EU, Europe Unfinished

Mediating Europe and the Balkans in a Time of Crisis

Edited by Zlatan Krajina and Nebojša Blanuša

What is the meaning of the Balkans in the early 21^st century? Former Yugoslav countries seek a self-flattering alliance with ‘the West’ via EU membership, while the Union’s citizens increasingly declare to be ‘Eurosceptic’. At the same time, economic turmoil in countries like Greece confronts massive incoming waves of refugees, for whom Europe’s south-eastern borders are the nearest shelter. In this time of crisis, the Balkans return on the agenda as a parable of Europe’s haunting questions about its future.

EU, Europe Unfinished brings together established and emerging media and cultural scholars to explore colliding visions of space and identity within a declining continent. Whereas Europe imagines the Balkans to be the source of its nearest trouble, the region envisions Europe as a refuge from ongoing post-socialist transition. The book adopts a variety of critical perspectives – from media and policy analysis to anthropology, art history and autobiography – to investigate where Europe is headed with the Balkans in its skein, 25 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Rowman & Littlefield International

Pages: 256 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-78348-978-7 • Hardback • September 2016 • $163.00 • (£127.00)

978-1-78348-979-4 • Paperback • September 2016 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

978-1-78348-980-0 • eBook • September 2016 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

Series: Radical Cultural Studies

Subjects: Political Science / World / European, Social Science / Human Geography, Social Science / Comparative Cultural Studies

EU, Europe Unfinished

Mediating Europe and the Balkans in a Time of Crisis

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

What is the meaning of the Balkans in the early 21^st century? Former Yugoslav countries seek a self-flattering alliance with ‘the West’ via EU membership, while the Union’s citizens increasingly declare to be ‘Eurosceptic’. At the same time, economic turmoil in countries like Greece confronts massive incoming waves of refugees, for whom Europe’s south-eastern borders are the nearest shelter. In this time of crisis, the Balkans return on the agenda as a parable of Europe’s haunting questions about its future.

EU, Europe Unfinished brings together established and emerging media and cultural scholars to explore colliding visions of space and identity within a declining continent. Whereas Europe imagines the Balkans to be the source of its nearest trouble, the region envisions Europe as a refuge from ongoing post-socialist transition. The book adopts a variety of critical perspectives – from media and policy analysis to anthropology, art history and autobiography – to investigate where Europe is headed with the Balkans in its skein, 25 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Rowman & Littlefield International

Pages: 256 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-78348-978-7 • Hardback • September 2016 • $163.00 • (£127.00)

978-1-78348-979-4 • Paperback • September 2016 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

978-1-78348-980-0 • eBook • September 2016 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

Series: Radical Cultural Studies

Subjects: Political Science / World / European, Social Science / Human Geography, Social Science / Comparative Cultural Studies

Author

Zlatan Krajina is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Nebojša Blanuša is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements / Introduction: Why the Balkans, Why Now, Who Cares, Zlatan Krajina / Part I: Europeanising / 1. Re-assembling and Disciplining Social Europe: Turbulent Moments and Fragile F(r)ictions, Noémi Lendvai and Paul Stubbs / 2. European Media Policy Limitations in the Balkans: Observations on TV Pink BH, Monika Metykova / Part II: Renaming / 3. The Renaming Machine in the Balkans as a Strategy of “Accumulation by Dispossession”, Suzana Milevska/ 4. Balkan Mimesis: Kitsch as a Geographic Concept, Ivaylo Ditchev / Part III: Representing / 5. ‘Europe Unfinished’ in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The 2014 Protests in the International Media, Eunice Castro Seixas / 6. The Balkans Go Global: Mikhail Veshim’s The English Neighbour and the post-socialist variations on “the Balkan” theme, Milena Marinkova / 7. EUrientation Anxieties: Islamic Sexualities and the Construction of Europeanness, Piro Rexhepi / Part IV: Accessing / 8. Transnational Aesthetics: Apprehending Time Between the Balkans and Europe in Contemporary Art Practices, Uroš Čvoro / 9. How we Survived Europe (and Never Laughed): The Role of Liberal-Humanitarian Utopia in Croatia’s Accession to the EU, Orlanda Obad / 10. The Foreigners, Claudia Ciobanu / Part V: Conclusion / 11. Can Western Europe be at Home in the Balkans?, Slavenka Drakulić, David Morley, Zlatan Krajina and Nebojša Blanuša/ Index / Notes on Contributors

Reviews

Tired of endless discussions of "transition" and "Europeanisation" that never tell you what these terms mean? Consider this: these are words about identity, and identity is fraught with conflict, contradiction and confusion over how people perceive themselves and others. These dilemmas are at the heart of political and social disputes involving Europe and the Balkans, and this collection offers a fascinating and challenging ride through them.
— Eric Gordy, Senior Lecturer in Southeast European Politics, UCL

EU, Europe Unfinished is an important twist to the conversation on the Europe-Balkan relationship, exploring what it means for “Europe to find a home” in the Balkans. This rich, multi-disciplinary volume provides thought-provoking analyses of how the EU’s eastward expansion is remaking—and being remade by—the societies of the Balkans.
— Madigan Andrea Fichter, Assistant Professor, Holy Family University, Philadelphia

[…] a volume concerned with questions related to the Balkans and EU/Europe, about change or even lack of change, about self and difference, that merits being read with patience and using the pen, not only to understand the opinions of the authors, but also to reflect on some questions that the different texts could reveal in our mind, or some answers to our own questions.
— Südosteuropa: Journal of Politics and Society, 66.3