Suchergebnisse

"The dissolution of the Soviet Union has provided scholars with tremendously rich material for the study of comparative nation building. Not since the decolonization of Africa in the 1960s have so many new states been established in one stroke in one region. The post-Soviet states, moreover, have all the necessary prerequisites for fruitful comparison: a number of similarities, but also significant differences in terms of size, culture, and recent history. In order to survive in the long run, modern states normally must have a population that possesses some sense of unity. Its citizens must adhere to some common values and common allegiance towards the same state institutions and symbols. This does not means that all inhabitants must necessarily share the same culture, but they should at least regard themselves as members of the same nation. Strategies to foster this kind of common nationhood in a population are usually referred to as 'nation building'. After a decade of post-Soviet nation building certain patterns are emerging, and not always the most obvious ones. Some states seem to manage well against high odds, while others appear to be disintegrating or sinking slowly into oblivion. To a remarkable degree the former Soviet republics have chosen different models for their nation building. This book examines the preconditions for these endeavors, the goals the state leaders are aiming at, and the means they employ to reach them. }"--Provided by publisher.

Armstrong's 1968 article 'The Ethnic Scene in the Soviet Union' was among the earliest contributions to this topic in Western scholarship. While most other ethnic studies of the 1960s retain only historical interest at best, this article has been republished several times and continues to be read. As in several other articles, his analytical framework is typology: Soviet ethnic groups are grouped according to their socio-economic function related to degree of urbanisation, education and geographical mobility. Armstrong's typology of Soviet nationalities consisted of five categories: 'internal proletariat', 'mobilized diasporas', 'younger brothers', 'state nations' and 'colonials'. This typology may seem somewhat hotchpotch, but did in fact capture the ethnic scene well, without too many lacunae or overlaps. 'The younger brothers' were the Belarusians and the Ukrainians, two nationalities under great pressure to assimilate. Cultural and linguistic barriers between them and the Russians were very low, and the regime was also actively pushing them in that direction. Occasionally Armstrong's political explanations are 'functionalistic' rather than 'functional' in the sense of drawing inferences from effects to causes. Adapted from the source document.

The popular, stereotype perception of Russian anti-Semitism is marred by a number of misconceptions. It is generally believed that it originated among the peasants, partly as a result of religious bigotry and partly as a reaction against an alleged Jewish exploitation. In actual fact, pogroms almost invariably started in towns and cities, and the main instigators were artisans and merchants and other people who plied the same trade as the Jews, later also professionals such as lawyers. Hence, economic competition rather than exploitation was the most important driving force. This is reflected in the writings of Russian anti-Semites and is also how most contemporary Jews understood their causes behind their ordeals. The Jews could be targeted for persecution because they were a diaspora group and did not enjoy the same protection as the indigenous population. Thus, even though the tsarist regime can be cleared of any suspicion that they deliberately whipped up the pogroms, they contributed to them by failing to give the Jews the same rights as other subjects of the empire. Adapted from the source document.

The article examines to what degree attachment to a former multinational state which breaks up may complicate national consolidation in new states, as was the case in the Soviet Union and Titoist Yugoslavia. In the former Yugoslavia such attachment is usually referred to as 'Yugonostalgia', and various opinions have been expressed about its strength and possible political consequences today. Only in 2011, however, was an attempt made to measure Yugonostalgia quantitatively and analyse this phenomenon comparatively in the various successor states. A large-scale survey showed that while Yugonostalgics in some countries were less loyal than other citizens towards the new state this was not the case in Serbia. In Croatia, the number of respondents who felt Yugoslav has gone down since independence far more than in any other state; probably a result of a massive public campaign to discredit continued identification with the former state. Adapted from the source document.

The article examines the effects of job competition on ethnic relations within a multinational state. It argues that demographic increase leads to competition for blue-collar jobs while an increase in the number of graduates from higher education leads to competition over elite jobs. In the first case, people risk unemployment, in the second, blocked career opportunities. Mass-level unemployment may lead to anger-driven mass riots, while an intelligentsia will formulate more rational strategies to eliminate threatening competitors from the labour market. One such strategy is to insist that the state ought to be a national state, in which the national elites will be in control. While questions of identity no doubt also may have an enormously mobilising power in times of national resurgence, identity issues are normally intimately intertwined with interest politics. These mechanisms are traced in the history of ethnic mobilisation in the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet states during and after perestroika. Adapted from the source document.

