Before the 1st of May 2013

Following the European seminar held in Tours on this topic in June 2012, the PY network invites young researchers in Social Sciences working on the post-Yugoslav space to submit articles for a forthcoming publication (in French or in English) in an influential European journal. The issue will be titled: “Dwelling/living in the Post-Yugoslav space”, focusing on the evolution of relations between space and people in former Yugoslavia. Our ambition is to offer a fresh view and a better understanding of political, economic, socially rapid and complex evolutions in the region and to participate more broadly to a better understanding of socio-spatial processes in our contemporary world. The objective is also to facilitate, to promote and to make visible research analysis of young researchers working on the post-Yugoslav area.

Synopsis

Understood as a way for the individual to be in an environment, dwelling is a complex phenomenon challenging to define/grasp due to its modes being both material and ideal arrangements of representations and practices of the world (Bailleul and Feildel, 2011). Put differently, the inhabitants of aspace –as a lived experience and as a place of life- physically and symbolically appropriate it (Vassart, 2006). These individual and social relations between human being(s) and space(s) rely on personal, collective and cultural dynamics, which generate a very rich variety of meanings of home places. Dwelling is for the human being a manner to define its possibilities to be in space and time.

In the context of the post Yugoslav space, the verbs to dwell and/or to live acquire a particular resonance. In 1993, Michel Sivignon pointed out the grim actuality of these words during the Yugoslav conflicts. People have fought to guarantee their rights to live (in a house, a village, and a valley) but also to prevent others from living (in the neighbouring house, village, and valley). Wars were about getting rid of certain inhabitants but also about denying and deleting the signs and the marks they left in space and time.

If the 1990s conflicts may be questioned through the concept of dwelling, it is also possible to use this latter to elaborate a renewed perspective on recent reconfigurations of societies and territories in the former Yugoslav space. Other phenomena should also be integrated in such an analysis, e.g. the end of the socialist regime, the emergence of new nation-states, of market economy and the effects of supranational processes such as European integration and globalisation. Those have led to the emergence and the multiplication of new actors producing norms and representations –groups or individuals, state(s) or international organisations. Doing so, one may develop an approach much less concentrated on conflicts and nationalisms but focusing also on other aspects of the recent changes that have impacted (or not) on the way people live and dwell in space and time. Private ownership for instance is one phenomenon that has modified the relation between people and ground / land. It may result in a new personification of space and in new processes of formalising practices and representations in space that used to be informal.

In this call for papers, we are mainly interested in 3 themes:
1/ to be inhabitant and citizen in post-Yugoslav States

The end of the socialist political and economic system, the emergence of new sovereign nation-states as well as the successive migration of people over the last 20 years question the evolution of the relation between inhabitants and their new state(s) –changes in regime(s), legal statuses, definition of membership to the citizenry, borders and boundaries, law– and with neighbouring states –e.g. multiple citizenships. As a result of multiple historical, social and political processes, post-Yugoslav citizenships and their vocabulary refer to different definitions and meanings through time and space in the area. Besides, it is necessary to take into account the practices they encompass without being too close to normative understandings of other “citizenships” – e.g. British or French. Thus, this theme aims at questioning the evolution of citizenship(s) and citizenship regimes through their implication in everyday life and ordinary acts in post-Yugoslav spaces. What does this evolution imply in terms of dwelling (e.g. access to housing or other resources and rights)?
2/ to dwell, to live, to move in the post-Yugoslav space

Many researchers in the French academic context have recently noted the emergence of polytopic ways of living. More precisely, they argue that society has evolved in a way in which inhabitants have become more mobile in their everyday life and along their lifetime (Bailleul et Feildel, 2011; Stock, 2006). To what extent does this general observation fit with the post-Yugoslav context?

