Dear All and particularly David Wood,
I entirely agree that glib arguments about 'centuries of ethnic conflict and
latent barbarism' in the Balkans (what might be called 'the Balkan
syndrome') are indeed 'misguided and racist'. Such arguments have
unfortunately loomed large in the debate about the on-going crisis in Kosovo
and certainly need to be challenged wherever possible. But to refer to this
intellectually lazy and morally complacent position as 'historicist' (or
even 'historisist'?) is rather worrying for it carries the implication that
all forms of historical consideration (either in the Balkans or anywhere
else for that matter) are inherently suspect and ideologically loaded. I'm
quite sure that is not what David Wood intends but his recent criticisms of
Neil Smith's attempt to introduce an historical dimension to the discussion
on this list veers perilously close to an outright rejection of history as
having any significance at all. To my perhaps naive way of thinking,
debating the failures of the past is a moderately important task if we are
to develop a genuinely critical understanding of the present moral and
political impasse in Kosovo.
Yours
Mike Heffernan
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Mike Heffernan
Department of Geography
UCLA
415 Hilgard Avenue
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