Militarized Masculinity in the Bosnian Genocide

FAIN: FT-278955-21

Marko Dumancic
Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY 42101-1000)

Research and writing towards an article analyzing the function of gender in defense strategies during war crimes tribunals following the Yugoslav Civil Wars in the 1990s.

This article-length research project focuses on the trials of Croatian and Serbian men accused of committing crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide during the Yugoslav Civil Wars of the 1990s. Specifically, I will study the trial records associated with 59 men sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Through a narrative analysis of court transcripts, judgments, and testimonies of those sentenced, I will identify the defense strategies the indicted perpetrators employed to create an explanatory framework for their wartime crimes. This research will delineate how culturally dominant ideas about masculinity during wartime create a context in which “ordinary men” can transform into war criminals and become agents of genocide. The project’s results will enhance our understanding of ethnic cleansing operations in Bosnia as motivated not only by regional ethno-religious grievances but also by local and context-specific gender dynamics.