Book Reviews 437 greatness and influence. Titoism, as much The two-volume study by editors and as it is an obsolete political concept, has be- authors Gorana Ognjenović and ­Jasna come more and more vital in culture in the Jozelić, along with thirteen more authors, form of Titostalgia. Souvenirs with ­Tito’s strengthens the scholarly setting for the face on them, postsocialist sentiment and combined analysis of the Titoist, post-­ nostalgia for a past era have been present Titoist, and postsocialist era. What hap- in almost all countries created on the ter- pened in socialist Yugoslavia determined, ritory of the former Yugoslavia. Finding both directly and indirectly, the circum- their way into the area of popular culture stances under which the new countries and art, symbols of the former socialist were born after its breakup. The two vol- identity, such as Tito’s image as a revolu- umes epitomise these processes in a wide tionary, Yugoslav emblems, Tito’s birth range of topics and perspectives. The house in Kumrovec (in Croatia), but also central theme of the volumes’ argument the artistic outreach in theatre, film or mu- is the fact that, three decades after Josip sic remind of prior, seemingly better times. Broz Tito’s death and the disappearance The difficult economic situation, the un- of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugo- stable social conditions and, not least, the slavia the controversy among the peoples rise of right-wing extremism has intensi- living in the successor states today re- fied the desire for the sense of security that garding both the country and the man is was lost with Yugoslavia. as controversial as it is alive. The authors As the authors show, the idea of ‘Brother­ take this as a sign of perpetuated uncer- hood and Unity’—one of the mottos of tainty about the future among the citi- ­Yugoslav socialism—has gained attention zens of the so-called Western Balkans. once again: firstly, because it best reflects the former ideal of socialist peace and sec- Sergej Beuk (Belgrade) ondly, because it is coherent with the pol- icies of multiculturalism, which is a pre- requisite for all future members of the Anna Gansbergen / Ludger Pries / Juliana European Union. It seems a historical iro- Witkowski, eds, Versunken im Mit- ny that the countries that emerged from telmeer? Flüchtlingsorganisationen the breakup of Yugoslavia, after the bru- im Mittelmeerraum und das Europäi- tal wars, find themselves in a position in sche Asylsystem, Bielefeld: transcript which their political elites promote coop- Verlag, 2016. 186 pp., ISBN 978-3-8376- eration, even unity regarding their (fu- 3676-5, € 27.99. ture) membership in the European Union. The comparative sociocultural analyses of The sociological study edited by Anna the postsocialist transition of what today Gansbergen, Ludger Pries and Juliana is called the Western Balkans however, the Witkowski focuses on networks between authors agree, reveal how the recent dec- refugee aid organisations. The publi- ades have been a time of massive social cation is the result of a teaching and re- fragmentation. Yugoslavia, instead of only search project called ‘Mapping Refu- being what Titostalgia makes of it, undeni- gees’, which was conducted at the Ruhr ably was an authoritarian state character- University Bochum between 2013 and ised by political intransparency, censor- 2016. Within this period, various student ship, and ideological instrumentalisation. groups researched each for two years. 438 Book Reviews

The countries of interest were Italy, Spain, Particularly Italy and Spain make for Greece, Cyprus, and Malta. interesting case studies, as they are im- The introduction written by the Head portant players within the European of the Department for Social Sciences of ­Union, and their approaches to how to the Ruhr University, Ludger Pries, sets deal with refugees differ. Even though the framework and lays the foundation Italy was long regarded as only a tran- for the subsequent case studies. He ar- sit country for refugees, in recent years it gues for the current book’s relevance not- found itself confronted with rising num- ing that studies exist analysing the des- bers of asylum applications. Rapidly tiny of refugees both on the micro and changing governments, incidents of cor- the macro level, for example explaining ruption and attempts by certain political why people flee from their home coun- parties to negatively influence the general tries. Accordingly, publications discuss- atmosphere are added to the already com- ing the level in-between, the meso lev- plex system installed in terms of policies el, are lacking, and this book contributes toward refugees. to filling in this gap. It is necessary, Pries The authors in particular criticise the argues, to look more closely at the net- duration of the asylum seeking process works of refugee-related organisations in Italy, which takes weeks if not months. in order to better understand the entan- More often than not the procedure seems glements between the situation of refu- to be prolonged on purpose in order to gees, states’ actions, and the dynamics of deter refugees from applying in the first refugee