Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BALKANIZE

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connect today's word to others: United we stand, balkanized we fall. To balkanize a group is to divide it, to dissolve its unity: to force it into fac____alism, or a state of tense disagreement or conflict. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "BALKANIZE" This term originally referred to the Balkans, that European area in turmoil during World War I. (For the specifics, here's Britannica.) To balkanize a place, a thing, or a group is to split it up into separate, hostile sections. It's much less common, but you can also say that things, places, and groups balkanize on their own: that they split up on their own into separate, hostile sections. Pronunciation: BALL kuh nize Part of speech: Verb. It’s most often transitive (you balkanize a group)  but can also be intransitive (your group balkanizes on its own). Other forms: balkanized, balkanizing, balkanization/balkanism Capital B or lowercase b? If you prefer, use a capital: "The club Balkanized," "They're Balkanizing us," "They've been Balkanized." I'll stick with a lowercase because it's what many writers are doing these days as we treat this word like a common verb. How to use it: "Balkanize" is formal, with a harsh negative tone and a geopolitical flavor. I admit it's also bulky, unmusical, and apt to be unfamiliar to some of your listeners. Maybe your idea could be expressed just as clearly with "fracture," "split," or the dramatic "rend" instead? But if the fracturing, splitting, rending process you've got in mind results in competition, hostility, and inefficiency, then "balkanize" is perfect. Use it to talk about plots, wars, natural disasters, politicians, and rebels who balkanize countries, empires, regions, and continents--or, more loosely, talk about people and rules that balkanize policies, processes, systems, markets, cultures, regulations, political parties, professional fields, and so on. You can say that something is balkanized into sections: an empire balkanized into chiefdoms, a field balkanized into trifling specializations. The adjective, "balkanized," is especially useful: talk about balkanized regions or a balkanized world, a balkanized administration, balkanized politics, balkanized regulation, etc. examples: In The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins presents an oppressed and impoverished United States, balkanized into twelve districts kept strictly isolated except for ritualized competitions. Though much of fiction imagines a people cowed by balkanization, in Joss Whedon's Firefly the source of oppression is forced unification: "Unite all the planets under one rule so that everybody can be interfered with or ignored equally." study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "balkanize" means when you can explain it without saying "splinter" or "chop up." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Some particular subculture or segment of society) has become so balkanized that _____." Example: "The academic world has become so balkanized that its journals seem to publish in mutually unintelligible languages." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is Banishing Bland Adjectives. In each issue, we're strengthening our word-finding skills as we take aim at a vague little adjective and think up three ways to make it more specific. Resist the urge to sneak off to the thesaurus! From the previous issue: AWKWARD. 1. When something is AWKWARD because you find it difficult to get a (literal or figurative) grip on all of it, then instead of AWKWARD, call it _____. 2. When people seem AWKWARD because they're always dropping, breaking, or bumping into things, then instead of AWKWARD, call them _____. 3. When something is AWKWARD because it's been slapped together quickly with no overall sense of consistency or beauty, then instead of AWKWARD, call it _____. Suggested answers: 1, cumbersome; 2, klutzy; 3, inelegant. (Your answers might be different but just as precise.) Try this last one today: EASY. 1. When something is EASY because it involves no complexity and no sudden twisting or turning, then instead of EASY, call it _____. 2. When something is EASY because it happens practically on its own, with very little thought or work required, then instead of EASY, call it _____. 3. When something is EASY because it results in lots of rewards in exchange for very little work, then instead of EASY, call it _____. review today's word: 1. The opposite of BALKANIZE is A. SUBSIDIZE B. ENERGIZE C. MERGE 2. The movement grew impressively large, then balkanized and _____. A. collapsed B. went global C. switched directions Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. A