Publisher's Synopsis
Although the main tragedy of the wars which first erupted in 1991 in former Yugoslavia lies within the Balkan region, the war's shadow is global in outreach. Using a mainly ethnographic approach, this book explores how the Balkan wars have affected the everyday life and mental health in particular of Serbian immigrants and their families in Australia, and how they have responded to long distance grief, devastation and dislocation. - - It examines how mass media has enabled migrants to see and feel the impact of events happening in their homeland more vividly than in any previous conflict and how the international consensus which blames the Serbs for perpetrating the wars has stigmatised this immigrant community. In doing so, the author, who is a mental health expert, deals with issues of globalisation, fragmentation and adaptation of national and cultural identities, grief and alienation, and the effects of these on mental health and well-being. - - By examining how the Balkan war has impacted on the life and mental health of Serbian immigrants and their families living in Australia, this volume is highly original in the way that it explores issues such as globalisation, mass media, and cultural identity. From this analysis practical strategies for the promotion of cultural tolerance and civil society involving others from the region also living in Australia can be drawn.