movements. The empirical chap- place, and instead to try in a different ters, therefore, focus both on the migra- country. Problems that have been regis- tion and refugee situation more generally, tered include, for example, the practice of as well as, more specifically, on the net- not taking refugees’ finger prints in or- works of refugee-related organisations in der to prevent Italy from being identified Italy, Spain, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus. as the country of entry into the Europe- Each chapter focuses on one country of an Union (EU). Yet even though the asy- interest, and is set up along an analogous lum seeking process in Italy is far from structure: a short introduction explaining being flawless, the authors still observe the general situation of immigrants, in- that the government, in cooperation with cluding their numbers and economic sit- NGOs, has been working towards chang- uation, is followed by a part sub­titled ‘Es- es for the better. And not least, they point cape and Asylum’, which is split up in out that a responsibility exists on the EU further subchapters. These inform the level to support countries such as Italy reader about the historical and current that deal with a high number of people situation of refugees, how these correlate seeking asylum simply due to their geo­ with the Common European Asylum Sys- graphic position. tem (CEAS), the admission process of ref- In Spain, on the other hand, the num- ugees, and the general mood within the ber of people entering the country has population. Then follows a description of fallen as a result of strict refugee controls the cooperation and the networks between and re-enforcement of state borders. Even organisations, and two organisations are though being heavily discussed among singled out to be dealt with in more detail. Spanish lawyers and academics, parlia- Each chapter closes with a short summary. ment passed a law in 2014 that allows Book Reviews 439 those seeking protection to be pushed reader to compare the respective results. back. Consequently, boats carrying re­ The study increases our understanding fugees have often been prevented from of the reasons behind the refugee move- docking. The rather friendly attitude ments, their dynamics, and the condi- among Spanish citizens towards asylum tions refugees face when entering certain seekers might be connected to their rela- countries. Unsurprisingly, the case stud- tively low number. In Spain, refugees are ies were chosen because of to their geo- generally not being perceived as a threat. graphical location, adjacent to the Medi- However, the authors of this chapter ar- terranean Sea. gue that such strict policies should not Occasionally, the reader could have be seen as a general solution, as they gained even more if the gathered inter- have not stopped refugees from coming view materials had been quoted more ex- to ­Europe, nor are they going to do so, tensively. Even though the book explic- be that in Spain or elsewhere. The routes itly does not wish to address the micro have just changed. NGOs have been crit- level, that is to portray individual refu- icising, some more openly than others, gees’ stories and destinies, I would say the current situation in Spain. Here, as in that the chapters would have been even ­Italy, they have been especially concerned more attractive had they included at least about the slow asylum seeking process. some personal stories. Additionally, some Another serious problem has been the more in-depth analyses of the disagree- terrible conditions in which refugees live ments or conflicts existing within certain in certain areas. organisations would have enhanced the Malta, as a relatively minor player in case studies. As it stands, it is not clear the EU compared to Italy and Spain, has ­whether such issues were not included seen a rising number of refugees since its because the interviewees did not men- entry into the European Union in 2004. tion them, refused to talk about them, or This is partly due to the strict border con- whether such conflicts actually did not trols in other countries, Spain among occur. The latter would be highly surpris- them. The authors of this chapter argue ing, however. This missing topos would that the asylum seeking process in Malta­ at least have needed to be problematized is advanced and effective. In the past it by the authors. Summing up, the volume could take up to one year, but nowadays offers a well done overview of the gener- a decision is usually reached within two al migration and refugee situation in sev- months. NGOs that share the same inter- eral Mediterranean states, with a special ests and goals have established well-func- focus on the respective networks of non- tioning networks. For example, they have govern­mental organisations. heavily criticised the Maltese govern- ment’s way of dealing with those who en- Manuela Brenner (Regensburg) ter the country without legal documents, as these migrants are routinely first im- prisoned and then deported. Comprehensively, the book presents an extremely valuable contribution to the field of Refugee Studies. The clear struc- ture of each chapter makes it easy for the