[PDF] Post Soviet Legacies And Conflicting Values In Europe eBook

Author : Lena Surzhko-Harned
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 169 pages
File Size : 46,30 MB
Release : 2017-11-22
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1498531989

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Generational conflicts occur in any society and prove to be both a puzzle and a rite of passage for every generation. Older generations often find it difficult to relate to the younger generations. Yet, as every generation comes of age, it leaves an impact on societal structures as a whole. Between baby boomers and millennials, societal norms and values transform in new and unexpected ways. While globalization has greatly contributed to the generational gaps world over, the post-communist transition, which occurred in the wake of the collapse of the USSR, left lasting and profound effects on these transitioning societies. This book investigates the generational conflict in the post-Soviet societies and argues that the generational divide runs deep. The post-Soviet generation, Generation WhY, has not dealt with the experience of old Soviet structures and they do not share the same values and norms as their parents and grandparents. Individualism, lack of trust in state institutions, independence, and entrepreneurial spirit run high among the members of the perestroika generation. Yet we still find differences between societies. While the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has its roots in a number of deeply seeded issues, this analysis shows that the generational gap is a part of the problem. This book also offers conclusive evidence to suggest that the members of the post-Soviet generation can be part of the solution.

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 34,69 MB
Release : 2015-10-05
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9004291458

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The break-up of the Soviet Union is a key event of the twentieth century. The 39th IIS congress in Yerevan 2009 focused on causes and consequences of this event and on shifts in the world order that followed in its wake. This volume is an effort to chart these developments in empirical and conceptual terms. It has a focus on the lands of the former Soviet Union but also explores pathways and contexts in the Second World at large. The Soviet Union was a full scale experiment in creating an alternative modernity. The implosion of this union gave rise to new states in search of national identity. At a time when some observers heralded the end of history, there was a rediscovery of historical legacies and a search for new paths of development across the former Second World. In some parts of this world long-repressed legacies were rediscovered. They were sometimes, as in the case of countries in East Central Europe, built around memories of parliamentary democracy and its replacement by authoritarian rule during the interwar period. Some legacies referred to efforts at establishing statehood in the wake of the First World War, others to national upheavals in the nineteenth century and earlier. In Central Asia and many parts of the Caucasus the cultural heritage of Islam in its different varieties gave rise to new markers of identity but also to violent contestations. In South Caucasus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have embarked upon distinctly different, but invariably contingent, paths of development. Analogously core components of the old union have gone through tumultuous, but until the last year and a half largely bloodless, transformations. The crystallization of divergent paths of development in the two largest republics of that union, i.e. Russia and Ukraine, has ushered in divergent national imaginations but also in series of bloody confrontations.

Author : John Paul Newman
Publisher : Purdue University Press
Page : 417 pages
File Size : 14,87 MB
Release : 2021-06-15
Category : History
ISBN : 1612496695

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Balkan Legacies is a study of the aftermath of war and state socialism in the contemporary Balkans. The authors look at the inescapable inheritances of the recent past and those that the present has to deal with. The book’s key theme is the interaction, often subliminal, of the experiences of war and socialism in contemporary society in the region. Fifteen contributors approach this topic from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and through a variety of interpretive lenses, collectively drawing a composite picture of the most enduring legacies of conflict and ideological transition in the region, without neglecting national and local peculiarities. The guiding questions addressed are: what is the relationship between memories of war, dictatorship (communist or fascist), and present-day identity—especially from the perspective of peripheral and minority groups and individuals? How did these components interact with each other to produce the political and social culture of the Balkan Peninsula today? The answers show the ways in which the experiences of the latter part of the twentieth century have defined and shaped the region in the twenty-first century.

Author : Alexander Libman
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 383 pages
File Size : 14,8 MB
Release : 2021-01-21
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1108901395

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Libman and Obydenkova reveal how legacies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) have survived in the politics, economic development, culture, and society of post-Communist regions in the 21st Century. The authors show how this impact is not driven by Communist ideology but by the clientelistic practices, opportunism and cynicism prevalent in the CPSU. Their study is built on a novel dataset of the CPSU membership rates in Russian regions in the 1950s-1980s, alongside case studies, interviews and an analysis of mass media previously only available in Russian and discussed here in English for the first time. It will appeal to students and scholars of Russian and Eastern European politics and history, and anyone who wants to better understand countries which live or have lived through Communism: from Eastern Europe to China and East Asian Communist states.

Author : Katya Migacheva
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 13,42 MB
Release : 2018
Category : History
ISBN : 9780833099846

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Religion has become increasingly important in the sociopolitical life of countries in the former Soviet Union. This volume of essays examines how religion affects conflict and stability in the region and provides recommendations to policymakers.

Author : Megan Hauser
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 16,97 MB
Release : 2019-01-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1498556728

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This book explores the factors that explain incumbent and opposition behavior in electoral authoritarian regimes. It focuses on states in the post-Soviet region and finds variation in the types of manipulation, the formation of opposition coalitions as well as election boycotts.

