EU, Europe Unfinished - Mediating Europe and the Balkans in a Time of Crisis

What is the meaning of the Balkans in the early 21st 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.

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