Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vpsfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-24T23:44:22.831Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Distant Observers? Towards the Politics of Diasporic Identification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Zlatko Skrbiš*
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Carseldine, Queensland, Australia

Extract

There are two common ways of reflecting upon the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. The first one, journalistic, transmits and animates the images of horror, brutality, deprivation, and displacement. The second one, historicist—as opposed to historical—invests its energy into interpretation, construction and reconstruction of the past, attributing it with a self-explanatory power. “When and where did it all start? … So what does the past tell us?” (Sinclair-Loutit, 1994, p. 230). In this way, history is given the power to serve as an undisputed indicator and guide in the disarray of myths and facts. Both these positions share a common denominator; they both help us to assume a position of contemporary voyeurs—comfortable, distant observers who can do nothing but consume the provided imagery.

Type
Part III: International Reactions to Yugoslavia's Disintegration
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, B., “The New World Disorder,” New Left Review, Vol. 193, 1992, pp. 313.Google Scholar
Der Derian, J., “International Theory, Balkanisation and the New World Order,” Millenium: Journal of International Studies, Vol. 20, No. 3, 1991, pp. 485506.Google Scholar
Esman, M., “Diasporas and International Relations,” in Sheffer, G., ed., Modern Diasporas in International Politics (London and Sydney: Crom Helm, 1986), pp. 333394.Google Scholar
Glenny, M., The Fall of Yugoslavia (London: Penguin Books, 1992).Google Scholar
Heller, A., Beyond Justice (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991).Google Scholar
Rezultati izbora 95 za zastupnicki dom Sabora Republike Hrvatske u Australiji i Novom Zelandu,” Spremnost, Vol. 39, No. 44, 7 November, p. 18.Google Scholar
Kazich, T., ed., Serbs in Australia: History and Development of Free Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese for Australia and New Zealand (Canberra: Monastery Press, 1989).Google Scholar
Safran, W., “Diasporas in Modern Societies: Myths of Homeland and Return,” Diaspora, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1991, pp. 8399.Google Scholar
Schöpflin, G., “The Ideology of Croatian Nationalism,” Survey, Vol. 19, No. 1, 1973, pp. 123146.Google Scholar
Sheffer, G., ed., Modern Diasporas in International Politic (London and Sydney: Croom Helm, 1986).Google Scholar
Sinclair-Loutit, K. W. C., “Understanding the Balkan Conflict,” Contemporary Review, Vol. 264, No. 1540, 1994, pp. 230237.Google Scholar
Škrbiš, Z., Ethnonationalism, Immigration and Globalism, with Particular Reference to Second Generation Croatians and Slovenians in Australia, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, The Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, 1994a.Google Scholar
Škrbiš, Z., “On Ethnic ‘Communities’ in Non-Native Environments,” Dve domovini/Two Homelands, Vol. 5 (Ljubljana: Inštitut za slovensko izseljenstvo ZRC SAZU, 1994b), pp. 137149.Google Scholar
Škrbiš, Z., “Long-Distance Nationalism? Second Generation Croatians and Slovenians in Australia,” in Pavković, A. et al., eds, Nationalism and Postcommunism: A Collection of Essays (Aldershot: Dartmouth Publishing Company, 1995), pp. 159173.Google Scholar
Spremnost, 7 November 1995, Sydney.Google Scholar
Tkalčević, M., Hrvati u Australiji, Nakladni zavod Matice Hrvatske, Zagreb, 1991.Google Scholar
Tölölyan, K., “The Nation-States and its Others: in Lieu of a Preface,” Diaspora, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1991, pp. 37.Google Scholar
Žižek, S., “Guilty Pleasures,” World Art, Vol. 2, 1995, pp. 7681.Google Scholar