The politics of nationality and the erosion of the USSR: selected papers from the Fourth World Congress for Soviet and East European Studies, Harrogate, 1990

The Soviet Union has undergone many changes recently as many of its peoples are demanding autonomy and even independence. This volume of essays analyzes recent political and social movements and trends among a variety of Soviet ethnic groups and explains their grievances and goals. Until recently, most people thought of the Soviet Union as a powerful, stable and highly centralized state. Since 1988, however, several thousand people have been killed in inter-ethnic clashes, and many of its large and small nationalities have recently obtained autonomy and independence. This volume analyses recent political and social trends among a broad range of formerly Soviet ethnic groups. It attempts to discover the demographic, cultural, political, and economic sources of contemporary ethnic discontents and to examine their social and political expressions. The authors, all distinguished specialists, analyze some of the larger groups of peoples in the former USSR, such as Ukrainians, as well as the less well-known smaller peoples, such as Koreans and Karelians. The complex nationality struggles in the Caucasus area and in Central Asia are also subjected to penetrating scrutiny by leading scholars. Several authors attempt an assessment of the future prospects of the post-Soviet states and weigh alternatives for the reconstitution or further disintegration of the former USSR. Authors from Europe, North America and Israel are represented in this study of ethnicity and politics in the 1990s Ethnopolitics And The Future Of The Former Soviet Union / Zvi Gitelman -- The Brezhnev Legacy: Nationalities And Gorbachev / Theresa C. Smith And Thomas A. Oleszczuk -- Nationalism In Central Asia In The Context Of Glasnost And Perestroika / Yaacov Ro ́i -- Revolutions In Revolutions Within Revolution: Minorities In The Georgian Republic / Stephen F. Jones -- Assimilation Of The Karelians In The Soviet Union: A Demographic Appraisal / Seppo Lallukka -- South Koreans And The Politics Of Ethnic Education / Youn-cha Shin Chey -- The Impact Of Socioeconomic, Sociocultural And Sociopolitical Factors On Demographic Trends In A Multiethnic Society: The Soviet Model / Shalvia Ben-barak -- Elections In The Ukraine, 1990 / Peter J. Potichnyj -- The Strange Politics Of Lviv: An Essay In Search Of An Explanation / Roman Szporluk. Edited By Zvi Gitelman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Ethnopolitics and the Future of the Former Soviet Union....Pages 1-25 The Brezhnev Legacy: Nationalities and Gorbachev....Pages 26-49 Nationalism in Central Asia in the Context of Glasnost and Perestroika ....Pages 50-76 Revolutions in Revolutions within Revolution: Minorities in the Georgian Republic....Pages 77-101 Assimilation of the Karelians in the Soviet Union: A Demographic Appraisal....Pages 102-125 Soviet Koreans and the Politics of Ethnic Education....Pages 126-140 The Impact of Socioeconomic, Sociocultural and Sociopolitical Factors on Demographic Trends in a Multiethnic Society: The Soviet Model....Pages 141-175 Elections in the Ukraine, 1990....Pages 176-214 The Strange Politics of Lviv: An Essay in Search of an Explanation....Pages 215-231 Back Matter....Pages 233-236