University of Glasgow Yugoslavia, the Former and Future: Reflections by Scholars from the Region by Payam Akhavan; Robert Howse Review by: John B. Allcock Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 48, No. 5 (Jul., 1996), pp. 857-858 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/153011 . Accessed: 25/06/2014 04:21 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. . Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and University of Glasgow are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Europe-Asia Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 62.122.78.49 on Wed, 25 Jun 2014 04:21:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancis http://www.jstor.org/stable/153011?origin=JSTOR-pdf http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp REVIEWS REVIEWS 'the differences between the Baltic and Nordic states far outweigh the similarities' (p. 381): the goal of Scandinavian unity has proved elusive in the past; whilst the failure of Poland and the Baltic republics to overcome mutual hostility and suspicion opened the door to a carve-up of the region by Nazi Germany and the USSR in 1939. Moves towards greater regional integration could be a way of ensuring that history does not repeat itself, although one cannot fail to agree with the author's hope that 'a more democratic Russia will be able to make a more positive and constructive contribution to the Baltic region than its predecessors' (p. 9). For anyone with an interest in these, and other questions such as the nature and origins of nationalism, this book should serve as an invaluable companion. University of Bradford DAVID SMITH Payam Akhavan & Robert Howse (eds), Yugoslavia, the Former and Future: Reflections by Scholars from the Region. Washington: The Brookings Institution, and Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 1995, xxviii + 188 pp., ?25.75 h/b, ?9.95 p/b. WITH THIS VOLUME OF ESSAYS the Brookings Institution maintains the high standard of commen- tary on social and political developments in the former Yugoslavia set by Susan Woodward's Balkan Tragedy. The editors inform us that three purposes are served by the eight essays assembled here, which cover a range of facets of the disintegration process in Yugoslavia. They wish to provide 'an important glimpse into the minds of leading scholars who are concerned with reconciliation and reconstruction in their homeland'; they want to stimulate a 'much needed dialogue' aimed at furthering understanding of the process; and they hope to contribute to the 'demystification' of the Yugoslav Question, freeing discussion from the unhelpful and stereotypical terms in which it has often been couched. To what extent do they achieve these aims? Two of their authors are from Belgrade (Dimitrijevi6 and Janjic), two from Ljubljana (Ne6ak and Luk), three from Zagreb (Pupovac, Puhovski and Vojnic) and one from Sarajevo (Pajic). The reader is offered a thoroughly respectable selection of analytical pieces by leading Yugoslav social scientists, but there is a significant oddity about the composition of this list. It has been a persisting defect of analysis of the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the West that a configuration of interdependent issues has been reduced to a series of discrete conflicts. (First we had the war in Slovenia, then the struggle for Croatia, then the war spread to Bosnia-Herce- govina.) The genesis of the Yugoslav Question, however, encompassed also events and processes in Kosovo, Montenegro, the Sandzak and Macedonia. Although the writers repre- sented here strive to convey that sense of the connectedness of the components of the wider picture, it would have been useful to have heard voices from the provincial periphery (in which, with the exception of Sarajevo, the sharp end of the disintegration process has actually been experienced). This might have been of special value in view of the fact that the issues affecting this peripheral zone remain (on the whole) unaddressed by the Dayton accords. If dialogue is the aim of this collection it is not to be found within its pages. What emerges is a highly complementary configuration of ideas and historical observations. The topics covered by the contributors range widely: the significance of ethnicity; problems of consti- tutional structure; the significance and character of regional economic discrepancies and the conflict which these generated; the nature of linguistic differences; the underdevelopment of civil society and its causes; together with an overview of explanatory frameworks, and a study devoted to the special characteristics of Bosnia-Hercegovina. These fragments build together remarkably well. If there is an element of dialogue involved it is with the flood of 'the differences between the Baltic and Nordic states far outweigh the similarities' (p. 381): the goal of Scandinavian unity has proved elusive in the past; whilst the failure of Poland and the Baltic republics to overcome mutual hostility and suspicion opened the door to a carve-up of the region by Nazi Germany and the USSR in 1939. Moves towards greater regional integration could be a way of ensuring that history does not repeat itself, although one cannot fail to agree with the author's hope that 'a more democratic Russia will be able to make a more positive and constructive contribution to the Baltic region than its predecessors' (p. 9). For anyone with an interest in these, and other questions such as the nature and origins of nationalism, this book should serve as an invaluable companion. University of Bradford DAVID SMITH Payam Akhavan & Robert Howse (eds), Yugoslavia, the Former and Future: Reflections by Scholars from the Region. Washington: The Brookings Institution, and Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 1995, xxviii + 188 pp., ?25.75 h/b, ?9.95 p/b. WITH THIS VOLUME OF ESSAYS the Brookings Institution maintains the high standard of commen- tary on social and political