Today, there is an ever growing number of people originating from Southeast Europe, and especially from the Western Balkans countries, that complete their graduate studies abroad. Many of these future academics come from various fields in the social sciences and humanities; and one unifying factor is that the vast majority of them specialize in topics of regional (and local) significance. Usually, they add an ideological overtone to their work, often positioning themselves against the mainstream discourse and attempting to render a sharp critique of their societies. As such, it is a very positive tendency: we are witnessing the emergence of a  new generation of scholars, that are on a mission to challenge the status quo at home, promote progressive values and ultimately change the world for the better.

Yet, there are at least a few worrying occurrences that accompany the rise of more and more regional/local experts. They might not be taken a serious threats, but do resemble certain weaknesses that I feel obliged to address.

WB students often master a case (and even more often that case happens to be one they have already mastered) on the expense of mastering a discipline or field/area of study. Writing a thesis on one’s own home country limits the possibility of having an authentic academic experience. Very often the students rely on their firsthand knowledge, experience and perceptions developed throughout their life in their communities (which are relevant but not sufficient) rather than to bother with gathering information through research. And while such thesis might be very well argued and make a good read (yet it is more probable that it won’t say something new), the student fails to make the most out of the ample opportunity to develop their research skills. In some cases, they might even lose the academic rigor and allow personal biases to set their research agenda.

Very often, students from WB writing on WB are not driven by academic, but rather by political endeavors. In other words, they are not that concerned with research questions and answers, but with making a politically relevant argument. Alas, their work does not primarily target the academic debate, but domestic politics. This is another way an ample opportunity to develop one’s own capacities is misused for a less rewarding goal. Moreover, it results with the piling up of not very relevant papers by Zizek wannabes, which does only bad to the field of study.

By focusing on topics that they are already familiar with, these students fall in the trap of exoticizing SEE and moreover, their home countries as somewhat special and unique cases. Awfully lacking are comparative studies, broader contextualization as well as a sense for scale and proportion. On the course of their study students slowly forget that a world outside the region exists. In this respect, I have to go on and refer to one recent presentation made by Tim Judah, who made a remark on the lack of broader context to the amassing work on WB. He illustrated his point with the fact that the population of all WB countries combined is still less than the population of for instance, Shanghai – which does not make WB less relevant, but it surely helps us put things in perspective.

To be clear – there are exceptions. I know young people from the region whose work is outstanding and they produce state of the art pieces that change the way the academic discourse regarding WB evolves. Yet, here I am talking about a larger category – the ones who simply cannot make it to the stars, and who eventually end up not even working in academia or think tanks. And to a great extent, it is the Balkanocentric approach to be blamed.

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Why I am pointing out these things right now? Simply, because when I was beginning with my studies, there was no one to really explain them to me. And I was not even that Balkanocentric/Macedonocentric to begin with. When I was starting with my masters in Nationalism Studies, for instance, I never really had the intention to become an expert on Macedonian nationalism – Macedonian nationalism was the only thing I felt I thoroughly knew. And gradually, that has defined my research agenda – overtaking my interest in pretty much everything else (for instance, my first two term papers were dealing with the Zapatista movement in Mexico and indigenismo).

From this perspective, I can point out to a few factors that have contributed to me becoming “an accidental expert” on my home country, and that have probably led many of my peers from the region to do the same.

Weak preparation for graduate studies and research work. Every bit of the claims that WB schools are all about theory (and often, outdated and useless) and that they teach you no practical skills is true. At the time I started my studies abroad, I had no clue how academic research should be done, and I was very well aware of it. That has resulted with me developing strong insecurity regarding my prospective studies and the false impression that in order to succeed I had to stick to what I knew best (and I knew Macedonian politics best because I have lived there and followed the news closely for ages). What I did not realize at the time was that once I acquired research skills, first-hand knowledge did not really matter anymore. In fact, a good researcher can gather relevant data even in cases that he does not have the most solid background for. Moreover, in order to make a valid point, you don’t really have to know every single detail about your case. Of course, the more you know the better; but it helps greatly if you learn during the research (from reading books and talking to people) and not just to build on personal perceptions. Of course, I read books and I expanded my knowledge; yet, I only got the feeling that I am making something worthy when I re-framed my thesis topic so it would include a comparative perspective with another country.

Falsely thinking that researching your own country is the only way how research should be done. Even though this myth was debunked as soon as I stepped in my new classroom, it was very hard from me to detach from the local context. This is pretty much the result of having no experience in research, yet it also had some cultural factors: the “reservation mentality” – lack of international experience and especially lack of sense of belonging to the world. Not having traveled and lived abroad, or not having done that as much as their peers from more developed countries, makes many kids from WB think only in terms of their country of origin and making them less capable of relating to some other region/case. The saddest part is that whenever they learn something new, they try to project it onto their home country, whether it makes sense or not.

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I have written extensively on my home country and on WB stuff. And at the end of the day I do not regret that. I have published many articles, I had the chance to travel to prestigious conferences and finally, my book is to come out of print any day now.

Yet, until a few months ago, I had this uncomfortable feeling that I was not using all my cognitive potential and that I was somehow confining myself to what happens to be a very narrow and overcrowded area. Yet, I found out that new things can, and should be learned; and moreover, that shifting your focus does not mean unlearning what you already know. Working on European matters, and getting started with China studies, does not make me less of an “expert” on Macedonia. So this is my message to the future grad students from the region, who have recognized themselves in my text and are bothered by some of the things outlined above: there is a world beyond your country and your region. You don’t need to write every term paper or even your thesis based on your foreknowledge about the place where you have lived your whole life. Moreover, trying new things, experimenting, and doing research on new topics will greatly benefit you and open new windows that one day will be as rewarding as sticking to your home country. And, learning new things does not mean unlearning what you already know – it can just complement it, make you a better scholar and culturally enrich you.