Overview

The Soviet Union encompassed dozens of nationalities and ethnicities, and in the wake of its collapse, the politics of ethnicity within its former borders and throughout Eastern Europe have undergone tremendous changes. In this book, Zoltan Barany and Robert G. Moser bring together eminent scholars whose theoretically diverse and empirically rich research examines various facets of ethnicity in postcommunist Europe and Eurasia: ethnic identity and culture, mobilization, parties and voting, conflict, and ethnic migration. The contributors consider how ethnic forces have influenced political outcomes that range from voting to violence and protest mobilization to language acquisition. Conversely, each chapter demonstrates that political behavior itself has an impact on the forms and strength of ethnic identity. Thus, ethnicity is deemed to be a contested, malleable, and constructed force rather than a static characteristic inherent in the attributes of groups and individuals with a common religion, race, or national origin.

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9780801443770

Table of Contents

Reviews

A very timely volume. -- Anatoly M. Khazanov * Russian Review * Barany and Moser have added an important volume to debates about the relationships among democracy, conflict, and ethnicity. A superb list of contributors strengthens the volume.... The editors have obviously encouraged authors to tackle big issues.... This is a very strong collection and one worthy of significant attention. -- D. N. Nelson * Choice *

Ethnic Politics after Communism is as theoretically diverse and innovative as it is empirically nuanced and rich. In chapters of uniformly high quality, eminent authors address processes of nation-building and state-building, the intersection of each with international norms and transnational actors, and the role of institutional structure, rational choice, and identity reproduction in determining ethnic politics. -- Douglas W. Blum, Providence College and the Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University Barany and Moser have added an important volume to debates about the relationships among democracy, conflict, and ethnicity. A superb list of contributors strengthens the volume.... The editors have obviously encouraged authors to tackle big issues.... This is a very strong collection and one worthy of significant attention. -- D. N. Nelson * Choice * A very timely volume. -- Anatoly M. Khazanov * Russian Review *

Barany and Moser have added an important volume to debates about the relationships among democracy, conflict, and ethnicity. A superb list of contributors strengthens the volume.... The editors have obviously encouraged authors to tackle big issues.... This is a very strong collection and one worthy of significant attention. -- D. N. Nelson * Choice * A very timely volume. -- Anatoly M. Khazanov * Russian Review *

A very timely volume. -- Anatoly M. Khazanov * Russian Review * Barany and Moser have added an important volume to debates about the relationships among democracy, conflict, and ethnicity. A superb list of contributors strengthens the volume.... The editors have obviously encouraged authors to tackle big issues.... This is a very strong collection and one worthy of significant attention. -- D. N. Nelson * Choice *

Author Information

Zoltan Barany is Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of The Future of NATO Expansion and The East European Gypsies. Robert G. Moser is Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Unexpected Outcomes: Electoral Systems, Parties, and Representation in Russia.

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