Debating the End of Yugoslavia: (Southeast European Studies)

Countries rarely disappear off the map. In the 20th century, only a few countries shared this fate with Yugoslavia. The dissolution of Yugoslavia led to the largest war in Europe since 1945, massive human rights violations and over 100,000 victims. Debating the End of Yugoslavia is less an attempt to re-write the dissolution of Yugoslavia, or to provide a different narrative, than to take stock and reflect on the scholarship to date. New sources and data offer fresh avenues of research avoiding the passion of the moment that often characterized research published during the wars and provide contemporary perspectives on the dissolution. The book outlines the state of the debate rather than focusing on controversies alone and maps how different scholarly communities have reflected on the dissolution of the country, what arguments remain open in scholarly discourse and highlights new, innovative paths to study the period.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction, Florian Bieber. Part I The State of the Debate: On the current and future research agenda for Southeast Europe, Eric Gordy; Yugoslavia’s dissolution: between the Scylla of facts and the Charybdis of interpretation, Josip Glaurdić; Disputes about the dissolution of Yugoslavia and its wake, Sabrina P. Ramet; Political science and the Yugoslav dissolution: the evolution of a discipline, V.P. (Chip) Gagnon, Jr.; Does scholarly literature on the breakup of Yugoslavia travel well?, Nebojša Vladisavljević; The dissolution of Yugoslavia as reflected upon by post-Yugoslav sociologists, Sergej Flere; Studying `reality’ as `it is’, Reana Senjković; Debating the end of Yugoslavia in post-Milošević Serbia, Hilde Katrine Haug; Social inequalities and the study of Yugoslavia’s dissolution, Rory Archer. Part II New Directions in Research: What do we know about the Lebenswelt of Yugoslavs?, Armina Galijaš; Milošević posing as saviour of the communist regime: a reassessment, Christian Costamagna; Serbian political elites and the Vance-Owen Peace Plan: ICTY documents as historical sources, Vladimir Petrović; Before the storm: Croatian efforts to integrate Republic of Serb Krajina from early 1992 to August 1995, Nikica Barić; Revisiting nationalism in Yugoslavia: an inside-out view of the Nationalist Movement in Kosovo, Gëzim Krasniqi; The Yugoslav chronotope: histories, memories and the future of Yugoslav studies, Ljubica Spaskovska. Index.

About the Author :
Florian Bieber is a Professor of Southeast European Studies and director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, Austria. He is a Visiting Professor at the Nationalism Studies Program at Central European University and has taught at the University of Kent, Cornell University, the University of Bologna and the University of Sarajevo. He was also the editor-in-chief of Nationalities Papers. Dr Armina Galijas is a research assistant at the Centre for Southeast European Studies of the University of Graz. Rory Archer works as an assistant at the Centre for Southeast European Studies.

Review :
'In this anthology, a multidisciplinary group of scholars take stock of the massive literature surrounding the collapse of socialist Yugoslavia. By identifying "blind spots" and methodological lapses, the best of these chapters push forward and chart a path for numerous research projects that will further advance our understanding of both Yugoslavia's demise and link this scholarship to other cases.' Christian Axboe Nielsen, Aarhus University, Denmark 'Overall this book is a timely addition to studies on not only the dissolution of Yugoslavia, but the concepts related to it - both in the ways they have shaped discussions over the decades, and in their potential to impact future scholarly discourse on the region. The accessibility of the volume coupled with the variety of subjects tackled allows it to be of interest to students, scholars, and even those with passing interest in the region, which is not something managed often in works aimed primarily at academic audiences.' LSE Review of Books 'Overall, this volume offers a number of insights into where the state of Yugoslav studies rests in 2014. Good works are out there, but it is nice to see the recognition of the problematic studies that still resonate among those scholars who have agendas or who are unfamiliar with the language, culture, and unique history of the Balkans. We can hopefully move forward and craft scholarship that takes these topics seriously and on their own merits. With that, I think the best audience for this book is among the budding graduate students and young faculty seeking to see how they can best fit their research agendas into Yugoslav studies.' Canadian Slavonic Papers