The study of quasi-states has been marred by an unfortunate terminological confusion. Sometimes, this term is taken to mean recognized states that fail to develop the necessary state structures to function as fully fledged, 'real' states. At other times, 'quasi-states' is a designation given to regions that secede from another state, gain de facto control over the territory they lay claim to, but fail to achieve international recognition. The author proposes that, in order to clear up this confusion, recognized but ineffectual states ought to be referred as 'failed states', while the term 'quasi-states' ought to be reserved for unrecognized, de facto states. Since quasi-states are not supported by international recognition, they must be sustained by something else. In contrast to researchers who maintain that the majority of these quasi-states are quite strong, this article argues that their modal tendency is weak economy & weak state structures. The main reasons why these states nevertheless have not collapsed seem to be that they have managed to build up internal support from the local population through propaganda & identity-building; channel a disproportionately large part of their meager resources into military defense; enjoy the support of a strong patron; &, in most cases, have seceded from a state that is itself very weak. References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright 2006.]

A comment on Will Kymlicka's "Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe" (2001) discusses the validity of objections to territorial autonomy as a mechanism for reducing ethnic conflict: (1) Territorial autonomy is seen to lead to secession. (2) The putative minority homeland is no more culturally homogeneous than the whole state. After reviewing the history of territorial autonomy in the USSR, attention turns to actual experience of territorial autonomy among four groups. Analysis indicates that problems arise when territorial autonomy is taken away from groups that can cite a historical precedence for it during the Soviet period. In Gagauzia & Crimea, granting of territorial autonomy has been a positive experience; although in Dniestra, the outcome remains in question. While not a perfect solution, territorial autonomy is favored as a form of minority rights protection regime. J. Zendejas

A comment on Will Kymlicka's "Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe" (2001) discusses the validity of objections to territorial autonomy as a mechanism for reducing ethnic conflict: (1) Territorial autonomy is seen to lead to secession. (2) The putative minority homeland is no more culturally homogeneous than the whole state. After reviewing the history of territorial autonomy in the USSR, attention turns to actual experience of territorial autonomy among four groups. Analysis indicates that problems arise when territorial autonomy is taken away from groups that can cite a historical precedence for it during the Soviet period. In Gagauzia & Crimea, granting of territorial autonomy has been a positive experience; although in Dniestra, the outcome remains in question. While not a perfect solution, territorial autonomy is favored as a form of minority rights protection regime. J. Zendejas

Diasporas are usually defined as ethnic groups that lack a territorial base in a given polity. Territoriality, however, is not a given. It is determined not only by such objective factors as geography, demography, & history, but also by perceptions & ideas. The degree to which a certain group is attached to the territory on which it lives is, up to a point, a political, not an empirical question. The members of a minority group may see themselves as clearly rooted in the land, while the majority are unwilling to accept this claim. Here, these general points are illustrated by an examination of Russian minority groups in the former Soviet republics. It is argued that, from very different starting points, the Russian state & the political leaders in the non-Russian Soviet successor states, somewhat ironically, have arrived at basically the same conclusion: they tend to see the Russian diaspora communities in the so-called "near abroad" as territorially linked to Russia rather than to the countries in which these communities are actually based. Adapted from the source document.

Examines the role of identity in Kazakh nation-building, focusing on the objectives & strategies of the nation-builders, who are challenged to instill loyalty to the nation in a bicultural society in which identity is based largely on ethnic origin. The expression of these objectives & strategies in the national debate on nation-building is described. The polemics of the Kazakh-language press are contrasted with the ambiguities of official statements & the blend of academic refinement & nationalism in academic discourse, each of which has a different concept of the nation. Speculations are offered on the intentions of President Nazarbaev & the future of nonnationalist nation-building. The argument made by Kazakh experts that demography will solve the problem, which supports the "Kazakhification" of the state & justifies the overrepresentation of Kazakhs in the public sector, is assessed. It is concluded that, given the current situation, official action, eg, a constitutional clause referring to Kazakh self-determination, may be unnecessary. 1 Table. T. Arnold