Clarissa de Waal's new book explains Albania's 'transition' from
Communism via the experiences of a diverse range of families,
highland villagers, urban elite and shanty dwellers - whose lives
she has followed since 1992. As such, this is a history - of
economic, social and political change - told from the perspective
of the participants. We see how far the archaic world of customary
law continues to pervade highland life, from dispute settlement to
arranged marriages. At the same time, the author shows us members
of the ex-communist elite in Tirana embracing rentier capitalism,
while squatters on state farmland live under constant threat of
eviction. Albania, the author suggests, is a country wracked by
contradictions. Clarissa de Waal's new book will inform and engage
all those interested in Albania and southeast Europe. Catapulted
from totalitarianism to free market capitalism in 1991, Albania
emerged from half a century of isolation to find itself an anomaly
in Europe: a third world country economically and
infra-structurally, first world in terms of education, literature
and the arts. This portrait of Albania's 'transition' is based on
the experiences of a diverse range of families - highland
villagers, urban elite, shanty dwellers - whose lives the
anthropologist author has followed closely since 1992. Village life
is conveyed in vivid detail. The villagers deal with the grinding
poverty of village life with humour, charm and reslience. Rural
life, despite concerted attempts by the communist regime to
eradicate 'backwardness', is still pervaded by the archaic world of
customary law, a system whose influence spans dispute settlement,
forest rights, marriage arrangement and blood-feuds. In the
capital, Tirana, members of the former communist elite are courted
by innumerable missionary groups and foreign 'experts'. These
groups, with the means and the connections to do so, are seen to be
uninhibitedly embracing rentier capitalism. Meanwhile, highland
villagers with no means of subsistence after the closure of state
enterprises, have descended to squat on undistributed state
farmland, there to live under constant threat of eviction. Mass
unemployment, widespread lawlessness and government laissez-faire
have led to a scale of emigration unparalleled elsewhere in former
communist Europe. The shock of nation-wide revolt in 1997 triggered
alarm and international intervention. But new reforms were followed
all too quickly by a reversion to government laissez-faire and
unchecked corruption. Clarissa de Waal's new book is a history of
economic, political and social transition based on the author's
anthropological research. As such the reader sees the fundamental
changes taking place in Albania from the perspective of the
participants. Entertaining as well as informative, "Albania Today"
will engage not just those interested in Albania and southeast
Europe, but equally anyone with an interest in the impact on
individuals and families of the economic and political transition.
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