Macedonia has had a troubled and remarkable history. From ancient Macedonia, the country of Alexander the Great, through Roman dependency, Bulgarian rule and Ottoman principality, the modern nation state is a complex mixture of ethnicities,historical allegiances and religious beliefs. United with Yugoslavia under Tito, and with a modern history of Albanian resistance and disputes with modern Greece, it is also absolutely central to the stability of the Balkan region. This is the first anthropological survey of the Republic of Macedonia, which seeks to untangle the many complexities of the country; addressing Sufism, Islamic influence, the role of ethnic Serbs, Albanians, Greeks and Bulgarians, the cultural heritage of Macedonia and its modern political relevance. This is essential reading for students and scholars of Balkan studies, international relations and anthropology.
Victor C. De Munck is Associate Professor in Anthropology at the State University of New York (SUNY), USA.Ljupcho Risteski is Associate Professor in Ethnography and Anthropolgy at Sts. Cyril and Methodius University, Macedonia.
List of Captions MapList of ContributorsIntroduction Victor C. De Munck and Ljupcho RisteskiSection One: Macedonians in Transition 1. A Tantrum from the Cradle of Democracy: On the Dangers of Studying MacedonianVictor A. Friedman2. ‘Eu as Future?: From a Macedonian Viewpoint The multiple ways of being European in Macedonia and not being in EuropeIlka Theissen3. ‘My Faith, My Nation’: Exploring the ‘Natural’ Affinity Between Orthodox Christianity and National Identity in MacedoniaVioleta Duklevska Schubert 4. Nationalism and the Use of Cultural Heritage: Three Post-Socialist Macedonian ExamplesDavorin Trpeski5. Conceptualizing Gender in MacedoniaVictor C. de Munck & Davorin TrpeskiSection Two: Towards Making Macedonia Multicultural6. Is It Just a Song That Remains? Reflections On Turkish Minorities in MacedoniaBurcu Akan Ellis7. Why a Gypsy in Macedonia Does Not Know ‘Correct’ Islam Galina Oustinova-Stjepanovic8. Absent Roma, Imported Interest: ‘Roma’ as Subject and Agent in the Republic of Macedonia Shayna Plaut9. Topography of Spatial and Temporal Ruptures: (Im)materialities of (post)socialism in a northern town in MacedoniaRozita Dimova10. Africa:Europe::Albania:Macedonia- A zero-sum, ecological fallacy theory of ethnic divisivenessVictor C. De Munck & Joseph Moldow Section Three: Nationalism and the Environment 11. National Purities, Ecological Disasters: Greek modernity and the war on natureAnastasia Karakasidou12. ‘Kapka po kapka’ (drop by drop): Civil Society and Rural Ecology in the Prespa Lake region of MacedoniaJonathan Matthew Schwartz Index