Book Discussion: Mediating Spaces: Literature, Politics, and the Scales of Yugoslav Socialism, 1870-1995, by James M. Robertson

Session Submission Type: Book Discussion Roundtable

Brief Description

Over the long twentieth century socialists in the lands that became Yugoslavia pursued multiple projects of supranational unification: from regional strategies of Balkan federalism to continental visions of European integration to the internationalist ambitions of the Non-Aligned Movement. Sensitive to the vulnerability of their small nations in a world of great power blocs, these socialists pursued political sovereignty, economic development, and cultural modernization at a scale between the national and the global. In his recent book, Mediating Spaces: Literature, Politics, and the Scales of Yugoslav Socialism, 1870-1995 (McGill-Queen's, 2024), James Robertson examines the evolution of supranational politics in Yugoslav socialism as a response to the shifting dynamics of globalization. This roundtable will bring together scholars of Yugoslav history and literature to discuss the book and reflect on the ways it may (or may not) offer new ways for thinking about politics, culture, and space in South East Europe.

Sub Unit

• History: 1945-1990

Chair

• Holly Case, Brown U

Roundtable Speakers

• Jovana Babovic, SUNY Geneseo

• Madigan Fichter, Holy Family U

• Natasa Kovacevic, Eastern Michigan U

• Vladimir Kulic, Iowa State U

• James MacEwan Robertson, UC Irvine