developments in the former Yugoslavia set by Susan Woodward's Balkan Tragedy. The editors inform us that three purposes are served by the eight essays assembled here, which cover a range of facets of the disintegration process in Yugoslavia. They wish to provide 'an important glimpse into the minds of leading scholars who are concerned with reconciliation and reconstruction in their homeland'; they want to stimulate a 'much needed dialogue' aimed at furthering understanding of the process; and they hope to contribute to the 'demystification' of the Yugoslav Question, freeing discussion from the unhelpful and stereotypical terms in which it has often been couched. To what extent do they achieve these aims? Two of their authors are from Belgrade (Dimitrijevi6 and Janjic), two from Ljubljana (Ne6ak and Luk), three from Zagreb (Pupovac, Puhovski and Vojnic) and one from Sarajevo (Pajic). The reader is offered a thoroughly respectable selection of analytical pieces by leading Yugoslav social scientists, but there is a significant oddity about the composition of this list. It has been a persisting defect of analysis of the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the West that a configuration of interdependent issues has been reduced to a series of discrete conflicts. (First we had the war in Slovenia, then the struggle for Croatia, then the war spread to Bosnia-Herce- govina.) The genesis of the Yugoslav Question, however, encompassed also events and processes in Kosovo, Montenegro, the Sandzak and Macedonia. Although the writers repre- sented here strive to convey that sense of the connectedness of the components of the wider picture, it would have been useful to have heard voices from the provincial periphery (in which, with the exception of Sarajevo, the sharp end of the disintegration process has actually been experienced). This might have been of special value in view of the fact that the issues affecting this peripheral zone remain (on the whole) unaddressed by the Dayton accords. If dialogue is the aim of this collection it is not to be found within its pages. What emerges is a highly complementary configuration of ideas and historical observations. The topics covered by the contributors range widely: the significance of ethnicity; problems of consti- tutional structure; the significance and character of regional economic discrepancies and the conflict which these generated; the nature of linguistic differences; the underdevelopment of civil society and its causes; together with an overview of explanatory frameworks, and a study devoted to the special characteristics of Bosnia-Hercegovina. These fragments build together remarkably well. If there is an element of dialogue involved it is with the flood of 857 857 This content downloaded from 62.122.78.49 on Wed, 25 Jun 2014 04:21:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp REVIEWS REVIEWS ill-considered, partisan, atheoretical and confused publications about the region with which we have been bombarded over the past four years. It is in relation to the third of the editors' aims (demystification) that this book scores most highly. Two essays stand out as making a particularly valuable contribution to this end: Vojin Dimitrijevic's study of the way in which the constitutional reforms of 1974-76 inscribed within the very fabric of Yugoslav politics the potential for fission; and Dragomar Vojnic's systematic compilation of economic statistics, documenting the range and character of the development of the economic inequalities which fuelled interrepublican rivalry. If the editors are to be faulted here it is for the incompleteness of the task, as several other aspects of Yugoslav society appear to be prima facie candidates for demystificatory analysis of a similar kind-religion, the mass media, and the military, to name only the most conspicuous omissions. The authors are to be complemented for the impressive level of independence and detach- ment of their work, and the clarity of their judgement, given the fact that they are all writing in media res. What we have here is a demonstration of the fact that 'involvement' in social science is not the same thing as bias or distortion. This book will be of interest beyond the circle of those who follow the affairs of Yugoslavia and its successor states. Throughout the book runs an implicit discussion of the concept of 'post-communism' and its utility. This loose and rather vague concept cries out for comparative analysis. As Puhovski insists: 'The post-communist world ... continues to be divided'. In his editorial introduction Howse poses the question: 'Why did westernization and the moderniza- tion of personal life-styles not lead to liberalism?' This key question cannot be answered within the confines of an analysis of what happened to Yugoslavia. The promise contained within the title of a consideration of the 'future Yugoslavia' is unrealised, and could only be tackled within the framework of a more generous comparative discussion. Howse sets the stage, by pointing to the contradictory nature of the expectations about the nature of 'post-communist' society. He suspends these between a projection derived from Fukuyama, that we are living in a period of 'transition' to a society characterised by democratic politics and a market economy, and a model based upon Mearsheimer, which envisages a return to the features of the past, and in particular the instability of international relations. The contributions assembled here never really address the nature of this choice. One thing is certain, however, and that is that the level at which debate is conducted will need to be pitched at the level so well exemplified here, avoiding the naive optimism which is typical of the pronouncements of many contemporary leading political actors, and the crude notions of a reversion to primordial social character which have recently marred even social-scientific discussion. Given the relatively low price of the paperback edition, I consider this to be the best book which has been produced to date to put into the hands of students of social science (or the more serious general reader) in search of understanding of the disintegration process in Yugoslavia. University of Bradford JOHN B. ALLCOCK Sabrina Petra Ramet & Ljubisa S. Adamovich (eds), Beyond Yugoslavia: Politics, Economics, and Culture in a Shattered Community. