Guarding the “Balkan Route” on the postsocialist frontier: revisiting Maja Weiss’ Varuh meje (2002)

The Language of Here

“…The book's "we are here" is a quieter statement, if no less political. It reserves the right to speak back: to fears about "migranti" at the border, to the violence of the "gejm" that thousands are forced to play on the militarized postsocialist frontier (Baker et al, 2021), and to the white innocence (Wekker, 2016) of Slovenians who insist that their prejudice has nothing to do with racism. Furthermore, by seeking to make connections between the difficulties faced by its authors and by other segments of Slovenian society, "who also have problems in their jobs, searching for work or apartments" (Tukaj smo, 2021, p. 4), the book shifts the terms of engagement away from exceptionalism and toward the possibility of solidarity.…”