The Next Generation in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan: Youth, Politics, Identity, and Change

by Nadia M. Diuk

Overview

In the past twenty years, the countries that used to make up the former Soviet Union have seen plenty of change. There have been revolutions, youth-led protest movements, and other forms of incredible political upheaval. At the center of all of this were young leaders fighting to be heard and clamoring for change. In Nadia Diuk's meticulously researched and insightful book. The Next Generation in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, she shows how those young leaders have risen up and become a part of the new political system. Using unique public opinion polling data and personal interviews, she explores how the new generation of leaders is shaping the political system and how the young people of today continue to exhort pressure for reform. This book is important to anyone interested in Eastern European studies, political transitions, protest movements, or youth and politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742549456
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/18/2012
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Nadia M. Diuk is the Vice President of programs in Africa, Europe, and Eurasia, Latin American, and Caribbean for the National Endowment for Democracy. She is the author of Hidden Nations and New Nations Rising.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Youth—the Next Generation
The First Free Generation
Struggles for Power
Portrait of a Generation
News, Leisure, and Lifestyle
Chapter 2: The History of Youth
“Toward a Shining Future”
Youth in a Time of Transition
Glasnost, Perestroika, and the Komsomol
Youth and the Oligarchs
Youth on the Threshold
Leaders and Lidery
Education and National Identity
Chapter 3: Ukraine; Land of Paradoxes
Youth as an Agent of Change?
Land of Paradoxes
The Revolution on Granite
Reconsolidation of the Elite
State Sponsored Youth
Gongadze: Prologue to the Orange Revolution
Struggle for the Youth Vote
Civil Society Grows
Youth in the Orange Revolution and After
Seeking an Identity
Chapter 4: Azerbaijan: From Mugham to Facebook
Identity and the Next Generation
War in Karabagh
Fathers and Sons
The Pull of Patriarchalism
Politics, Culture, and Civil Society
The Orange Effect
Identity and Internet
Chapter 5: Russia: Redefining the Nation
Russia Redux
The Elusive Middle Class
Leadership and Generational Change
Youth on the Move: the 1990s
Youth and Politics
Orange Surprise
Our Youth—Nashi
Depoliticized Nation
Chapter 6: Three Countries in Comparative Perspective
National Identity and Language
Relations with Other Countries and Foreign Travel
Youth and the International Dimension
Toward a Political Identity
Equality vs. Freedom
Values and Beliefs
What Kind of Politics?
Chapter 7: Looking to the Future
Conflict, Collaboration or Co-optation?
Next Generation Rising
Appendix: 2003 and 2010 Youth Surveys Conducted in Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine

Editorial Reviews

Diuk (vice president, National Endowment of Democracy) analyzes the political attitudes of youth (18-35 year olds) in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, based on surveys conducted in 2003 and 2010. In Soviet times, youth activities were channeled into official organizations. In post-Soviet society, they are untethered, despite some efforts by the Russian state to create Komsomol-like organizations. Diuk argues that youth have better skills and work ethics than their parents have but still expect the state to provide a safety net. They do not necessarily hold democratic values—not even in Ukraine, where they played a prominent role in the 2004 Orange Revolution. They are alienated from politics, with low levels of trust in the media, parties, and NG's. The highest level of support for democracy (as an ideal) is in Azerbaijan, which is the least democratic of the three. The 40-page appendix includes the main survey results: Diuk does not construct a statistical model. One of the few books on an important topic. Summing Up: Recommended.

Choice Reviews

One of the most striking features of recent democratic revolutions in post-communist countries (and globally) has been the leading role of youth and youth movements in challenging authoritarian rule. But what happens after the revolution? In this innovative and timely study, Nadia Diuk draws on extensive interviews and public opinion surveys to paint a fascinating political portrait of the first post-Soviet generation in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. This is a vital work for understanding the nature and limits of political change in these societies.

Larry Diamond

Using new polling data, Nadia Diuk traces youth attitudes towards politics in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, and shows how they have been shaped in ways very different from one another by their past experiences. The Next Generation will be critical to anyone seeking to understand political change in the former Soviet Union.

Francis Fukuyama

A timely and important contribution regarding the complex relationship between democracy and the politically-awakened youth of the key newly independent states of the former Soviet space.

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Diuk (vice president, National Endowment of Democracy) analyzes the political attitudes of youth (18-35 year olds) in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, based on surveys conducted in 2003 and 2010. In Soviet times, youth activities were channeled into official organizations. In post-Soviet society, they are untethered, despite some efforts by the Russian state to create Komsomol-like organizations. Diuk argues that youth have better skills and work ethics than their parents have but still expect the state to provide a safety net. They do not necessarily hold democratic values—not even in Ukraine, where they played a prominent role in the 2004 Orange Revolution. They are alienated from politics, with low levels of trust in the media, parties, and NG's. The highest level of support for democracy (as an ideal) is in Azerbaijan, which is the least democratic of the three. The 40-page appendix includes the main survey results: Diuk does not construct a statistical model. One of the few books on an important topic. Summing Up: Recommended.

Choice

Using new polling data, Nadia Diuk traces youth attitudes towards politics in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, and shows how they have been shaped in ways very different from one another by their past experiences. The Next Generation will be critical to anyone seeking to understand political change in the former Soviet Union.--Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man

One of the most striking features of recent democratic revolutions in post-communist countries (and globally) has been the leading role of youth and youth movements in challenging authoritarian rule. But what happens after the revolution? In this innovative and timely study, Nadia Diuk draws on extensive interviews and public opinion surveys to paint a fascinating political portrait of the first post-Soviet generation in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. This is a vital work for understanding the nature and limits of political change in these societies.--Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

A timely and important contribution regarding the complex relationship between democracy and the politically-awakened youth of the key newly independent states of the former Soviet space.--Zbigniew Brzezinski, "Compelling, readable, and very moving!"

From the Publisher

Diuk (vice president, National Endowment of Democracy) analyzes the political attitudes of youth (18-35 year olds) in Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, based on surveys conducted in 2003 and 2010. In Soviet times, youth activities were channeled into official organizations. In post-Soviet society, they are untethered, despite some efforts by the Russian state to create Komsomol-like organizations. Diuk argues that youth have better skills and work ethics than their parents have but still expect the state to provide a safety net. They do not necessarily hold democratic values—not even in Ukraine, where they played a prominent role in the 2004 Orange Revolution. They are alienated from politics, with low levels of trust in the media, parties, and NG's. The highest level of support for democracy (as an ideal) is in Azerbaijan, which is the least democratic of the three. The 40-page appendix includes the main survey results: Diuk does not construct a statistical model. One of the few books on an important topic. Summing Up: Recommended.

CHOICE