Customer Reviews

Politics of Identity in Serbia

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Because I'd read the British edition which was translated correctly as "The Politics of Symbol in Serbia", I didn't get what I bargained for. What I hoped would be an analysis of crowd psychology and nationalism, turned out to be a political polemic against the Milosevic regime and the kind of nationalism that allegedly brought that regime to power. Thus, the translation of the US edition: "Politics of Identity in Serbia: Essays in Political Anthropology" is really an incorrect translation of the original Serbian title. However this is actually a good thing, since the title of Colovic's book in Serbian is "Politika Simbola u Srbiji" - that isn't a good title at all to describe the subject matter of this book.

Colovic doesn't believe in genetics, nor in ethnic identity, ethnic nationalism or religion. He advises the Serbs to abandon all of these and after doing so, they will soon be among the prosperous nations of Europe. The book is devided up into 30 or so 5 page essays on various topics and happenings in Serbia in the 90s. Most of Colovic's examples and subject matter come from the extreme Serbian right. This means more to the right of the mainstream nationalism in Serbia represented by the Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj and Milosevic and his Socialists. The problem is that Colovic portrays this extreme right as being mainstream. It is like analyisng contemporary right-wing America by mostly using white supremacists as examples.

Interesting parts for which I gave it two stars are a scathing critique of the Orthodox Church hierarchy and insightful analysis of crowd psychology at soccer games. Though Colovic is rarely quoted by anybody, when he is, he is mostly quoted about the latter. Everything else was political polemic and unbalanced criticisms of the general society by using examples from its extreme fringe elements. Do not watse your time on this book. If you want a book about crowd psychology, without a political agenda, read "Crowds and Power" by Elias Canetti.