Mobility should be perceived as a vector/vehicle in the construction of the meaning that individuals give to the space in which they live in. Hence, the question is: which information do the recent changes in individuals’ mobility and spatial identities in former Yugoslavia give about the ways people dwell/live in spaces? And reversely how are these ways of living/dwelling modifying spatiality, mobility and identities of individuals living in post Yugoslav spaces? We welcome contributions dealing with the evolutions of links between spatial and social reconfigurations. Different kinds of mobility may be treated: forced mobility (refugees/returnees), regular mobility (for familial, economic, social reasons…), and daily mobility, from local to international scales.
3/ to live and to remember in former Yugoslavia

Socio-political evolutions in the (post-)Yugoslav space have been going hand-in-hand with an evolution of historical reference frames in spaces and societies. From the former socialist regime to the rising of nationalisms in the 1980s, the affirmation of new nation-states and local reconfigurations in the 1990s, the historical references in which societies take root seem both to proliferate and to merge. A stimulating empirical approach avoiding any oversimplification may be to focus on the evolution of the relations with memory and places of memory –lieux de mémoire– through the processes of recognition and incorporation of heritage status. We welcome approaches based upon the premises that history is only an interpretation and a production of past facts in a specific socio-political context by different actors and that this interpretation participates to identity construction processes for individuals and groups. Articles questioning heritage statuses in post-Yugoslav territories and societies are welcome as well as analyses of storytelling and production of discourses at the local and the national scales.
Process of selection

We invite young researchers, PhD students and post-doc in Social Sciences working on the post-Yugoslav space to apply to this call. Writing language has to be French or English.

Propositions should be 500 words long. They should be sent before the 1st of May 2013 at the following e-mail: reseaupy@yahoo.fr . They should come with a one-page CV in French or in English.

The selection committee will pay attention in particular to the scientific and language quality of propositions and to their link with the three themes developed in this call.

The accepted applicants will be notified in May; articles should be submitted during summer 2013.
The PY network

The PY network aims at bringing together PhD students and young researchers dealing with reconfigurations of post-Yugoslav societies and territories.

For more information, see: http://www.facebook.com/ReseauPy ; http://reseaupy.hypotheses.org
Heads of the network:

Cyril Blondel, PhD student in politics and in regional planning UMR CITERES (CNRS 7324), Université de Tours cyril.blondel@univ-tours.fr
Guillaume Javourez, PhD student in geography UMR TELEMMe (6570); Université d’Aix-Marseille g.javourez@univ-provence.fr
Marie Van Effenterre, PhD student in anthropology EHESS, UMR IIAC-TRAM (CNRS 8177), Paris marievaneffenterre@gmail.com

10 e 11 aprile 2013

Mercoledì 10 aprile ore 9:00
Aula 6/7 Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia
Giovedì 11 aprile ore 10:00
Aula Imbucci
Università degli Studi di Salerno

Reggio Emilia
Aula Magna, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Allegri 9
19 Marzo 17:30

Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia e Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso

“Dialogues on Cinema” è una serie di tre incontri con esperte di cinema balcanico, realizzati nell’ambito del progetto europeo “Racconta l’Europa all’Europa”, guidato da Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso per promuovere una maggiore conoscenza dei paesi che stanno percorrendo la strada dell’integrazione europea.

Per raccontare la Bosnia Erzegovina, la Croazia, la Turchia, il Kosovo e molti altri paesi, a Reggio Emilia si parlerà della loro produzione cinematografica. Proprio in questo settore infatti negli ultimi anni si sono affermate eccellenze capaci di superare il gap comunicativo tra le due Europe. Si pensi al successo della cinematografia bosniaca, ma anche al meno conosciuto cinema turco, così come ai numerosi festival che in tutta Europa volgono la loro attenzione proprio al cinema balcanico.

L’approfondire la conoscenza del cinema di questi paesi può dirci molto sul loro immaginario, sulla loro identità, così come sulla direzione dei loro slanci per il futuro. Insieme a OBC, il professor Leonardo Gandini, docente di Estetica e Storia del Cinema presso il Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali dell’Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, promuove tre incontri pubblici tutti al femminile con tre esperte internazionali di cinema della regione balcanica.

L’ospite di oggi è Mila Turajlic regista, produttrice e autrice dell’acclamato documentario Cinema Komunisto che ripercorre la storia e il declino dell’industria cinematografica jugoslava.

L’Europa sul web, nelle sale cinematografiche, in radio, nelle scuole, all’università e in eventi pubblici. Per un anno sarà protagonista su Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso. Per rispondere alla crisi, con nuova forza e idealità.

