Open Access Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg

Volume 71 Issue 2

Issue of Comparative Southeast European Studies

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Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available June 29, 2023

Frontmatter

Page range: i-iv

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Articles

Open Access June 29, 2023

Postsocialist Statuary Politics in Romania and Bulgaria: An Ambivalent Socialist Heritage

Caterina Preda

Page range: 147-168

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Abstract

Using an approach situated at the intersection of cultural memory studies and (critical) heritage studies, with a focus on the ambivalent socialist heritage of socialist statues and monuments and their changing role in postsocialist public spaces, this article engages with the postcommunist strategies of reckoning with the past in Romania and Bulgaria in the period 1990–2020. Comparing the kinds of monumental memory of communism that were established in these countries, the author discusses how each dealt with their ambivalent socialist heritage through a public memory policy comprising three combined strategies: removal; preservation; and the replacement of communist heroes with anticommunist counter-monuments. The author concludes that stances toward the socialist heritage manifest various tensions in terms of the types of statues that were removed or, alternately, allowed to remain; of the opposition between local and national decisions as well as between the official approach and citizens’ perspectives; and, finally, of aesthetic versus political criteria.

Open Access June 29, 2023

A Supporter in Vienna: Simon Wiesenthal and the War in Bosnia

Hamza Karčić

Page range: 169-189

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Abstract

The author gives an inventory of Simon Wiesenthal’s advocacy for Bosnia during the 1992–1995 war. Though Wiesenthal played an active role in speaking up for Bosnia, his activism has been largely neglected in the existing literature. Based on primary sources at the Simon Wiesenthal Archive in Vienna, this article pieces together the story of how the famed Nazi hunter supported Bosnia-Herzegovina. Wiesenthal acted by speaking up about the atrocities in Bosnia, writing letters to influential decision-makers, and keeping Bosnia on the agenda. He supported a greater and more assertive American involvement to end the war and was a strong advocate of a UN war crimes tribunal, which materialized as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). By lending his voice and moral stature, Wiesenthal helped shape public opinion in favour of a more assertive international reaction to the war.

Open Access June 29, 2023

How Bosnia and Herzegovina Was Bordered: The Supervised Making of a Border/Mobility Assemblage in the European Semiperiphery

Stef Jansen

Page range: 190-209

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Abstract

This article has an empirical and a conceptual aim. The first aim is to provide additional historical depth to recent analyses of the “Balkan Route” through Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with a reconstruction of the making of a border/mobility assemblage during the first two and a half decades of that state’s existence. These processes occurred under direct foreign supervision and were framed in terms of the conditionality of the “Road into Europe” specific to the European semiperiphery. The second aim concerns a prominent feature in recent studies of borders and mobility: the use of assemblage theory. I use my historical analysis to reflect on the implications of that theory’s programmatic call to foreground heterogeneity and provisionality. Specifically, in tracing patterns and tensions in the bordering of BiH I call attention to the importance of actors’ encounters with already-assembled hierarchical configurations, provisional but effective at the time of the encounter.

Open Access June 29, 2023

Mechanisms of Dominance: Understanding 30 Years in Power of Montenegro’s Democratic Party of Socialists

Claudia Laštro, Florian Bieber, Jovana Marović

Page range: 210-236

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Abstract

This article analyses the mechanisms that contributed to the 30-year predominance of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in Montenegro . The authors pay particular attention to the DPS’ programmatic flexibility, use of co-optation, repression and control, as well as clientelism, examining their role in shaping state–society relations and party competition over time. In doing so, the article also seeks to explain the DPS’ setback in the 2020 elections and the ongoing transition from a dominant party system towards a more competitive multiparty system.

Essay

Open Access June 29, 2023

What Do Moldovans Think of and How Do They Talk about the Russian Aggression against Ukraine? Prolegomena for Qualitative Inquiry

Petru Negură

Page range: 237-251

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Abstract

This essay explores the advantages of a qualitative approach based on a preliminary analysis of a collection of street interviews broadcast from March 2022 to March 2023 in the Republic of Moldova via 34 radio programmes. While the results of the opinion polls reflect a clear division of opinion on the war in Ukraine within Moldovan society along pre-existing geopolitical lines, the interviews highlight the possibility of consensus among respondents voicing opposing views on the causes of the war. Regardless of ideological positions however, when asked, most respondents said they wished for peace. The author reflects on the potential inherent in that common response for a type of community based on inclusion and cohabitation.

