From Myth to Symptom: The Case of Kosovo

Of what is Kosovo a symptom? Zizek’s initial provocation and
Hamza’s relentless continuation will enrage anyone who looks
to culture, ethnicity, and neoliberalism to explain the tragedy
of the Balkans. Only those willing to confront their own hu-
manitarian fantasies will have the strength necessary to en-
counter the truth in these brave, important essays.
—Jodi Dean, author of The Communist Horizon
Thinking about recent Balkan developments – and tragedies
– has been dominated, for too long by varieties of national-
ist, simplistically anti-imperialist, and ‘realist’ discourses.
What has been missing is a critical theoretical discourse that
will not only deconstruct these discourses, but also attempt
to bring forward how recent political developments, from the
NATO bombings in 1999 to the proclamation of Kosova inde-
pendence, have also been determined by attempts to create
conditions favorable to the most aggressive neoliberal politics.
The two texts in this volume offer exactly this kind of critical
theoretical scrutiny that is most needed than ever, if we want to
avoid seeing not only Kosova but the Balkans in general being
turned into vast laboratories of neoliberal social engineering.
— Panagiotis Sotiris, Department of Sociology,
University of the Aegean