MACMILLAN Transforming Heritage in the Former Yugoslavia: Synchronous Pasts (Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict)

Heritage became a target during the Yugoslav Wars as part of ethnic cleansing and urbicide. Out of the ashes of war, pasts were remodelled, places took on new layers of meaning, and a wave of new memorialization took hold. Three decades since the fall of Vukovar and the end of the siege of Sarajevo, and more than a decade since Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence, conflict has shifted from armed confrontations to battles about the past. The former Yugoslavia has been described on the one hand as a bastion of plurality and multiculturalism, and on the other, as a territory of antagonism and radical nationalisms, echoing imaginaries and narratives relevant to Europe as a whole. With Croatia having entered the EU in 2013 and the continuous political contestation in the region, wounds in the memory fabric of the former Yugoslavia have once more come to the world’s attention. Thus, there is the question what will happen when the former republics are ‘reunited’ once more under the EU umbrella, itself beset by increasing populisms, nationalisms, and the looming prospects of territorial fragmentation. This collection scrutinizes the role of heritage in ‘conflict-time’, inquires what role the past might have in creating new identities at the local, regional, national, and supra-national levels, and investigates the dynamics of heritage as a process. Review "This wonderful collection weaves together diverse and varied perspectives to explore the fascinating politics of cultural heritage in Yugoslav successor states. Properly placing cultural heritage within the contested nation-building projects of post-Yugoslav states, this volume bursts with empirical richness and detail. It is the first collection of its kind and one of tremendous scholarly value."Jelena Subotic, Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University, USA "This book spans the territory of the former Yugoslavia, tracing how (re)emerging nation states wrestle with the legacies of tumultuous pasts as they seek to forge themselves as modern projects with promising futures. It makes essential reading for those seeking to understand the (ab)uses of heritage for nation-building purposes as much as those intrigued by the challenges faced by the region."    Dacia Viejo Rose, Senior Lecturer in Heritage and the Politics of the Past, University of Cambridge   “The book takes an innovative approach in interweaving cultural heritage and collective remembrance theories that opens new perspectives in the field of Southeast European memory studies. The contributions, from both established scholars as well as young researchers, are well-written and will undoubtedly inspire further discussions about memory politics in this region.”  Vjeran Pavlaković, Department of Cultural Studies, University of Rijeka, Croatia From the Back Cover Heritage became a target during the Yugoslav Wars as part of ethnic cleansing and urbicide. Out of the ashes of war, pasts were remodelled, places took on new layers of meaning, and a wave of new memorialization took hold. Three decades since the fall of Vukovar and the end of the siege of Sarajevo, and more than a decade since Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence, conflict has shifted from armed confrontations to battles about the past. The former Yugoslavia has been described on the one hand as a bastion of plurality and multiculturalism, and on the other, as a territory of antagonism and radical nationalisms, echoing imaginaries and narratives relevant to Europe as a whole. With Croatia having entered the EU in 2013 and the continuous political contestation in the region, wounds in the memory fabric of the former Yugoslavia have once more come to the world’s attention. Thus, there is the question what will happen when the former republics are ‘reunited’ once more under the EU umbrella, itself beset by increasing populisms, nationalisms, and the looming prospects of territorial fragmentation. This c