A comparison of civic orientation and identities: Bosnian and Bosniak Muslims

The present study addresses the contested dichotomy between ethnic and civic nationalism, a widely debated issue in sociological literature. Specifically, the study engages with literature that challenges the existence of this dichotomy, focusing on the case study of Muslims living in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnian national identity is regarded as a civic identity that encompasses diverse social groups, while the Bosniak identity is one of the most significant ethnic identities, alongside Serbs and Croats. To investigate this topic, the study employs a secondary data set collected by IPSOS on the nation-making process of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Using binary logistic regression models, the study demonstrates the impact of different ethnic identities and tendencies towards civic engagement on the significance placed on civic identity. In the subsequent stage, the study employs SPSS two-step clustering to identify latent subgroupings within the categorical ethnic or civic identities presented in the literature. The findings indicate that Bosniaks and Bosnians have similar tendencies to prioritize their citizenship identity over their ethnic identity when compared to other ethnic identities in the region. Additionally, the study uncovers examples of subgroups within the Bosniak and Bosnian groups, thereby questioning the validity of categorizing national identities in terms of the ethnic-civic dichotomy.