From besnik at alb-net.com Sun Dec 5 19:19:52 1999 From: besnik at alb-net.com (Besnik Pula) Date: Sun, 5 Dec 1999 19:19:52 -0500 Subject: [ALST-L] Fwd: Conference Announcement Message-ID: --- begin forwarded text INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE October 19-22, 2000 CALL FOR PAPERS The Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict Research Group at the University of Western Ontario is pleased to host an International Conference: "Diasporas and Transnational Identities" The conference will focus on the politics and geography of diasporas; in particular the impact transnational identities and the culture of exile have on the inter-state system and on the mainstream notion of international relations. Proposals are invited for the presentation of scholarly papers on the following themes: - Diaspora and globalization: The impact on world politics - Politics of Diasporas: The impact on individual states - Diaspora and the utopian imagination - Transnational identities and the culture of exile - Peoples on the margins: The geography of Diasporas - Art and representation: The iconography of Diasporas - Women in diasporic communities: guardians of custom, harbingers of change? - Diasporas and dialogism The conference language will be English. Limited subsidies to cover travel costs will be available. The deadline for the submission of papers is April 30, 2000. The conference is open to the social sciences and humanities. Ph.D. candidates and post-docs are particularly encouraged to apply. Dr. Mireya Folch-Serra Department of Geography University of Western Ontario London, Ontario Canada N6A 5C2 Phone: 519-661-2111 Fax: 519-661-3750 For additional information contact: dmitrie- at julian.uwo.ca Or click on: http://publish.uwo.ca/~dmitriev/center.html Mireya Folch-Serra Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Geography University of Western Ontario London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada Tel: (519) 679-2111, ex 5006 Fax: (519) 661-3750 New email: folc- at julian.uwo.ca --- end forwarded text From besnik at alb-net.com Mon Dec 6 12:02:24 1999 From: besnik at alb-net.com (Besnik Pula) Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 12:02:24 -0500 Subject: [ALST-L] Fwd: lecture Dec 07 Message-ID: --- begin forwarded text Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 10:14:05 +0000 (GMT) From: Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers Subject: lecture Dec 07 Centre for South-East European Studies SSEES 21 Russell Square, WC1 Tuesday 7 December 6 pm Middle Common Room Milan Prodanovi? University of Novi Sad, Professor of Urbanism, member of the alternative academic network Serbia, and the ecourban workshop will speak on Chances of Re-construction of Civic Life in the Balkans Wine will be served RSVP to Andrew Gardner, Room 11, or e-mail --- end forwarded text From besnik at alb-net.com Tue Dec 7 23:56:19 1999 From: besnik at alb-net.com (Besnik Pula) Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 23:56:19 -0500 Subject: [ALST-L] Fwd: Encylcopedia of Music: Albanian entry & Dance Message-ID: --- begin forwarded text From: Albanian Orthodox Church Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 19:36:53 EST ALBANIAN MUSIC: The new volume of the Garland Encyclopedia of World music is devoted to the traditional music of Europe.Prof. Jane Sugarman has done her usual excellent work on the chapter devoted to Albanian music; I am sure you would enjoy it and many of the other articles. I wanted to pass on two citations from the bibliography which are about Albanian dance, in case you don't have them. They are: Reineck, Janet S. 1986. "The Place of the Dance Event in Social Organization and Social Change Among Albanians in Kosovo, Yugoslavia." UCLA Journal of Dance Ethnology 10:27-38. Reineck, Janet S. 1986 "Wedding Dances of Kosovo, Yugoslavia: A Structural and Contextual Analysis." M.A. thesis, University of California at Los Angeles. Suzanne Camino --- end forwarded text From besnik at alb-net.com Wed Dec 8 16:44:41 1999 From: besnik at alb-net.com (Besnik Pula) Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 16:44:41 -0500 Subject: [ALST-L] Fwd: CFP: The Dialectics of Disintegration and Integration in the Balkans, Frankfurt/Oder Message-ID: --- begin forwarded text Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 16:48:24 +0100 To: balkans at egroups.com From: Florian Bieber Subject: [balkans] CFP: The Dialectics of Disintegration and Integration in the Balkans, Frankfurt/Oder Call for Papers: The Dialectics of Disintegration and Integration in the Balkans, Frankfurt/Oder, February 2000 If you are interested in participating in the following workshop contact Mr. Lapinski until December 20 at lapinski at euv-frankfurt-o.de and indicate the suggested topic for the paper and the preferred weekend in February 2000. The beginnings of the process of system transformation was followed by strong disintegrative tendencies. These political, economic and social processes of decay became particularly visible in multinational post-communist countries, especially in former Yugoslavia. It is of interest to explore the question whether this disintegration could be interpreted as a variant of end the real existing socialism. Is it a process conflicting with globalization or rather a preparatory