The volume gathers a series of articles by anthropologist Robert M. Hayden, written during the time when the processes of disintegration of the multinational and multireligious Yugoslav federation were underway, following the outbreak of the war in 1991.

Based on his long-term field research, the author positions himself against the prevailing trend of the time, in which the self-determination of the peoples of the collapsing socialist Yugoslavia was the main demand, arguing that the country's disintegration was not a foregone conclusion for most of its citizens.

Rather than reproducing nostalgic images of Yugoslavia in general and Bosnia in particular as places of multiculturalism, harmonious coexistence, and tolerance among the various nations, he deconstructs these notions, analyzing the gradual emergence of nationalism as the dominant political narrative.

He also discusses all the perceptions and practices of the indigenous actors as well as the international community that made disintegration inevitable, as well as the use of mass violence to separate peoples who had coexisted, more or less harmoniously, for decades.

The author therefore seeks to shed light on the social processes and ideological frameworks that brought about violent upheavals in the lives of thousands of people and to highlight the complexity of these dramatic events. He remains committed to examining what, how, and why things happened, no matter how unpleasant or morally condemnable it may be, not to condemn or justify it but to understand it.

His perspective on Yugoslavia intersects with that of authors such as Maria Todorova and Mark Mazower, who have demonstrated the role negative stereotypes about the Balkans play in reproducing asymmetrical power relations and call for vigilance against Orientalist and Balkanist perceptions, both within and outside the academic environment, which treat Southeastern Europe as a European Other, rather than an organic part of European history.