Volkszählung in Bosnien und Herzegowina 2013. Zur Problematik der ethnischen Kategorisierung über die Sprachenfrage
The Census in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2013. The Challenge of Ethnic Categorization via Language Profiling

Summary/Abstract: The article examines problematic issues which arose in the course of the latest census in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The census was held in October 2013, after having been postponed numerous times. This was due to disagreements that mainly concerned sensitive questions such as ethnicity, language and religion. In the run-up to the first census since 1991 various groups tried to influence citizens’ answers regarding the aforementioned questions. Two of these issues, i.e. ethnicity and religion, were optional for the respondents. Thus, the obligatory question on language received a highly important and symbolic power, in particular through which different ethnic groups could define themselves. Even though these particular questions are officially claimed not to constitute relevant data, they could give insight into socio-economic and educational matters and thus help to improve the country’s status quo. It appears that many groups and possibly a large number of citizens are particularly interested in the recurring question of “how many are we?” regarding their respective ethnic group. The article provides a short overview of the latest developments and includes an interview with one of the fieldworkers.

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