Passaggio a sudest: speciali del programma Passaggio a sudest

Il progetto

Racconta l’Europa all’Europa così abbiamo intitolato il progetto europeo che ci vedrà impegnati per tutto il prossimo anno. Del resto contribuire al dibattito sull’Europa è uno degli obiettivi di Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso fin dal suo esordio.

Inizialmente la ragione d’essere di OBC era quella di riflettere sulle conseguenze della guerra in Europa e sul sostegno alla ricostruzione dei Balcani. Con il tempo la situazione è gradualmente migliorata e dall’aiuto umanitario si è passati a discutere di armonizzazione di sistemi giuridici e consolidamenti democratici.

Il prossimo luglio la Croazia diventerà il 28esimo membro dell’Unione. Ma, a seconda del punto di partenza, negli ultimi anni anche gli altri paesi della regione hanno fatto passi avanti nel processo di democratizzazione avendo di fronte la prospettiva dell’integrazione europea.

Sebbene dominato da questioni economiche e aspetti tecnico-legali, il processo di allargamento dell’UE ha avuto un ruolo chiave nel superamento delle guerre degli anni ’90 e nella stabilizzazione regionale e resta un fondamentale orizzonte politico per tutti i Balcani. E ciò non dovrebbe sorprendere perché si tratta anche per l’Europa sud-orientale di accedere a quel processo storico di superamento della guerra e di costruzione di un comune spazio politico, da cui è di fatto rimasta esclusa fino alla fine degli anni ’90.

Di questa Europa i mezzi di informazione parlano poco se non quando si agitano gli animi per la paura di nuovi flussi migratori o si evidenzia l’instabilità politica che la caratterizza. Senza dubbio per alcuni paesi balcanici, con economie fragili e amministrazioni soffocate dalla corruzione, l’impegno per accedere all’integrazione europea è ancora molto oneroso. Ma nonostante tutto il processo di armonizzazione lentamente prosegue lontano dai riflettori, assistito dalla Direzione Generale per l’Allargamento della Commissione Europea e monitorato delle Commissioni del Parlamento Europeo.

Si tratta certamente di una dinamica complessa e come tale viene considerata una questione per addetti ai lavori. Eppure l’allargamento ad est dell’UE è stato ed è uno straordinario fenomeno geopolitico per il nostro continente. È sorprendente, come notava il centro studi ESI, che in questi 20 anni non sia emerso nemmeno un best seller per animare la discussione sulla riunificazione europea.

D’altro canto, uno degli aspetti principali del deficit democratico dell’UE è proprio la povertà del dibattito sulle nostre istituzioni e le nostre politiche, e l’allargamento è solo una di queste.

L’integrazione europea non è un processo facile, comporta cessione di sovranità e condivisione di oneri. I membri UE più ricchi e con democrazie mature importano parte dei problemi dei paesi più deboli anche se ne beneficiano in termini di prosperità e sicurezza in senso lato.

Invece i paesi balcanici ancora fuori dall’Unione vivono comunque le conseguenze della dipendenza economica dalla zona euro, come sottolinea Dimitar Bechev. E se fino al 2008 erano tutte economie in forte crescita, poi hanno subito duramente le conseguenze della crisi: lo shock per il crollo degli investimenti esteri, il ridursi dell’accesso al credito, la contrazione delle rimesse hanno avuto conseguenze pesanti.

La congiuntura economica che viviamo ci schiaccia su dibattiti dal respiro corto ma nei Balcani a pochi sfugge il parallelismo tra la crisi che oggi vive l’UE e quella che viveva la Jugoslavia a cavallo degli anni ’90. E se qualcosa possiamo apprendere dal passato è che in Europa nessuno esce da solo dalle crisi e senza rilanciare quel progetto comune di cui tanto abbiamo beneficiato fino ad oggi.

Grazie a Racconta l’Europa all’Europa, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso accrescerà il suo sforzo per colmare il deficit democratico e stimolerà la discussione sull’integrazione europea dei Balcani e della Turchia con ben 11 diversi partner, in 4 paesi differenti, e non solo sul web ma anche alla radio, nelle aule universitarie, nei corsi di formazione e infine al cinema.