Book Reviews

Open Access June 29, 2023

Balázs Apor and John Paul Newman: Balkan Legacies: The Long Shadow of Conflict and Ideological Experiment in Southeastern Europe

Jure Ramšak

Page range: 252-254

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Open Access June 29, 2023

Christophe Solioz: Viva La Transición: The Balkans from the Post-Wall Era to Post-Crisis Future

Sören Keil

Page range: 255-256

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Open Access June 29, 2023

Tarik Jusić, Manuel Puppis, Laia Castro Herrero and Davor Marko: Up in the Air? The Future of Public Service Media in the Western Balkans

Dina Vozab

Page range: 257-260

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Open Access June 29, 2023

Peter Wegenschimmel: Zombiewerften oder Hungerkünstler? Staatlicher Schiffbau in Ostmitteleuropa nach 1970

Stefan Berger

Page range: 261-263

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About this journal

The quarterly Comparative Southeast European Studies (COMPSEES) evolved into its new format from that of its predecessor Südosteuropa. Journal of Politics and Society. From 2021 onwards, it is published both digitally, in Open Access, and in print, thereby becoming more easily accessible and even more visible internationally, not least in Southeastern Europe itself. Before long, a digital repository of Südosteuropa will be available to everyone.

Comparative Southeast European Studies will continue to be a forum for scholars in Political Science, Sociology, Contemporary History, Anthropology, Economics, International Relations, Law Studies, Gender Studies, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, and related disciplines. Taking a comparative and broad multidisciplinary perspective it will explore critical processes and societal issues related to　the area bounded by the eastern Adriatic, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. We use two formats to showcase research. There are peer-reviewed research articles and a shorter format open to other text genres, which are presented under headings such as ‘Commentary’, ‘Interview’, ‘Background’, ‘Policy Analysis’, ‘Film in Focus’, ‘Debate’, ‘Spotlight’, ‘Book Symposium’, ‘The Making of...’, for example. This is a flexible section allowing us to address more immediately pertinent political, social, cultural, and academic matters. In addition, the Journal also features a book review section.

The new name Comparative Southeast European Studies is the logical next step in the Journal’s evolution. After it was founded in 1952, for more than half a century its predecessor Südosteuropa served as a well-established policy advice journal monitoring events in the region, before in 2007 taking a turn towards becoming a research-oriented multidisciplinary forum of the social sciences. Since 2014 the Journal has been published exclusively in English. We have continued to work towards improving its quality, including by addressing the citation indices relevant in the field, as they increase the pool of potential authors. A rigorous double-blind peer review regime has guided us while we have become more selective in what we publish. We prioritise work that is empirically and methodologically sound, well-written and jargon-free, thereby fostering interdisciplinary scholarly communication. We remain committed to broadening the range of the research we publish, while welcoming both emerging and established scholars to publish with us. Comparative Southeast European Studies strives to consolidate its reputation as one of the major area studies journals focusing on Southeastern Europe. We encourage transnational and entangled comparative perspectives, acknowledging that any ‘area’, any geographical construct, functions in its transareal, indeed global, relations.

We welcome both single manuscript submissions and proposals for guest-edited thematic sections. We look forward to working with you.

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Comparative Southeast European Studies is published by De Gruyter on behalf of © The Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies 2022

Volume 71 Issue 2

Issue of Comparative Southeast European Studies

Frontmatter

Postsocialist Statuary Politics in Romania and Bulgaria: An Ambivalent Socialist Heritage

Abstract

A Supporter in Vienna: Simon Wiesenthal and the War in Bosnia

Abstract

How Bosnia and Herzegovina Was Bordered: The Supervised Making of a Border/Mobility Assemblage in the European Semiperiphery

Abstract

Mechanisms of Dominance: Understanding 30 Years in Power of Montenegro’s Democratic Party of Socialists

Abstract

What Do Moldovans Think of and How Do They Talk about the Russian Aggression against Ukraine? Prolegomena for Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

Balázs Apor and John Paul Newman: Balkan Legacies: The Long Shadow of Conflict and Ideological Experiment in Southeastern Europe

Christophe Solioz: Viva La Transición: The Balkans from the Post-Wall Era to Post-Crisis Future

Tarik Jusić, Manuel Puppis, Laia Castro Herrero and Davor Marko: Up in the Air? The Future of Public Service Media in the Western Balkans

Peter Wegenschimmel: Zombiewerften oder Hungerkünstler? Staatlicher Schiffbau in Ostmitteleuropa nach 1970

Mechanisms of Dominance: Understanding 30 Years in Power of Montenegro’s Democratic Party of Socialists