Nation-building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands: The Politics of National Identities / Edition 1

by Graham Smith, Vivien Law, Andrew Wilson, Annette Bohr, Edward Allworth

Overview

The emergence in 1991 of the fourteen borderland post-Soviet states has been accompanied by the reforging of their national identities. Such attempts to rethink or reimagine the nation have had a major impact in reshaping the political, cultural and social lives of both national and ethnic minority groups alike. This book analyzes these national identities and explores their consequences for the borderland states, with substantive studies drawn from the Baltic states, Ukraine and Belarus, Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521599689
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/10/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

1. Post-colonialism and borderland identities; Part I. Rediscovering National Histories: 2. National history and national identity in Ukraine and Belarus; 3. National identity and myths of ethnogenesis in Transcaucasia; 4. History and group identity in Central Asia; Part II. Ethnopolitics and the Construction of Group Boundaries: 5. Nation re-building and political discourses of identity politics in the Baltic states; 6. Redefining ethnic and linguistic boundaries in Ukraine: indigenes, settlers and Russophone Ukrainians; 7. The Central Asian states as nationalising regimes; Part III. Language and Nation-Building: 8. Language myths and the discourse of nation-building in Georgia; 9. Language policy and ethnic relations in Uzbekistan.

Editorial Reviews

"...this volume contains fascinating new essays which...comprise a welcome addition to the growing literature on the changing roles of language, myth, identity, and national politics in the post-Soviet states." H-Net

"...the book reaffirms the notion that in post-Soviet republics, identities cannot be effortlessly appealed to." David Laitin, The Russian Review

"The book...extends our knowledge and understanding of the international and domestic politics of the post-Soviet era." Slavic Review

"...Nation Building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands is by any measure an erudite, challenging and interesting book that brims with insights." Alexander Danilovich, CN Journal of Political Science

From the Publisher