Anche grazie al contributo dei suoi lettori sempre più numerosi, OBC continuerà a lavorare per la costruzione dell’Europa dei cittadini facendo dialogare e mettendo in rete organizzazioni e persone tra le due sponde dell’Adriatico. Perché per tenere vivo il dibattito in Europa bisogna essere in tanti.

Egidio Ivetic

Jugoslavia sognata. Lo jugoslavismo delle origini

Fu in nome dell’idea jugoslava che Gavrilo Princip sparò e uccise Francesco Ferdinando il 28 giugno 1914, dando avvio alla Prima guerra mondiale. L’idea jugoslava, lo jugoslavismo, fu un progetto politico, sorto alla metà dell’Ottocento tra le élites croate dell’Impero asburgico. Il sogno era che croati, serbi e sloveni avessero una cultura comune, uno Stato a sé, una Jugoslavia, sotto l’egida degli Asburgo oppure del tutto indipendenti.
L’Autore propone una nuova interpretazione delle origini dello jugoslavismo, indicando l’intero periodo compreso tra il 1830 e il 1914 come una fase di gestazione. In essa, si susseguirono più jugoslavismi: dal Meridione slavo, immaginato dentro una Monarchia asburgica federale, all’illusione che fosse possibile un’unica nazione jugoslava. Ipotesi che hanno alimentato ambivalenze e contraddizioni nello jugoslavismo approdato al fatidico 1914 e che poi si sono riversate nella storia delle tre Jugoslavie novecentesche. I vent’anni di post Jugoslavia, che attualmente misuriamo, sono stati caratterizzati dalla ricerca di un senso storico nazionale scevro da qualsiasi jugoslavità, una fase che potremmo denominare posticismo jugoslavo, in cui di fatto si è affermata una specie di antimito jugoslavo. Eppure lo jugoslavismo originario, ed è la tesi di questo libro, rimane una parte imprescindibile della storia politica e culturale di chi ha condiviso l’esperienza storica delle Jugoslavie.

Egidio Ivetic (Pola 1965) insegna Storia dell’Europa orientale all’Università degli Studi di Padova. Tra i suoi recenti volumi: Le guerre balcaniche (il Mulino 2006); L’Istria moderna, 1500-1797, Una regione confine (Cierre 2010). Presso i nostri tipi ha curato con Giuseppe Gullino, Geografie confessionali. Cattolici e ortodossi nel crepuscolo della Repubblica di Venezia (1718-1797) (2009).

Indice

Introduzione
Lo jugoslavismo della storiografia
(Gli esordi; Due canonizzazioni; La frattura; La separazione)
Meridione slavo: individualità e convergenze
(I serbi; Gli sloveni; I croati; Convergenze)
Dall’illirismo alla cultura jugoslava
(L’illirismo; L’austroslavismo; Strossmayer, Racki e la Toscana jugoslava)
Pragmatismo politico e nazione jugoslava
(Il Nuovo corso; Il contesto sloveno e i partiti socialdemocratici; La questione jugoslava; Una nazione jugoslava)
Jugoslavia potenziale
Bibliografia
Indice dei nomi.

FrancoAngeli

Venerdì 16 novembre ore 17.00 Palazzo Sorbello Piazza Piccinino, 9 Perugia

Saluti: Prof. Ruggero Ranieri (Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello) Presiede: Prof. Mario Tosti (Isuc)

Intervengono: Prof. Giuseppe Dell’Agata (Università degli Studi di Pisa) Prof. Francesco Caccamo (Università degli Studi di Pescara) Saranno presenti i curatori L’evento è organizzato in collaborazione con l’ISUC Istituto Storico Umbria Contemporanea

Igor Despot

The Balkan Wars in the Eyes of the Warring Parties: Perceptions and Interpretations

In the fall of 1912, the Ottoman Empire was in turmoil. In addition to the Albanian and the Yemen rebellions, the Empire was at war with Italy over the Libyan territory. Worse yet, cholera was spreading throughout the country, leaving a decimated population in its wake. In its weakness, the Ottoman Empire was ripe to be attacked, and the Balkan countries did so. On October 8, 1912, Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, beginning the first of the Balkan Wars. Embracing maturity and setting their differences aside, four nations joined together to form the Balkan League—Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Bulgaria.

