. The latter organized huge protests and founded the Mothers’ Association to advocate for investigation, justice, and peace. Therefore, the special focus is put on the Mothers’ Association and the Memorial Center Srebrenica, investigating in which ways the memory of the role and activism of the Mothers in the aftermath of the war could be preserved. While scholars have explored the genocide’s gendered dimensions and the Memorial Center’s memorialization practices, the role of the Mothers as memory-makers remains underexamined. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Srebrenica, this thesis explores how and to what extent the activism and agency of the Mothers are remembered and potentially institutionalized in a post-survivor future. Through interviews with Mothers and the Center’s employees, the thesis analyzes a gap between the essentialist societal image of the sorrowful, helpless Mothers and their historically transformative role in the aftermath of war. The findings highlight differences between lived and institutional memory, discussing the absence of women’s agency in the victim-centered narrative in the Memorial Center. The significance of this research is in its future-oriented approach: it asks what happens to the memory of women's roles and experiences in the genocide after the generation of the Mothers is gone, underlying that the institutionalization of women’s memory is critical to challenging patriarchal narratives of the war. Ultimately, this study calls for urgent strategies to preserve the complex legacy of the Mothers, as political actors who shaped the memory of Srebrenica within and beyond Bosnia and Herzegovina. |
| Supervisor | Helms, Elissa; Desperak, Izabela; |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/ejubovic_jasmina.pdf |
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