Klaus Roth

Christian Voss

Jasna Čapo

Migration caused by European wars and the collapse of the Soviet Union is analysed comparitively under the headings of (co-)ethnic migration and ethnically privileged migration. Particular attention is paid to the question of what happened to these co-ethnic groups after their resettlement in their putative ethnic homeland.

Central and Eastern European Contexts

Co-ethnic Migrations Compared

Robert Hayden

Migrations have moulded Balkan societies. In the multiethnic empires migrations were very common, and in the modern era, economic reasons led millions of people to go abroad as overseas emigrants before World War I, as Gastarbeiter in the 1960s and 70s, or as economic migrants since 1990. In addition, many people had to leave their homes as political refugees or as victims of ethnic cleansing. But Balkan countries were and are also hosts to immigrants and refugees, and they have witnessed enormous rural-urban migrations. This volume, the first part of a selection of conference papers, focusses on historical and cultural aspects of migration in, from and to Southeastern Europe.

Historical and cultural aspects

Migration In, From, and to Southeastern Europe

Milena Benovska

The historical upheavals in Southeast Europe since the early 20th century brought about deep transformations of people's everyday lives and their life courses. The concept of ‘life course’ enables the understanding of human lives within their socio-cultural and political contexts, stressing agency and people’s everyday experience. Balkan contexts invite for analyses that bridge political and social changes and their influence on individual life courses. The papers discuss problems such as family life and parenthood, ages and ageing, life-cycle rituals and the artistic expressions devoted to them. The authors present manifestations of the social differentiation and cultural multiplicity under post-socialist or post-colonial conditions – from developing contemporary global life styles among the emerging urban middle class to the ghettoization of some social or age groups. This volume focusses on developing family cultures, on experiencing socialization and age, on ‘old’ and ‘new’ life cycle rituals and their artistic representations in contemporary Southeast Europe.

Part 1: Childhood, Youth, Old Age, Work and Rituals

Balkan Life Courses. Part 1

Jutta Lauth Bacas

Jennifer Cash

In southeast Europe, more than 20 years of rapid change under the combined impact of transformation, globalization, and EU integration have deeply affected the structures of everyday life and have produced a variety of (post-)modern lifestyles. This book's contributions focus on the changing practices and patterns of everyday life. The concepts of multiple modernities and post-modernity appear to be particularly appropriate for a region in which everyday life is marked by often sharp contrasts: the coexistence of modern and traditional labor relations and legal concepts * the return to traditional religions and the adherence to new religious forms * the enthusiasm for modern communication technologies * the reliance on national identification. Understanding these paths to (post-)modernity is relevant for those generally interested in processes of socio-cultural change, but particularly for those interested in the Balkans. (Series: Ethnologia Balkanica - Vol. 16)

Southeast European (Post)Modernities. Part 2

Ulf Brunnbauer

Southeastern Europe is often portrayed as an area plagued by endemic nationalisms, a view that seems to be confirmed by the break-up of Yugoslavia. However, a closer look shows that the nation is not the only territorial unit of identification. Regions play an important role as well, especially those that look back on traditions that differ from those of the national state. Thus, the end of socialism also brought forward regional movements which articulated opposition to the dominance of the centralized state. These developments are furthered by the integration into the European Union, whose policy of a "Europe of the Regions" demands strong regional centres for the administration of structural funds and for the empowerment of the regions. The contributions to this volume address the dynamics of regions, regionalism and regional identities in present Southeast Europe, but also look into the history of individual regions. They provide ample material for understanding the complex nature of territorial identification in this rapidly changing part of Europe.

Region, Regional Identity and Regionalism in Southeastern Europe

More than 20 years of rapid political, economic, social, and cultural change have turned Southeast Europe into a laboratory of transformative processes - processes that have deeply affected the structures of everyday life and that have resulted in a variety of (post-)modern life styles. The contributions by native and foreign researchers to this first of two volumes shed light on the changing practices and patterns of everyday life in Southeast Europe, many of which differ from those in other parts of Europe. The concepts of multiple modernities and post-modernity appear to be highly appropriate for a region in which - under the combined impact of post-socialist transformation, globalization, and EU integration - everyday life is marked by sharp dichotomies and tensions. Understanding these paths to (post-)modernity is relevant for those interested in the Balkans, as well as for those generally interested in processes of socio-cultural change. (Series: Ethnologia Balkanica - Vol. 15)

Southeast European (post)modernities

The contributions to this second volume focus equally on tangible and intangible dimensions of Southeast European regions. They represent the region both as a territorial unit and as a mental construct laden with symbolic meaning. The papers demonstrate that regions, be it the entire Balkan Peninsula or be it a small area somewhere in the mountains, can become palpable, visible, and audible. They can produce culture and they can, at the same time, be products of culture: regions can be constructs of those who inhabit them - or of spatial planning from "above". In any case, both the physical and the symbolic regions are a very relevant issue in Southeast Europe, serving purposes of spatial, ethnic, religious or even professional identification, or of politically motivated border-drawing.

Rolf Wilhelm Brednich

Helge Gerndt

Hermann Bausinger

Hans-Jörg Uther

Ulrich Marzolph

Heidrun Alzheimer

Wolfgang Brückner

Daniel Drascek

Ines Köhler-Zülch

Doris Boden

Susanne Friede

Christine Shojaei Kawan

Dieses umfassende Nachschlagewerk bündelt die Ergebnisse von fast zwei Jahrhunderten internationaler Forschung im Bereich volkstümlicher Erzähltradition. Die Autoren vergleichen die reichen Sammelbestände mündlich und schriftlich überlieferter Erzählungen aus den verschiedensten Ethnien und zeigen die sozialen, historischen, geistigen und religiösen Hintergründe auf.

Suchen - Verführung

Asker Kartari

The history of the Balkan Peninsula of the last two centuries is marked by deep transformations and upheavals. The emergence and disappearance of states, ethnic conflicts and wars, changes of political systems, economic crises, migration movements, and natural disasters are the more visible of such upheavals. Most of them have been experienced as deep crises that forced people to adapt to often radically new situations. All too often crisis management became a permanent way of life. The included essays focus on the cultures of crisis and on the reactions of societies and individuals to them: on their impact on everyday life, on peoples' strategies of coping, on the processes of adaptation, and on peoples' attitudes. (Series: Ethnologia Balkanica, Vol. 19) [Subject: Sociology, Balkan Studies, Politics, Migration, Crisis Management]

Cultures of Crisis in Southeast Europe

Einige zentrale Probleme der EU-Integration der post-sozialistischen Lander grunden im geringen institutionellen Vertrauen. Da - als Folge des Sozialismus - gegenuber dem Staat und seinen Institutionen eine "Kultur des offentlichen Misstrauens" herrscht, wird Vertrauen weiterhin primar in informelle soziale Netzwerke investiert: In allen Lebensbereichen kommt der Familie und dem Kreis vertrauenswurdiger Freunde, Mitschuler, Kollegen und Nachbarn eine uberragende Bedeutung zu. 18 Volkskundler, Ethnologen, Soziologen und Historiker prasentieren hier ihre empirischen Studien in Bulgarien, Estland, Polen, Rumanien, Russland, Serbien, Tschechien und der Slowakei. Sie zeigen den graduellen Wandel der Netzwerke wie auch nationale Unterschiede im Ausmass an offentlichem und privatem Vertrauen auf.

Klaus Roth

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