Everyday Life in the Balkans [Paperback]

Everyday Life in the Balkansgathers the work of leading scholars across disciplines to provide a broad overview of the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. This region has long been characterized as a place of instability and political turmoil, from World War I, through the Yugoslav Wars, and even today as debate continues over issues such as the influx of refugees or the expansion of the European Union. However, the work gathered here moves beyond the images of war and post-socialist stagnation which dominate Western media coverage of the region to instead focus on the lived experiences of the people in these countries. Contributors consider a wide range of issues including family dynamics, gay rights, war memory, religion, cinema, fashion, and politics. Using clear language and engaging examples,Everyday Life in the Balkansprovides the background context necessary for an enlightened conversation about the policies, economics, and culture of the region.

Milica Baki-Hayden teaches at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Pittsburgh.

arna Brkovi is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg. She is author ofManaging Ambiguity: How Clientalism, Citzenship and Power Shapes Personhood in Bosnia and Herzegovinaand editor with Stef Jansen and Vanja elebii ofNegotiating Social Relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Semiperipheral Entanglements.

Keith Brown teaches in the Department of International Relations at Brown University.

Ana Croegaert is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of New Orleans.

Albert Doja is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Lille, France, and Chair of Anthropology of the National Academy of Sciences, Albania.