1st Edition

The Soviet Nationality Reader The Disintegration In Context

By Rachel Denber Copyright 1992
    646 Pages
    by Routledge

    647 Pages
    by Routledge

    Setting the context for the crisis that has fragmented the former USSR, this reader presents key essays by notable Western scholars who have shaped the debates within the field of Soviet nationality studies. Focusing first on the historical development of the Soviet multiethnic state, the discussions then turn to specific problem areas, including federalism, elites, economy, language policy, and nationalism. An introductory essay by the editor discusses how the works in teh book contribute to our understanding of the current disintegration and analyzes opposing perspectives in the debates. Intended for use as a textbook in undergraduate or graduate courses on Soviet nationality problems or Soviet and post-Soviet domestic politics, this anthology will be valuable for students and professors alike.

    Editor’s Note -- General Introduction -- History and Ideology -- The Soviet Prototype -- The Establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics -- When the “Prison of Peoples” Was Opened -- Federalism -- The Evolution of the Soviet Federal System -- The Debate Over Soviet Federalism -- Soviet Federalism and Ethnic Mobilization -- Elites and Ethnic Stratification -- Cadres Policy in Nationality Areas: Recruitment of CPSU First and Second Secretaries in Non-Russian Republics of the USSR -- Ethnicity, the Personnel Weapon, and Neo-imperial Integration: Ukrainian and RSFSR Provincial Party Officials Compared -- The Ethnic Scene in the Soviet Union: The View of the Dictatorship -- Economy -- Nationalities and the Soviet Economy -- Half Full or Half Empty? The Debate Over Soviet Regional Equality -- The Evolution of Soviet Fiscal Federalism -- Language -- Language, Culture, Religion, and Cultural Awareness -- Soviet Language Planning: Goals, Results, Options -- Equality, Efficiency, and Politics in Soviet Bilingual Education Policy, 1934-1980 -- Nationalism and Nationalist Movements -- The Dialectics of Nationalism in the USSR -- Ethnonationalism and Political Stability: The Soviet Case -- Lithuanian National Politics -- Nationalism and Democracy in Gorbachev’s Soviet Union: The Case of Karabagh -- Dilemmas of Russian Nationalism -- Coping with the Nationalities Crisis -- Ethnic Politics in the USSR -- The Sobering of Gorbachev: Nationality, Restructuring, and the West -- Soviet Federalism

    Biography

    Rachel Denber