Synopses & Reviews
Presenting a radical leftist perspective on the recent history of the Balkan region, this collection of essays, commentaries, and interviews argues that the dismantling of Yugoslavia is just another milestone in the long history of colonialism, conquest, and interventionism. Written between 2002 and 2010, this volume addresses significant happenings such as the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic, the supervised "independence" of Kosovo, and the occupation of Bosnia. In addition to this contemporary look, this exploration reveals the politically progressive traditions of the Balkan peoples as evidenced by their anti-Ottoman, anticrusade, and antifascist actions in addition to their embracing of socialism, feminism, and new social experiments.
Review
"These thoughtful essays offer us a vivid picture of the Balkans experience from the inside, with its richness and complexity, tragedy and hope, and lessons from which we can all draw inspiration and insight." Noam Chomsky
Review
"The history of Yugoslavia is of global relevance, and there's no one better placed to reveal, share, and analyse it than Andrej Grubacic. From the struggle of the Roma to the liberating possibilities of 'federalism from below', this collection of essays is required and radical reading." Raj Patel, author, Stuffed and Starved
Review
"This book of essays shows a deep grasp of Yugoslav history and social theory. It is a groundbreaking book, representing a bold departure from existing ideas, and an imaginative view to how a just society in the Balkans might be constructed." Howard Zinn, author, A People's History of the United States
Review
"The first radical account of Yugoslav history after Yugoslavia, surveying this complex history with imagination and insight. Grubacic's book provides essential information and perspective for all those interested in the recent history of this part of the world." Michael Albert, author, Parecon
Review
"Grubacics work is both an important chronicle of contemporary anti-colonial struggles in the Balkans and a critical text in shaping an emergent balkanized” vision for the region and its peoples; an indigenous call to arms from which all stand to learn." Politics Respun
Synopsis
Don't Mourn, Balkanize is the first book written from the radical left perspective on the topic of Yugoslav space after the dismantling of the country. In this collection of essays, commentaries, and interviews, written between 2002 and 2010, Andrej Grubačic speaks about the politics of balkanization--about the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, neoliberal structural adjustment, humanitarian intervention, supervised independence of Kosovo, occupation of Bosnia, and other episodes of Power which he situates in the long historical context of colonialism, conquest, and intervention.
But he also tells the story of the balkanization of politics, of the Balkans seen from below. A space of bogumils--those medieval heretics who fought against Crusades and churches--and a place of anti-Ottoman resistance; a home to hajduks and klefti, pirates and rebels; a refuge of feminists and socialists, of antifascists and partisans; of new social movements of occupied and recovered factories; a place of dreamers of all sorts struggling both against provincial "peninsularity" as well as against occupations, foreign interventions and that process which is now, in a strange inversion of history, often described by that fashionable term, "balkanization."
For Grubačic, political activist and radical sociologist, Yugoslavia was never just a country--it was an idea. Like the Balkans itself, it was a project of inter-ethnic co-existence, a trans-ethnic and pluricultural space of many diverse worlds. Political ideas of inter-ethnic cooperation and mutual aid as we had known them in Yugoslavia were destroyed by the beginning of the 1990s--disappeared in the combined madness of ethno-nationalist hysteria and humanitarian imperialism. This remarkable collection chronicles political experiences of the author who is himself a Yugoslav, a man without a country; but also, as an anarchist, a man without a state. This book is an important reading for those on the Left who are struggling to understand the intertwined legacy of inter-ethnic conflict and inter-ethnic solidarity in contemporary, post-Yugoslav history.
About the Author
Andrej Grubacic is a historian, sociologist, and a visiting professor of sociology at the University of San Francisco. He is the coauthor of Wobblies and Zapatistas and editor of the Staughton Lynd Reader. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is a historian and professor at California State UniversityHayward. She is the author of The Great Sioux Nation, Red Dirt: Growing up Okie, and Roots of Resistance. They both live in San Francisco.