Balkan Border Crossings

This volume is the second Annual of the Konitsa Summer School in Anthropology, Ethnography and Comparative Folklore of the Balkans containing the proceedings of two years, 2007 and 2008. It includes papers written by members of the teaching staff, papers delivered as lectures or especially prepared for the Annual, papers written by students based principally on their fieldwork exercise in Greece and Albania, presentations of ongoing PhD theses and, finally, the syllabi of the subjects of instruction.

This book is the third publication of the Konitsa Summer School in Anthropology, Ethnography, and Comparative Folklore of the Balkans, containing the proceedings of the years 2009 and 2010. It includes papers written by members of the teaching staff, papers delivered as lectures or especially prepared for the book, papers written by students based principally on their fieldwork exercises in Greece and Albania, presentations of ongoing PhD theses, and, finally, the syllabi of the subjects of instruction. Contents include: Varieties of Capitalism and Varieties of Economic Anthropology * Towards the Road: Urban Spacialities of Political Transition in Gjirokaster * Border Narratives: Testimonies of Albanian Immigrants in Greece * The Utopia of Dialogue in Intercultural Encounters * A Glocal Testament: The Case of the Rizarios Foundation * When Boundaries Define Memory * Dreaming the Privatized Skopje * Methodological Insights in Dance Anthropology: Embodying Indentities in Dance Celebrations in the Context of Metamorphosis of Sotiros in Sotira, South Albania * The Cambas Estate: The Polyphony of a "Vital" Space * The "Mykonos" of Albania: Touristic Development in the City of Saranda * How Many Meters Does It Take to Change a Country? Identity, Borders and Migration in a Greek Minority Village of Albania (Series: Balkan Border Crossings - Vol. 3)

Borders dominate the security agenda in South-east Europe. Political and ethnic discontents focus on disputed borders, while traffickers in migrants and drugs ignore them.The EU argues that the Balkan countries should develop models of border management using its policing standards, but the region is rife with corruption and its border guards are both under-resourced and ineffective. This Paper asks how and why border management in South-east Europe is developing as it is, and what this might mean for the future of Europe. Drawing on recent experience in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia and Albania, it looks at the ways in which the regions' borders are managed, and gauges the development of a consensual European approach to border security. It shows how governments and guards understand the predicament of regional insecurity, and how they respond with strategies that accommodate, evade or subvert unavoidable political pressures.

'It is not a recognized mental illness like agoraphobia or depression ... It's largely a matter of luck whether one suffers from border syndrome: it depends where you were born. I was born in Albania.' After spending his childhood and school years in Albania, imagining that the miniskirts and quiz shows of Italian state TV were the reality of life in the West, and fantasizing accordingly about living on the other side of the border, the death of Hoxha at last enables Gazmend Kapllani to make his escape. However, on arriving in the Promised Land, he finds neither lots of willing leggy lovelies nor a warm welcome from his long-lost Greek cousins. Instead, he gets banged up in a detention centre in a small border town. As Gazi and his fellow immigrants try to find jobs, they begin to plan their future lives in Greece, imagining riches and successes which always remain just beyond their grasp. The sheer absurdity of both their plans and their new lives is overwhelming. Both detached and involved, ironic and emotional, Kapllani interweaves the story of his experience with meditations upon 'border syndrome' - a mental state, as much as a geographical experience - to create a brilliantly observed, amusing and perceptive debut.

A guidebook to trekking the Peaks of the Balkans Trail. Passing through Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro, the 183km circular route can be completed in around a fortnight. The walking itself is not difficult, although the route passes through some remote areas and demands a moderate level of fitness. The route is presented anti-clockwise from Theth (Albania) in 10 stages of between 10 and 28km. Also included are a handful of optional detours to climb neighbouring peaks and visit local sites of interest. 1:50,000 mapping and elevation profile provided for each stage Everything you need to plan a successful trip: how to get to the route, when to go, what to take, and information on cross-border permits Accommodation listings included Geology, history, plants and wildlife Language notes and glossary

The disintegration of Yugoslavia, accompanied by the emergence of new borders, is paradigmatically highlighting the relevance of borders in processes of societal change, crisis and conflict. This is even more the case, if we consider the violent practices that evolved out of populist discourse of ethnically homogenous bounded space in this process that happened in the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990ies. Exploring the boundaries of Yugoslavia is not just relevant in the context of Balkan area studies, but the sketched phenomena acquire much wider importance, and can be helpful in order to better understand the dynamics of b/ordering societal space, that are so characteristic for our present situation.