{"product_id":"albania-portrait-of-a-country-in-transition-9781780764849","title":"Albania: Portrait of a Country in Transition","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCatapulted 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, but first world in terms of education, literature and the arts. How has Albania transformed since then? Clarissa de Waal here 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. De Waal shows that whilst the archaic world of customary law continues to pervade highland life, and squatters on state farmland live under constant threat of eviction, members of the ex-communist elite in Tirana embrace rentier capitalism. Albania, it seems, is a country wracked by contradictions. With unparalleled insights into the region, this book is a unique history told from the perspective of the participants. It will inform and engage all those interested in Albania and south-east Europe, and prove essential reading for students and specialists.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Clarissa de Waal's brilliant study of the first dozen years of post-Communist Albania, published in 2003, showed an unrivalled grasp of both life at the grass roots and the 'agitated stagnancy' of the country as a whole. This updated volume, which brings the story up to 2012, underlines Dr de Waal's remarkable foresight a decade ago and provides a lucid analysis of the forces making for the 'perpetuation of stagnancy.\"    Christopher Andrew, Emeritus Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, University of Cambridge, UK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaps  List of illustrations    Acknowledgements                                                                Foreword to the revised edition  Chapter 1.  Introduction  Chapter 2.  First Impressions: Dropull  Chapter 3.  Tirana, 1992   Chapter 4.  Looking for a fieldwork base  Chapter 5.  Mirdita and its history  Chapter 6.  The Kanun in the 1990s   Chapter 7.  Family life and poverty in Fan  Chapter 8.   Orosh  Chapter 9.  The bajraktar and the heroine of the people   Chapter 10.  Developments  Chapter 11. Life and work in Bulshar  Chapter 12.   Rrëshen  Economic survival \u0026amp; religion    Chapter 13.   Rrëshen  Life \u0026amp; death \u0026amp; the breakdown of law \u0026amp; order      Chapter 14.   Descent to the plain  Chapter 15.   New conclusion 2010  Appendices  1. Sketches from a twelve year old’s notebook 2. Extended quotations from the Kanun of Lek Dukagjin             Bibliography  Index","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49411797582167,"sku":"9781780764849","price":23.74,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/albania-portrait-of-a-country-in-transition-9781780764849","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}