Diasporas Speaking

Bosnia and Herzegovina 30 Years after Dayton with Dr Jasmin Mujanović

In this episode I am joined by Jasmin Mujanović to explore Bosnia's political and social landscape three decades after the Dayton Peace Accords, which were initialed on 21 November 1995 in Dayton, Ohio, and formally signed in Paris on 14 December 1995. We discuss how the country's constitutional setup shapes its sovereignty and democratic development, the importance of understanding pre-war ideologies from the 1990s, and how the memory and narrative of genocide continue to inform national identity and political life. Bosnia's geopolitical position in the Western Balkans also comes into focus as we trace the key turning points that have shaped the country since the war. We also speak about the role of the diaspora in shaping narratives about Bosnia from abroad and much more. Dr. Jasmin Mujanović is a political scientist and policy specialist focused on Southeast European politics and international affairs. He holds a PhD from York University in Toronto and has worked across North America and Europe as a scholar, analyst, consultant, and researcher. He is the author of Hunger and Fury: The Crisis of Democracy in the Balkans (Hurst/Oxford, 2018) and The Bosniaks: Nationhood After Genocide (Hurst/Oxford, 2023). Dr. Mujanović is currently a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Western Balkans Center of the Washington, DC–based New Lines Institute.

Diasporas Speaking Season Two announcement

After an enriching first season, Diasporas Speaking is happy to come back with a second season, with the first episode streaming the week of the 8th of December 2025.

Music, Memory & Movement: Exploring Diasporic life through sound

In this episode, Rina Limoni, founder and host of the Diasporas Speaking Podcast will be interviewed by Arbër Qerka-Gashi, to reflect on her life experiences through music. Using songs and music as prompts to evoke memories, the conversation delves into how these songs and music have accompanied Rina throughout her journey of displacement and migration, through the difficulties of navigating identity formation, code switching in different environments and exploring the personal significance they hold and the ways they symbolise key moments in her life

Writing Oneself into History: Queer, Bosnian, Muslim, and Foreign with Ervin Malakaj

Writing Oneself into History: Queer, Bosnian, Muslim, and Foreign with Ervin Malakaj Ervin Malakaj was born in Doboj. In the 1990s he lived as refugee in Germany before immigrating to the USA. After completing graduate degrees in German studies, he became a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where he currently lives with his partner and dog. Ervin’s scholarly work focuses on queer and diaspora studies with a special focus on visual culture. He is currently completing a book of personal essays about live in the queer Bosnian diaspora provisionally titled Tetka Theory.What does it mean to write oneself into history when your existence sits at the margins: queer, Bosnian, Muslim, and foreign?In this episode of Diasporas Speaking, Dr Ervin Malakaj joins us for a moving and critical conversation on identity, displacement, and the radical act of self-definition. Blending personal narrative with critical insight, Dr Malakaj reflects on the politics of visibility, the weight of inherited histories, and the transformative power of storytelling. Together, we explore how queerness, diaspora, and cultural memory intersect and how speaking, writing, and remembering become vital acts of survival, resistance, and belonging.Intro music: North-Albanian Instrumental.Interlude: Himzo Polovina - 'Snijeg Pade Na Behar, Na Voće'

Srebrenica Genocide 30 Years on | Survival, Loss, and the Ongoing Fight for Justice with Selma Jahić

Selma Jahić was born in 1988 in Srebrenica and grew up nearby in a village called Blječeva. During the war years from 1992 to 1995, she and her family stayed exclusively in Srebrenica and the surrounding area.In August 1995, Selma came to Vienna after being expelled from Srebrenica in July 1995, a time during which she lost many family members. Since then, she has been living in Vienna. She completed her schooling in Austria and trained as a media designer.She currently works as a content manager for a public institution. In her private life, Selma is very active as an activist and has been deeply involved in memorial work related to the genocide against the Bosniaks for several years.On 11 July 1995, in the town of Srebrenica declared a United Nations "safe area" two years earlier—over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were systematically murdered by Bosnian Serb forces. At the time the worst atrocity committed on European soil since the Second World War.Despite rulings from international courts, including the ICTY and the ICJ, formally recognising the massacre as genocide, denial and political manipulation continue to distort the truth. Over 8,300 victims have been identified, yet the remains of more than 1,000 are still missing.Truth, accountability, and recognition of the genocide are essential for reconciliation and lasting peace in the Western Balkans.For this episode of Diasporas Speaking, I speak with Selma Jahić, who, together with her brother and mother, survived the Srebrenica genocide. She shares her family’s story of survival, loss, and the ongoing fight for justice and remembrance.