Despite the tremendous land victory celebrated by the Balkan League, disputes over dividing the won territory soon arose. Dissatisfied with its share of the Macedonia, Bulgaria attacked its former allies Serbia and Greece. On August 10, 1913, the Treaty of Bucharest ended the second conflict, but it did not bring the peace. In the First World War, which was initiated by Sarajevo assassination, Balkan again became theater of the war.

The Balkan wars have been a popular topic for scholarly research since their resolution. Despite the attention this topic has received, however, the research is far from complete. In this study contributing to the documentation and understanding of this conflict, author Igor Despot has not only reviews the events of the wars, but also considers these events in light of pertinent cultural aspects, identifying the commonalities and differences that may have determined alliances or sparked conflict throughout Balkan history.

Igor Despot was born in Zagreb. He graduated from the faculty of humanities and social science of the University of Zagreb in 1998, obtaining the degree of history and philosophy professor. He obtained his master’s degree on 2008 from the same faculty. This is his PhD dissertation, which he defended in 2012.

iUniverse

Habiter l’espace post-yougoslave

PY, réseau de jeunes chercheurs européens travaillant sur les reconfigurations et les mutations ayant court dans les sociétés et les territoires post-yougoslaves, organise son premier séminaire. Première thématique que nous proposons de questionner : l’habiter ; de l’intérêt et de l’actualité de ce concept pour discuter l’évolution des rapports homme(s)-espace(s) en ex-Yougoslavie. Séminaire ouvert à tous, inscription obligatoire.

Programme de la journée

8h30 – 9h00 Accueil des participants et café

9h00-9h30    INTRODUCTION

9h00 Cyril BLONDEL, Université de Tours, France
Guillaume JAVOUREZ, Université d’Aix-Marseille I, France
Marie van EFFENTERRE, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France
Le réseau PY
9h15 Arnaud APPRIOU, Coordinateur politique à la DG Elargissement, Commission Européenne
La question de l’habiter dans l’espace post-yougoslave

9h30-11h    SESSION 1 : Etre habitant et citoyen en ex-Yougoslavie

Discutantes :

Catherine Neveu, directrice de recherche en anthropologie, LAIOS
Marie van Effenterre, doctorante en anthropologie, LAIOS

Interventantes

9h30 Marie STOJIMIROVIC, doctorante en science politique, Université de Paris-Ouest 10
La coopération décentralisée entre les collectivités locales françaises et serbes dans le cadre de l’intégration européenne
10h15 Elise BERNARD, docteure en droit public, chargée de cours à l’INALCO, Paris
Nationalité et citoyenneté serbe : l’évolution législative en République de Serbie « Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava »

11h00-11h15 Pause café
11h15-12h45    SESSION 2 : Habiter et vivre ensemble en ex-Yougoslavie

Discutants :

Arnaud Appriou, Coordinateur politique à la DG Elargissement, Commission Européenne
Hélène Bertheleu, MCF en sociologie, Université de Tours

Interventantes

11h15 Ljubica SPAKOVSKA, doctorante en histoire, Université d’Exeter, Angleterre
Le rêve gris de couleur rouge – la dernière génération yougoslave
12h00 Fanny ARNAUD, doctorante en ethnologie et en anthropologie sociale, EHESS, Paris
Habiter Vukovar : Ethnographie d’une « ville martyr »

12h45-14h00 Déjeuner (buffet) – Département aménagement, salle Vincent Labeyrie, RDC
14h00-15h30    SESSION 3 : Habiter et se remémorer en ex-Yougoslavie

Discutants :

Benoit Feildel, MCF en aménagement, Université de Tours
Hélène Bailleul, MCF en aménagement, Université de Rennes II

Interventantes

14h00 Patrick NAEF, doctorant en géographie, Université de Genève, Suisse
Du traumascape au touristscape : perspectives croisées sur Vukovar (Croatie) et Sarajevo (Bosnie-Herzégovine)
14h45 Vladana PUTNIK, doctorante en histoire de l’art, Université de Belgrade, Serbie
Les parcs mémoriaux avant et après la Yougoslavie

15h30 – 15h45 Pause café
15h45-17h15    SESSION 4 : Habiter et délimiter en ex-Yougoslavie