Author : Alexei D. Voskressenski
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 20,81 MB
Release : 2019-04-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 149858070X

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In the evolving post-Westphalian world regional entities become key political and economic players as the authors argue in this volume. As a result of regionalization, the international politics and economics is witnessing great transformations too. This volume explores some ideas of how these transformations may develop. It is written by three generations of researchers and scholars at European, Russian, and Asian higher education institutions. Their different perspectives are integrated in a coherent, multi-dimensional view to answer challenges facing what is called increasingly “Greater Eurasia”. The volume employs a rigorous conceptual framework over a wide geographic range and applies different approaches to ask and answer challenging questions. The arguments presented in this book are built around the concepts of regionalism and transregionalism. The volume is focusing on three different geographical entities: Europe, Eurasia and East Asia, and examines ASEM, EAEU, BRI, EU, ASEAN, CIS, as well as TTIP, TTP, OBOR .

Author : Anna Matveeva
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 44,82 MB
Release : 2017-12-20
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1498543243

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This book tells the story of insurgency in Ukraine’s Donbas region from the perspective of the rebels, who sought and continue to seek either independence from Ukraine or unification with Russia. As such, it provides a unique insight into their thinking and motivations, which need to be understood if the conflict is to be resolved. Those making and remaking the conflict are placed in the centre of the story which uses the words of the combatants themselves. It shows how volunteer fighters, driven by a wide and diffuse set of motivations, emerged from Ukraine, Russia, and different parts of the world, stood at the rebellion's heart. The book focuses on the participants’ own voices and personalities, drawing extensively on first-hand research and interviews. Rather than rendering Ukraine a chess piece on the geopolitical board, the rebellion shows that ordinary people, rather than elites, can act as a decisive force. Donbas says something about why large numbers of people make the decision to take part in a collective violent action, when material rewards are low or non-existent, and mortal risks high. It stands as an important text on the study of modern insurgencies, revealing how violent conflicts happen via issues of politicized identity and involvement of non-state actors. This book places this conflict into the context of other conflicts worldwide and demonstrates how ideas and narratives are constructed to provide meaning to a struggle. The insurgency has produced a conflict sub-culture, rich with symbolism, narrative, and communications, made possible by the digital age and a social media-savvy population. These beliefs and ideas have had the power to pull people from different parts of the world. This book follows the stages of assembling different conflict ingredients together, and the rebellion’s zigzagging fortunes after it became apparent that Moscow was not going to repeat the Crimea scenario in Donbas. It analyses the logic of armed struggle and the tactics deployed by warring parties. The book also sheds light on the developments in Moscow, discusses the phenomenon of the Russian Spring movement and concludes with the prospects for a peaceful solution.

Author : G. Doug Davis
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 151 pages
File Size : 24,86 MB
Release : 2018-12-14
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1498585876

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The end of the Cold War heralded in a new era for liberalism. Eastern European states adopted democracy and capitalism to gain acceptance by the West. Yet, a mere two decades later, liberalism was in crisis. The rise of illiberal democracies and nationalist movements in the second decade of the twenty-first century have left scholars baffled. How could this happen? Dr's. Davis and Slobodchikoff show that the decline of the liberal order lies within its own ideology: as it champions freedom, liberalism requires its adherents to give up their cultural traditions and adopt the global ethos to be legitimate. Through a systematic analysis of Western and Russian soft power in Poland and Serbia, the authors explain the decline of liberalism and the battle over the balance of power in Eastern Europe.

Author : Stephen K. Wegren
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 331 pages
File Size : 44,24 MB
Release : 2018-03-28
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1498532381

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This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Russian food policy. Food policy is defined as the way government policy influences food production and distribution. Russia’s food policy is important for several reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that a dysfunctional food policy is symptomatic of larger political and societal problems. A failing food policy is often the precursor to political instability. Russian food policy is also important is due to the agricultural recovery since 2004 that has allowed Russia to become self-sufficient in grain production. Being food-sufficient in grain means that Russia is not drawing upon global grain supply. Even more important, Russia now produces surpluses and has become a global grain supplier. Moreover, the agricultural recovery has made the country food secure, traditionally defined as having enough food for a healthy life. An analysis of food policy reveals that the structure of food production has changed with the emergence of mega-farms called agroholdings that are horizontally and vertically integrated. Agroholdings represent a concentration of capital and land, with a small number of farms producing large percentages of total food output. The book explores alternatives to the industrial agricultural model by discussing different variants of sustainable agriculture. A final importance of Russian food policy concerns food trade. Russia has become more protectionist since 2012. The food embargo against Western nations (2014-2017) is one example, so too is import substitution that is a core component of food policy. The book demonstrates the politicalization of external food trade. Food trade and denial of access to the Russian market is used as an instrument of foreign policy to punish countries with whom Russia has disagreements. Current Russian policymakers have food resources to augment, support, and extend national interests abroad. Russia historically has cycled through periods of integration and isolation from the West. This book raises the question whether a new normal has arisen that is characterized by the permanent withdrawal from integration, as evidenced by its nationalist and protectionist food policy. The book is entirely original, rich in detail and broad in scope. It is based on field work, survey data, a wide reading of primary sources and the secondary literature, all of which are linked to important policy questions in development studies and food studies. It is destined to become a classic book on Russian food policy.