Bastards of Utopia

Living Radical Politics after Socialism

Maple Razsa author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Indiana University Press

Published:6th Apr '15

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Bastards of Utopia cover

Winner, the 2016 William A. Douglass Prize in Europeanist Anthropology

Bastards of Utopia, the companion to a feature documentary film of the same name, explores the experiences and political imagination of young radical activists in the former Yugoslavia, participants in what they call alterglobalization or "globalization from below." Ethnographer Maple Razsa follows individual activists from the transnational protests against globalization of the early 2000s through the Occupy encampments. His portrayal of activism is both empathetic and unflinching—an engaged, elegant meditation on the struggle to re-imagine leftist politics and the power of a country's youth. More information on the film can be found at www.der.org/films/bastards-of-utopia.html.

Razsa's affirmative ethnography is by no means naive or uncritical, but rather exhibits a kind of intellectual generosity and political honesty that makes it a timely, persuasive and welcome addition to anthropology of anarchism. It is also great proof that good things still emerge out of long-term ethnographic engagement with a particular historical-geographic space.

* PoLAR *

Bastards of Utopia makes an excellent contribution to the study of political activism and the social movements that have left an imprint on local and international politics around the world—from the antiglobalization demonstrations of the turn of the century to the so-called Color Revolutions, Arab Spring, and Occupy Wall Street.

* American Anthropologist *

The book's cast of characters proves outspoken and sometimes violent, willing to don gas masks and wield Molotov cocktails during standoffs with authorities. In this manner, Razsa brings a personal note to his academic treatment of politics, protest, transnational movements, and globalization . . . This book will prove a boon to anyone interested in understanding the diverse world of contemporary protest, as variously made manifest in the Occupy Movement, the Arab Spring, and Ferguson.

* Publishers Week

ISBN: 9780253015839

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 572g

296 pages