Per Neoliberal Aspera Ad Astra - Locating Hidden Entrepreneurship ‘Heroes’ in Nostalgic Diaspora – Development Nexus in Bosnia
Per Neoliberal Aspera Ad Astra - Locating Hidden Entrepreneurship ‘Heroes’ in Nostalgic Diaspora – Development Nexus in Bosnia

Summary/Abstract: The post-war Bosnia heavily relies on capital flows from its numerous migrant communities abroad, resulting in diaspora remittances-centered migration-development nexus. That issue acts as the locus of previous scholarship on the topic, which left the notions of Bosnian diaspora entrepreneurship scarce. This paper examines the characteristics of diaspora entrepreneurship in Bosnia through the conceptual framework that unites diaspora, migrant entrepreneurship, and development. Via semi-structured narrative literature review, it offers an overview of the most relevant studies of the post-1995 period. A more in-depth look into the Bosnian diaspora‘s entrepreneurship in its homeland is rendered through qualitative content analysis of 2017 onward online media outlets and platforms. An analysis of the regionally popular Al Jazeera Balkans TV show Hocu Kuci, among others, is presented, followed by a peek into the Diaspora Invest platform, the most successful long-term systematic project for promoting and supporting diaspora investments in Bosnia. Inquiries of these two cases map the robust presence of complex transgenerational local-hometown and transnational nostalgia-driven homeland investments incorporated in the narratives of ‘successful’ Bosnians abroad reproducing the neoliberal agendas which celebrate the migrant labour struggles instead of challenging them.

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