phase in which societal factors fragment in order to regroup along new lines of cleavage? Can the transformation be understood as process which replace on type of integration with another? If yes, what is the new integrative force? The reconceptualization of societal life applies not only to the issue of potential integration of the Balkan Countries into the European Union. Another as important issue is the development of foundations for a multiethnic and transcultural Coexistence and/or good neighborliness in the region. The political events in former Yugoslavia have lead to strong changes in the world view of many inhabitants of these new countries. Old historical myths, national cultural traditions and identities associated with them came to the foreground and influence the behavior of the actors in the past decade. From this point of view, some research aspects for understanding of the transformation process in Southeastern Europe gathers fundamental importance. Which types of world views emerged with the disintegration of Yugoslavia? Which projections into the spheres of economics and politics can be observed? Which risks, hurdles and opportunities have emerged from the 'Balkanization' of the Balkans for future integration in the region? --- end forwarded text From besnik at alb-net.com Wed Dec 8 16:43:25 1999 From: besnik at alb-net.com (Besnik Pula) Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 16:43:25 -0500 Subject: [ALST-L] Fwd: Mendeloff's paper:"Sympathy for the Devil: Historical Beliefs, Mass Education, and the Russian Reaction to the Kosovo War. Message-ID: --- begin forwarded text Date: Wed, 08 Dec 1999 17:54:48 +0100 To: balkans at egroups.com From: Wim de Haar Subject: [balkans] FW: Mendeloff's paper:"Sympathy for the Devil: Historical Beliefs, Mass Education, and the Russian Reaction to the Kosovo War. David Mendeloff wrote a paper titled "Sympathy for the Devil: Historical Beliefs, Mass Education, and the Russian Reaction to the Kosovo War" prepared for delivery at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Atlanta, Ga., September 2-5, 1999. You can find the paper at http://pro.harvard.edu/papers/007/007020MendeloffD.pdf Paper (requires Acrobat Reader) | Keywords: Russia, Kosovo, nationalism, misperceptions, ideas and foreign policy Abstract: This paper seeks to explain the Russian popular and elite reaction to the Kosovo war: its uncritical support for Serbia and vitriolic anti-Western sentiment. The extreme reaction to NATO bombing was not necessarily rational or consistent with Russia's strategic interests. This paper argues that the response was primarily the result of false or distorted beliefs, assumptions and images found in popular Russian views of history. Those historical views -- purveyed for decades through Russian mass public education -- primed the Russian public and elites for their response to the Kosovo war. Specifically, popular Soviet and Russian historical interpretations of Russia's role in the Balkans have embodied generally false beliefs and assumptions about the foreign policy motives and interests of Russia, Serbia and the West. These false ideas, and the distorted images they create and project, in turn primed both Russian elites and society for anti-Western and uncritical pro-Serb sentiment in response to the Kosovo crisis. The paper examines the beliefs, assumptions and images found in the Russian response to the Kosovo war and compares that response to the ideas conveyed through Russia's portrayal of its past history in the Balkans. Through an analysis of the most widely-used Soviet and Russian history textbooks, it finds that the Russians reacted to the conflict in Yugoslavia in a way that was highly consistent with, if not conditioned by, its view of history. This argument has at least three theoretical implications: it illuminates the significance of historical ideas on international behavior; it challenges traditional psychological explanations for the sources of perceptions and misperceptions; and it goes beyond basic constructivist approaches to international relations theory by identifying the source of those ideas that have particular foreign policy relevance. Regards, Wim de Haar --- end forwarded text From besnik at alb-net.com Sat Dec 11 20:45:56 1999 From: besnik at alb-net.com (Besnik Pula) Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 20:45:56 -0500 Subject: [ALST-L] Lecture on Kosova, Tuesday, December 14, 1999 Message-ID: The Transregional Center for Democratic Studies presents Fron Nazi Journalist Director of Prishtina Office, East West Management Institute Kosovo - Gone Wrong? High Expectations or Lack of Vision for Development and Reconstruction Date: Tuesday, December 14, 1999 Time: 6:15 pm Place: Wolff Conference Room (242), 65 Fifth Avenue at 13th Street Info: Please call (212) 229-5580 From besnik at alb-net.com Wed Dec 15 10:16:36 1999 From: besnik at alb-net.com (Besnik Pula) Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 10:16:36 -0500 Subject: [ALST-L] Fwd: Albanian Studies Tenure-track position Message-ID: --- begin forwarded text ... in case any one of you has not received this position announcement in 'Albanology' As always, Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers (SSEES/UCL Nash Fellow for Albanian Studies) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 