Merima K. Mehinović

Merima K. Mehinović

Sociologist

Interdisciplinarily explores power relations and social transformation, with a focus on the environment, extractive mining, the Krivaja and other Bosnian watercourses.

Contact: Merima@krivaja.org

Academic background

Merima Kovačić Mehinović is a sociologist and interdisciplinary researcher, a Master’s graduate in Sociology and a graduate of the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo. She is currently completing a second Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy.

Her education combines sociological theory, political sociology, institutional analysis, international relations and public policy. She began her research journey by studying minorities, social exclusion and political participation, and later expanded it to include the protection of women’s rights, economic power relations, institutions, corporate influence, migration, the environment and regional development. She is the author of a paper on the economic exclusion and political inclusion of Roma men and women at the local level.

Career and personal life

She has gained professional experience in the academic, institutional and private sectors, among which she highlights her involvement with the Institute for Social Research, the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a teaching collaboration with the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Tuzla. Her long-standing professional experience outside academia has shaped her interest in organisational culture and local communities. She works as a journalist and analyst (Urban Magazin) and develops strategic initiatives in the fields of culture, tourism and social development. She is the founder of Kulturologist, a knowledge platform dedicated to culture, society and identity. She explores gastronomy as a social and cultural phenomenon, in relation to migration and cultural transmission.

Research interests

Her research interest is permanently tied to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and particularly the Krivaja river basin area, which she views as a natural, historical and industrial space. In recent years, she has focused specifically on research that links economic and institutional power relations through public administration, the modification of industrial heritage and environmental protection.

She specifically examines how economic and institutional structures shape social relations, community development and spatial transformation. Within this framework, she studies industry, extractive activities, environmental responsibility and water protection, with a particular focus on the Krivaja.

Migration, diaspora, transnational identities and the challenges of the industrial sector are explored through the Bosnia and Herzegovina–Germany relationship, while cultural heritage is analysed through history, collective memory and research travel. This line of research is further developed through a multi-year
a comparative study across five European cities, focusing on sustainable tourism, the valorisation of natural and cultural capital, urban gastronomy, and connecting ecology with the local economy. The study is documented using digital ethnography and made available on social media, while the wider context will be available in a forthcoming book.

Publications (selection)

Contact

Feel free to contact me:

Merima@krivaja.org