Ukraine: State and Nation Building (Routledge Studies of Societies in Transition, 9)

Ukraine: State and Nation Building explores the transformation of Soviet Ukraine into an independent state and examines the new elites and their role in the state building process, as well as other attributes of the modern nation-state such as borders, symbols, myths and national histories. Extensive primary sources and interviews with leading members of Ukranian elites, show that state building is an integral part of the transition process and cannot be divorced from democratization and the establishment of a market economy. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 List of illustrations......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 13 Note on transliteration and Ukrainian spelling......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 State and nation building in Ukraine in theoretical and comparative perspective......Page 21 Soviet to Ukrainian elites......Page 38 Forging a political community......Page 58 Federalism, regionalism and the myth of separatism......Page 84 The strategic significance of borders......Page 115 In search of a national idea......Page 134 National identity and civil society......Page 159 Language policies......Page 182 History, myths and symbols......Page 213 Conclusions......Page 245 Notes......Page 252 Select bibliography of secondary sources......Page 299 Index......Page 308 This book explores the transformation of Soviet Ukraine into an independent state. It finds that state building is an integral part of the transition process, as much as democratization and the establishment of a market economy. This chapter argues within a theoretical and comparative perspective that a Ukrainian ethnos existed prior to the twentieth century in much of what is now independent Ukraine.