Discutants :

Guillaume Javourez, doctorant en géographie, Université d’Aix-Marseille I
Cyril Blondel, doctorant en aménagement et en science politique, Université de Tours

Interventantes

15h45 Tanja TAMMINEN, docteure en science politique, chercheuse à l’Institut Finlandais des Affaires Internationales, Finlande
« Le village d’origine », la coopération transfrontalière et la construction de l’identité albanaise aujourd’hui dans la région entre le Monténégro, l’Albanie et le Kosovo
16h30 Dejan JOVANOV, doctorant en sociologie, Université de Strasbourg
Dušan RISTIĆ, doctorant en sociologie, Université de Novi Sad, Serbie
Distance(s) ethnique(s) en Voïvodine : les frontières définies par une demande à la reconnaissance sociale

17h15-18h00    Conclusion du séminaire et ouverture

17h15 Mirjana MOROKVASIC, Directrice de recherche au CNRS émérite, Institut des Sciences sociales du Politique, Paris Ouest – Nanterre, La Défense
Les évolutions du concept d’habiter, les évolutions des pratiques d’habiter à la lumière du contexte post-yougoslave : quels enseignements ?

19h30    RECEPTION à la Mairie de Tours

Second Joint PhD Symposium on South East Europe

London, Jun. 18, 2012

Program

Following the success of the First Joint PhD Symposium on South East Europe, held at LSE in June 2010, the Centre for the Study of the Balkan at Goldsmiths, University of London, will host the Second Joint PhD Symposium in June 2012.

The aim of the symposium is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas between scholars currently undertaking doctoral research on the region. The event will try to help research students to overcome the academic isolation associated with PhD research, to ‘try’ their ideas and findings on wider audiences, and to establish new collaborative links across disciplines. Researchers will also be able to ‘engage’ with a wider academic community, including academic members of staff at the three institutions, and also a number of other distinguished scholars who will be involved with the symposium.
The Second Joint PhD Symposium on South East Europe will address several issues related to the abovementioned region with a multi-disciplinary approach touching upon political studies, sociology, anthropology, economy, history, law and cultural studies.
How to participate to the Symposium

Participants will be expected to pay for their own travel, accommodation and subsistence. There will also be a registration fee of £15 for all participants, payable upon registration. General participants are welcome to attend.
Organizer and Partners

Centre for the Study of the Balkans, Goldsmiths
Centre for South East European Studies, SSEES, UCL
LSEE-Research on South East Europe, European Institute, LSE

Information & contacts

e-mail: phdsymposiumgold2012@gmail.com

Second Annual Conference of the Balkan Sociological Forum

Close but Unknown Neighbors : Balkan Sociological Perspectives

9-10 November 2012 Sofia, Bulgaria

Deadline: 30th of June 201

The Conference is organized by the Balkan Sociological Forum and Bulgarian Sociological Association and supported by the International Sociological Association. It will be held parallel with the XIII Congress of the Bulgarian Sociological Association on November 9-10, 2012 in Sofia.

Place of the topic in relation to state-of-the-art in sociology The Balkans have been systematically studied by historians, anthropologists, cultural studies experts, art historians, but have rarely been placed in a general sociological perspective. Comparative studies on separate social problems have rarely included more than three or four countries. In fact, from a sociological perspective, Balkan countries pose a double challenge: social and cognitive. There is the social aspect, for even though they have a shared past of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes in different periods of the 20th century, their social and political development in post WW2 Europe has not been the same for all countries. Their common present situation of transition to a market economy and democratic structures like those of Western Europe, does not cancel the specific ordeals of economic, political, and social development that each national society of the Balkans is going through. Engrossed as we are in the supra-national structures of the EU and of Transatlantic cooperation, we hardly notice our neighbours; moreover, we fail to realize that the position of each country on the international scene depends on its relations with, and the support of, its closest environment. In competing for international recognition, our interest in neighbouring countries is all too often limited to what can be advantageous though detrimental to them. Thus we miss the chance of working together to overcome our common weaknesses and achieve mutual consolidation of our separate advantages. In scrutinizing our own problems, we fail to look around us and see that, within the proximate region – so close to us by its historical destiny and present state of civilization, some country may have already found a solution to some of our own problems. What are our Balkan neighbours like as economic and political players, as stratified societies and united communities, as educational and cultural structures, as ways of living together and recognizing the other? What is happening here and now in each Balkan country? How does the past impact on the present in each country and in the relations between them? What part of the contemporary experience of each country could be useful for its neighbours, so that our presence in united Europe and in the world might be constructive, mutually enriching, and stimulating? These are all questions to which sociology, with its rich variety of paradigms and approaches, can provide well-argued and thoughtful answers. As concerns the Balkans as a cognitive challenge, this aspect consists foremost in the problems that the current processes of internationalization and interdisciplinary scientific knowledge pose for sociology. The national communities of sociologists in Balkan countries compete to win a place in the European production of interdisciplinary and policy-oriented knowledge, but we are also partners playing non-hegemonic roles in the international research area. These combined features provide a suitable starting point for analysis, and our integration in the European Research Area clarifies a number of problems, such as:

