Ethnic Nationalism: The Tragic Death of Yugoslavia

by Bogdan Denis Denitch

If your neighbor cannot sleep, you will not be allowed to The old adage assumes an overtone of dread as the stirring, wary world witnesses the destruction of Yugoslavia. If the leaders of Serbia and Croatia can get away with tearing apart Bosnia-Herzegovina, a sovereign member of the United Nations, what is to stop military elites in other former Soviet and East European states from proposing similar solutions to their own national grievances and aspirations? And who is to say such attention would be confined to that area of the globe? The world may well be uneasy, as Bogdan Denitch makes clear in this brilliant book about the causes and possible ramifications of the death of Yugoslavia. Ethnic Nationalism provides a cogent, comprehensive historical analysis of Yugoslavia's demise, one that clearly identifies events and trends that urgently demand the world's attention. The role of timing in the sequence of events; the consequences of an unworkable constitutional situation; the responsibility of the West; and, above all, the self-transformation of Communist regimes that presaged undemocratic outcomes- Denitch duly considers each of these factors as he gives a detailed description of Yugoslavia's descent into interethnic wars. His discussion of the possible fate of postcommunist states is especially pertinent, and leads to a skillful account of the sources and dangers of nationalistic and ethnic extremism on what threatens to become a global scale. In this analysis, nationalism and populism can be seen as revolts against a new world system where abstract multinational financial and political institutions thwart citizens' attempts at democratic participation. Active in Yugoslav political and intellectual life for almost thirty years, Denitch is able to imbue the developments he describes with a particular, human immediacy. His personal experiences with the emergence of nationalism and fractious ethnic politics and warfare, movingly recounted here, stand as compelling testimony to the historical drama so thoroughly and incisively detailed in this remarkable book.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Son of a Yugoslav diplomat, Bogdan Denis Denitch is an American sociologist who's an emeritus professor at the City University of New York. He's an authority on the political sociology of the Balkans. Active in democratic left politics, he's an honorary chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America, & has served as its representative to the Socialist Internat'l. From '83 thru '04 he organized the annual Socialist Scholars Conference in NY. Since the '90s he's been an advocate for human rights & an opponent of nationalism in the former Yugoslavia.

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having heard much of the author from his DSA days and being long interested in the breakup of Yugoslavia, I snapped this up upon seeing it in a resale shop during a recent visit to San Francisco.

Denitch employs the instance of the breakup of Yugoslavia during 1991-93 to address the issue of nationalism as it has occurred since the 19th century and as it is particularly relevant to the status of the former members of the Warsaw Pact. Himself of Serbian ancestry and of dual Croatian and USA citizenship, fluent in Serbo-Croatian and long involved in international democratic and labor movements, he writes, with feeling, as an insider, an activist and a political scientist.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up looking for some insight into what happens when a modern, multiethnic society collapses on itself. I guess I was expecting a history lesson, but got instead a first-hand, very personal, passionate repudiation of nationalism in all of its forms, from the perspective of a person who considered himself a proud Yugoslav. Denitch was writing in 1993 about events in southeastern Europe (and to some extent, elsewhere in the West), and died in 2016, but most everything he writes here about nationalism, citizenship, capitalism, secularism, "populism" and democracy feels prescient to the point of clairvoyant.

[Boris Cesnik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bogdan should have written the whole book as he wrote the last 3 chapters - with personal anecdotes, fluidly emotional, with less repetitions and academic lexicon.

It has been sturdy but boring reading until I got to the last chapters.

Yes it's dated indeed, some of his 'prophecies' did not happen (just as yet) but like everything that's past shall return in an infinte vortex of panta rhei in circle.

July 2018 and Europe, if not most of the world, is yet again or more than ever perhaps swept by Ethnic Nationalism; and this is what makes this reading specially now so attractive for anyone in search of a (or another) solution, a thoroughfare for the immediate present until the next nationalistic tide sweeps us again out of our uncomfortable comfort zones.

I'm tired of the present as probably Bogdan was when researching and writing his book like it was yet again the 1930s.

[Jennah Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was really interesting! It would be 5 stars but that feels weird!

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dated. Skip.