Blaming Muslim Women

Intersectionality and the Headscarf in the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Through the concept of intersectionality, this paper examines the marginalisation, exclusion and disciplining by dominant institutions and systems, of Muslim women in Bosnia and Herzegovina who wish to wear the headscarf in the country’s public service. It contributes to the conceptualisation of a larger situational framework that captures the complex positions and lived experiences of Bosniak Muslim women, through the case of Emela Mujanović Kapidžija of the Armed Forces of Bosna and Herzegovina. Mujanović Kapidžija’s repeated requests to wear the headscarf while in uniform triggered reactions that revealed the underlying Islamophobic and sexist culture that has long dominated the country’s social, political, legal and psychological spheres.