13:05:49 +0200 From: Betty Dimitriadou To: sschwand , Subject: Tenure-track position The Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia, in Thessaloniki Greece is seeking applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the subject of "Albanology: Social History and Inter-cultural Relations". The deadline for receipt of completed applications as prescribed by the Greek legislation is January 3, 2000. Applications should be sent to: Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies University of Macedonia 156, Egnatia str. 54006 Thessaloniki Greece Tel: +30 31 891 376 - +30 31 891 387 --- end forwarded text From besnik at alb-net.com Sun Dec 19 14:19:10 1999 From: besnik at alb-net.com (Besnik Pula) Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 14:19:10 -0500 Subject: [ALST-L] Fwd: More on Glenny's Book Message-ID: --- begin forwarded text Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 18:41:05 -0800 (PST) From: Agron Alibali Subject: ALBSA: More on Glenny's Book To: albsa at Web-Depot.COM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) December 18, 1999, Saturday Pg. 03 Books: A land that is made of myths Mark Urban argues that an epic work reinforces the bloody stereotype it sets out to demolish By Mark Urban The Balkans 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers by Misha Glenny Granta, pounds 25 pounds 21 (free p&p) 0541 557222 IN EMBARKING on The Balkans 1804-1999, Misha Glenny set himself a monumental task: to catalogue the history of an ill-defined region during two turbulent centuries. The difficulties of plotting such a historical journey are legion - not least that accounts of events are written in so many languages and from such deeply hostile, opposing points of view. When the express of Glenny's narrative (and even 662 pages is a race through such complexity) builds up full steam, it is magnificent. His account of King Zog's ruthless rise to power in Albania is captivating, horrific and funny: On those rare occasions when he could not avoid venturing on to the open street, his mother would act as his chaperone. According to the strict code of the gjakmarrje, the blood feud, a marked man could not be killed if accompanied in public by a woman. His description of life in Vienna at the beginning of this century is a tour de force. The rotting Hapsburg system was so preoccupied with its inner crisis that publicly it permitted only discussion of trivialities such as the latest opera. Glenny notes that the political elite sought "to divert the attention of the people from politics by keeping them constantly 'amused'. Thus it became a loyal duty to be 'merry'. " Glenny tries to give the narrative shape and coherence by demolishing the concept of "this imagined Balkans - a world where people are motivated not by rational considerations but by a mysterious congenital bloodthirstiness". But barely a page goes by without evidence that confirms this image. A propaganda poster of the Second Balkan War of 1913 was described by the Carnegie Commission as showing "a Greek evzone holding a living Bulgarian soldier with both hands, while he gnaws the face of his victim with his teeth". Glenny uses endless doom-laden section headings and his account of the massacres carried out by Turkish troops in 1922 serves as an example of his Grand Guignol style: "Smyrna sank in the blood of Armenians and Greeks, and the crazed people begged any non-Turk for refuge." Glenny's attempts to tell us that these people are not at all brutal or volatile seem like some curious throwback to Balkan communism - every time you see something undesirable through the windows of the train, he bursts in to pull the blinds down. Take his description of the holocaust in Bulgaria, which, he says, "confounds the Balkans stereotype". A few pages later Glenny reveals that Tsar Boris halted the Jewish deportations in 1943 because "he could no longer be confident of a German victory". This fuels the belief that Balkan leaders make the Borgias look principled. Glenny's main aim in these outbursts is to convince us that there have been many occasions when the outside world shared responsibility for triggering Balkan conflicts. This is obviously true, and any intelligent reader would deduce it from a less ideological historical account. But it is the locals alone who must bear responsibility for the eye-gouging, baby-beheading and pillage carried out with their own hands and described here at such length. My own experiences convince me that there is a post-Ottoman syndrome, not only in the Balkans but in the Middle East and Caucasus too. Its hallmarks are an intense sense of cultural identity (resulting from the petty restrictions on non-Muslims imposed by the Ottomans) coupled with volatility arising from the geography of the inter-communal patchwork. In times of crisis, the indefensibility of many settlements produces first hysteria, then a desire to "get your retaliation in first", and finally a belief that peace requires the permanent eviction of one's neighbours. Glenny's book provides vital understanding. Had he succeeded fully, this would have been a masterpiece. Even if he does not, the journey is worth taking. He may fail, but it is a heroic failure and - to employ a stereotype - just the kind they admire in the Balkans. --- end forwarded text