· the marginalization of national sociological traditions;

· the neutralization of local issues by presenting them as Eastern equivalents of problems formulated with reference to the West European social and research context;

· the irrelevance of applying a theoretical framework to social situations in separate national contexts;

· the replacement of scientific argumentation as to the validity of knowledge by imperatives of immediate applicability;

· the tension between local vocation vs. international involvement; the growing dependence of the research structure and the type of knowledge produced relative to the forms of funding and the supra-national management of scientific production, etc.

Objectives and topics The main objective of the Second Annual Conference of BSF is by identifying the common and specific problems in the contemporary development of Balkan countries, to contribute to a better understanding of our own society, and to the development of sociology as a cognitive solution to the contextual problems, a solution based on adequate theoretical and methodological tools.

The discussions will be organized around the following thematic centers: · The Contemporary Economic Crisis: Political Solutions, Technological Answers, Individual Strategies; · Mobility and Social Inequalities; · Global Social Order, States, Citizens; · Transformations of Identities and Social Relationships in the Balkans; · National Sociological Traditions and the Sociologist’s Vocation Today.

Organization and deadlines Balkan Sociological Forum and Bulgarian Sociological Association invite scholars and students of sociology and other social sciences from all Balkan countries and colleagues outside the Balkans working jointly with sociologists from this region to take part in the Second Conference of BSF.

Please, send your proposals until June 30th 2012 to the following addresses: bsa @ sociology . bas . bg and diana @ sociology . bas . bg .

Conference languages: Bulgarian and English

Deadlines: · 30th of June 2012: Abstract submission · 15th of July 2012: Confirmation of abstract acceptance · 30th of September 2012: Participants registration · 25th of October 2012: Conference programme

Abstracts should be contained the following items: · Name · Professional status (student, Ph.D. student, professor, research fellow, experts, etc.) · Institution · Title and abstract up to 20 lines/or 200 words/or 1500 sings in English Accommodation and other details will be announced before 10th of October 2012.

Organizers and Organizing Committee Bulgarian Sociological Association (www.bsa-bg.org) Balkan Sociological Forum Organizing Committee Lekë SOKOLI – president of the Balkan Sociological Forum, University Martin Barleti, Tirana, Albania Svetla KOLEVA – vice-president of the Balkan Sociological Forum, president of the Bulgarian Sociological Association, Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria Gjon BORIÇI – Albanian University, Tirana, Albania Ognjen ČALDAROVIĆ – president of Croatian Sociological Association Todor GALEV – Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria Maya GREKOVA – Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria Ivo HRISTOV – Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski, Bulgaria Martin KANOUSHEV – New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria Jonida LAMAJ – Balkan Sociological Forum Secretary, Albanian Institute of Sociology Svetla MARINOVA – Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria Mihail MIRCHEV – University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria Diana NENKOVA – Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria Andrei NONCHEV – University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria Ali PAJAZITI – South East European University, Tetovo, Macedonia Miroslava RADEVA – Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski and MBMD Ltd., Bulgaria Sunai RAIMI – State University of Tetovo, Macedonia Rumiana STOILOVA – Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria Gorgi TONOVSKI – FON University, Skopje, Macedonia