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995, x + 502 pp., ?37.00. THIS BOOK IS A SMALL VICTIM of the post-1991 fighting that ended Yugoslavia. Communication problems meant that the editors were unable to obtain contributors who could do justice to the ill-considered, partisan, atheoretical and confused publications about the region with which we have been bombarded over the past four years. It is in relation to the third of the editors' aims (demystification) that this book scores most highly. Two essays stand out as making a particularly valuable contribution to this end: Vojin Dimitrijevic's study of the way in which the constitutional reforms of 1974-76 inscribed within the very fabric of Yugoslav politics the potential for fission; and Dragomar Vojnic's systematic compilation of economic statistics, documenting the range and character of the development of the economic inequalities which fuelled interrepublican rivalry. If the editors are to be faulted here it is for the incompleteness of the task, as several other aspects of Yugoslav society appear to be prima facie candidates for demystificatory analysis of a similar kind-religion, the mass media, and the military, to name only the most conspicuous omissions. The authors are to be complemented for the impressive level of independence and detach- ment of their work, and the clarity of their judgement, given the fact that they are all writing in media res. What we have here is a demonstration of the fact that 'involvement' in social science is not the same thing as bias or distortion. This book will be of interest beyond the circle of those who follow the affairs of Yugoslavia and its successor states. Throughout the book runs an implicit discussion of the concept of 'post-communism' and its utility. This loose and rather vague concept cries out for comparative analysis. As Puhovski insists: 'The post-communist world ... continues to be divided'. In his editorial introduction Howse poses the question: 'Why did westernization and the moderniza- tion of personal life-styles not lead to liberalism?' This key question cannot be answered within the confines of an analysis of what happened to Yugoslavia. The promise contained within the title of a consideration of the 'future Yugoslavia' is unrealised, and could only be tackled within the framework of a more generous comparative discussion. Howse sets the stage, by pointing to the contradictory nature of the expectations about the nature of 'post-communist' society. He suspends these between a projection derived from Fukuyama, that we are living in a period of 'transition' to a society characterised by democratic politics and a market economy, and a model based upon Mearsheimer, which envisages a return to the features of the past, and in particular the instability of international relations. The contributions assembled here never really address the nature of this choice. One thing is certain, however, and that is that the level at which debate is conducted will need to be pitched at the level so well exemplified here, avoiding the naive optimism which is typical of the pronouncements of many contemporary leading political actors, and the crude notions of a reversion to primordial social character which have recently marred even social-scientific discussion. Given the relatively low price of the paperback edition, I consider this to be the best book which has been produced to date to put into the hands of students of social science (or the more serious general reader) in search of understanding of the disintegration process in Yugoslavia. University of Bradford JOHN B. ALLCOCK Sabrina Petra Ramet & Ljubisa S. Adamovich (eds), Beyond Yugoslavia: Politics, Economics, and Culture in a Shattered Community. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995, x + 502 pp., ?37.00. THIS BOOK IS A SMALL VICTIM of the post-1991 fighting that ended Yugoslavia. Communication problems meant that the editors were unable to obtain contributors who could do justice to the 858 858 This content downloaded from 62.122.78.49 on Wed, 25 Jun 2014 04:21:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp Article Contents p. 857 p. 858 Issue Table of Contents Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 48, No. 5 (Jul., 1996), pp. 705-880 Front Matter [pp. 705 - 709] From Soviet Nomenklatura to Russian Elite [pp. 711 - 733] Gloomy Prospects for the Russian Economy [pp. 735 - 750] Re-Evaluating Mass Support for Political and Economic Change in Russia [pp. 751 - 765] The Economic Planning and Management of the Tyl in the Soviet Armed Forces [pp. 767 - 782] Comparative Perspectives on Judicial Review in Lithuania [pp. 783 - 795] The Web of Cross-Ownership among Czech Financial Intermediaries: An Assessment [pp. 797 - 809] Excess Labour and Managerial Shortage: Findings from a Survey in St Petersburg [pp. 811 - 835] Stalin in June 1941: A Comment on Cynthia Roberts [pp. 837 - 839] Reviews untitled [pp. 841 - 846] untitled [pp. 846 - 849] untitled [pp. 849 - 850] untitled [pp. 850 - 852] untitled [pp. 852 - 853] untitled [pp. 853 - 854] untitled [p. 854] untitled [p. 855] untitled [pp. 855 - 857] untitled [pp. 857 - 858] untitled [pp. 858 - 859] untitled [pp. 860 - 861] untitled [pp. 861 - 862] untitled [pp. 862 - 863] untitled [pp. 863 - 864] untitled [pp. 864 - 865] untitled [pp. 866 - 867] untitled [pp. 867 - 868] untitled [pp. 868 - 869] untitled [pp. 869 - 870] untitled [pp. 870 - 871] untitled [pp. 871 - 872] Book Notices [pp. 873 - 874] Books Received [p. 875] Back Matter [pp. 877 - 880]