Claiming Ownership in Postwar Croatia


Book Description

The book analyses inter-group relations in a war-torn region of postsocialist Croatia which previously had a large Serbian population. The focus is on the legitimising discourses, structures and agencies which regulate access to houses and land. It explores the role of ethnicity and locality in everyday life and in politics and shows that the views of Knin Croats often diverge from those of recent Croatian immigrants. The study contributes to theories of conflict and reconciliation as well as to the anthropology of postsocialism and legal anthropology.




Anthropology of Transformation


Book Description

This collection of essays is the result of the joint efforts of colleagues and students of the leading social anthropology and post-socialism theorist, Professor Chris Hann. With the thirtieth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 2019 as their catalyst, the authors reflect upon Chris Hann’s lifelong fieldwork in the discipline, spanning regions as diverse as East Central Europe, Turkey, and the Chinese north-west. The collapse of the Berlin Wall naturally triggered a plethora of analysis and scholarly research. Sociocultural anthropology, with its focus on ethnographic study and on the gradual evolution of social relations, sharply contrasted with the emphasis on dramatic rupture brought about by the 1989 transition. Continuing in this tradition, this volume, through micro-level analysis of societal transformation from the post-war years to the present day, provides an alternative perspective to the neoliberalist views often encountered in the scholarship on political and economic modernisation. The more nuanced analysis of social transformations proposed here is a particularly useful tool in the investigation of contemporary issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the refugee ‘crisis’, and the rise of right-wing populism in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Anthropology of Transformation will be of interest to researchers in the fields of socio-cultural anthropology, religion and economics. Moreover, the book’s discussion of issues widely discussed beyond the field of academia such as neoliberalism and the welfare state, and populist and exclusionary politics, will appeal to non-specialist readers.




Postsocialism


Book Description

In many parts of post-socialist Europe the tumultuous political and economic developments have generated strong emotions, ranging from hope and euphoria to disappointment, envy, disillusionment, sorrow, loneliness, and hatred. Yet these aspects have been largely neglected in analyses of the profound transformations that have taken place in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990. Based on a wide variety of ethnographic case studies focusing on Russian, Siberian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovenian, Croatian, Czech, and Polish communities, this volume proves the significance of emotions to post-socialist political processes as an inherent part of the transformations and sheds new light on the impact of local, national, and transnational political forces that have given rise to the resurgence of nationalist sentiments, increasing poverty and marginalization, conflicts arising from the restitution of state property, constitutional changes, and economic deprivation.







A Companion to the Anthropology of Europe


Book Description

A Companion to theAnthropologyof Europe BLACKWELL COMPANIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY A Companion to the Anthropology of Europe “The volume also deserves a place on the shelves of academic libraries as well as the larger public library.” Reference Reviews “Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic levels/libraries.” Choice “This important collection challenges all anthropologists to re-examine the importance of European perspectives on the most provocative debates of our time. It transcends regional interests to highlight the complex intellectual landscape of our field.” Tracey Heatherington, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee “This significant volume critically interrogates assumptions about Europe as an idea and a place for research. It provides fresh perspectives on the past and future of anthropological studies of Europe.” Deborah Reed-Danahay, SUNY at Buffalo, President of the Society for the Anthropology of Europe A Companion to the Anthropology of Europe offers a survey of contemporary Europeanist anthropology and European ethnology, and a guide to emerging trends in this geographical field of research. Utilizing diverse approaches to the anthropological study of Europe, Kockel, Nic Craith, and Frykman provide a synthesis of the different traditions and contemporary practices. Investigating the subject both geographically and thematically, the companion covers key topics such as location, heritage, experience, and cultural practices. Written by leading international scholars in the field, the volume constitutes the first authoritative guide for researchers, instructors, and students of anthropology and European studies.




Building Democracy in the Yugoslav Successor States


Book Description

Building democracy in societies that have known only authoritarian rule for half a century is complicated. Taking the post-Yugoslav region as its case study, this volume shows how success with democratisation depends on various factors, including establishing the rule of law, the consolidation of free media, and society's acceptance of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. Surveying the seven successor states, the authors argue that Slovenia is in a class by itself as the most successful, with Croatia and Serbia not far behind. The other states - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo - are all struggling with problems of corruption, poverty, and unemployment. The authors treat the issue of values as a policy problem in its own right, debating the extent to which values have been transformed by changes in education and the media, how churches and women's organisations have entered into the policy debate, and whether governments have embraced a programme designed to effect changes in values.




The Dark Side of Nation-States


Book Description

Why was there such a far-reaching consensus concerning the utopian goal of national homogeneity in the first half of the twentieth century? Ethnic cleansing is analyzed here as a result of the formation of democratic nation-states, the international order based on them, and European modernity in general. Almost all mass-scale population removals were rationally and precisely organized and carried out in cold blood, with revenge, hatred and other strong emotions playing only a minor role. This book not only considers the majority of population removals which occurred in Eastern Europe, but is also an encompassing, comparative study including Western Europe, interrogating the motivations of Western statesmen and their involvement in large-scale population removals. It also reaches beyond the European continent and considers the reverberations of colonial rule and ethnic cleansing in the former British colonies.




Everyday Life in the Balkans


Book Description

Everyday Life in the Balkans gathers the work of leading scholars across disciplines to provide a broad overview of the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. This region has long been characterized as a place of instability and political turmoil, from World War I, through the Yugoslav Wars, and even today as debate continues over issues such as the influx of refugees or the expansion of the European Union. However, the work gathered here moves beyond the images of war and post-socialist stagnation which dominate Western media coverage of the region to instead focus on the lived experiences of the people in these countries. Contributors consider a wide range of issues including family dynamics, gay rights, war memory, religion, cinema, fashion, and politics. Using clear language and engaging examples, Everyday Life in the Balkans provides the background context necessary for an enlightened conversation about the policies, economics, and culture of the region.




Regional Economic Outlook, November 2017, Europe


Book Description

The European recovery is strengthening and broadening appreciably. Real GDP growth is projected at 2.4 percent in 2017, up from 1.7 percent in 2016, before easing to 2.1 percent in 2018. These are large upward revisions—0.5 and 0.2 percentage point for 2017 and 2018, respectively—relative to the April World Economic Outlook. The European recovery is spilling over to the rest of the world, contributing significantly to global growth. In a few advanced and many emerging economies, unemployment rates have returned to precrisis levels. Most emerging market European economies are now seeing robust wage growth. In many parts of Europe, however, wage growth is sluggish despite falling unemployment.




Changing Youth Values in Southeast Europe


Book Description

What shapes the cultural, political and ideological values of young people living in Southeastern Europe? Which identities matter to them? How are their values changing, and how can they be changed? Who is changing them? Europe’s periphery is the testing ground for the success of European values and identities. The future stability and political coherence of the Union will be determined in large measure by identity issues in this region. This book examines the ways in which ethnic and national values and identities have been surpassed as the overriding focus in the lives of the region’s youth. Employing bottom-up, ethnographic, and interview-based approaches, it explores when and where ethnic and national identification processes become salient. Using intra-national and international comparisons of youth populations of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, contributors uncover the mechanisms by which ethnic identities are evoked, reproduced and challenged. In addition to exploring political, regional cultural generational and class identities, the contributors examine wider questions of European unity. This volume offers a corrective to previous thinking about youth ethnic identities and will prove useful to scholars in political science and sociology studying issues of ethnic and national identities and nationalism, as well as youth cultures and identities.