Library Catalog
Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

Russian Minority Politics in Post-Soviet Latvia and Kyrgyzstan : The Transformative Power of Informal Networks / Michele E. Commercio.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: National and Ethnic Conflict in the 21st CenturyPublisher: Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2011]Copyright date: ©2010Description: 1 online resource (248 p.) : 14 illusContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780812242218
  • 9780812204704
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 305.891/7104796 22
LOC classification:
  • DK504.35.R86 C66 2010eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Note on Transliteration -- Part I. -- Chapter 1. ''What the Hell Kind of 'Non-Native' Am I?'' -- Chapter 2. Informal Networks, Exit, and Voice -- Chapter 3. Soviet Socialist Legacies and Post-Soviet Nationalization -- Chapter 4. Opportunity Structures and the Role of Informal Networks in Their Reconfiguration -- Part II -- Chapter 5. Native Versus Non-Native: Russian Perceptions of Post-Soviet Nationalization -- Chapter 6. Russian Responses to Perceptions of Socioeconomic Prospects -- Chapter 7. Ethnic Systems in Transition -- Appendix. Methods -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgments
Summary: The collapse of the Soviet Union suddenly rendered ethnic Russians living in non-Russian successor states like Latvia and Kyrgyzstan new minorities subject to dramatic political, economic, and social upheaval. As elites in these new states implemented formal policies and condoned informal practices that privileged non-Russians, ethnic Russians had to react. In Russian Minority Politics in Post-Soviet Latvia and Kyrgyzstan, Michele E. Commercio draws on extensive field research, including hundreds of personal interviews, to analyze the responses of minority Russians to such policies and practices. In particular, she focuses on the role played by formal and informal institutions in the crystallization of Russian attitudes, preferences, and behaviors in these states.Commercio asks why there is more out-migration and less political mobilization among Russians in Kyrgyzstan, a state that adopts policies that placate both Kyrgyz and Russians, and less out-migration and more political mobilization among Russians in Latvia, a state that adopts policies that favor Latvians at the expense of Russians. Challenging current thinking, she suggests that the answer to this question lies in the power of informal networks.After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Communist party, Komsomol youth organization, and KGB networks were transformed into informal networks. Russians in Kyrgyzstan were for various reasons isolated from such networks, and this isolation restricted their access to the country's private sector, making it difficult for them to create effective associations capable of representing their interests. This resulted in a high level of Russian exit and the silencing of Russian voices. In contrast, Russians in Latvia were well connected to such networks, which provided them with access to the country's private sector and facilitated the establishment of political parties and nongovernmental organizations that represented their interests. This led to a low level of Russian exit and high level of Russian voice. Commercio concludes that informal networks have a stronger influence on minority politics than formal institutions.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780812204704

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Note on Transliteration -- Part I. -- Chapter 1. ''What the Hell Kind of 'Non-Native' Am I?'' -- Chapter 2. Informal Networks, Exit, and Voice -- Chapter 3. Soviet Socialist Legacies and Post-Soviet Nationalization -- Chapter 4. Opportunity Structures and the Role of Informal Networks in Their Reconfiguration -- Part II -- Chapter 5. Native Versus Non-Native: Russian Perceptions of Post-Soviet Nationalization -- Chapter 6. Russian Responses to Perceptions of Socioeconomic Prospects -- Chapter 7. Ethnic Systems in Transition -- Appendix. Methods -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgments

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

The collapse of the Soviet Union suddenly rendered ethnic Russians living in non-Russian successor states like Latvia and Kyrgyzstan new minorities subject to dramatic political, economic, and social upheaval. As elites in these new states implemented formal policies and condoned informal practices that privileged non-Russians, ethnic Russians had to react. In Russian Minority Politics in Post-Soviet Latvia and Kyrgyzstan, Michele E. Commercio draws on extensive field research, including hundreds of personal interviews, to analyze the responses of minority Russians to such policies and practices. In particular, she focuses on the role played by formal and informal institutions in the crystallization of Russian attitudes, preferences, and behaviors in these states.Commercio asks why there is more out-migration and less political mobilization among Russians in Kyrgyzstan, a state that adopts policies that placate both Kyrgyz and Russians, and less out-migration and more political mobilization among Russians in Latvia, a state that adopts policies that favor Latvians at the expense of Russians. Challenging current thinking, she suggests that the answer to this question lies in the power of informal networks.After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Communist party, Komsomol youth organization, and KGB networks were transformed into informal networks. Russians in Kyrgyzstan were for various reasons isolated from such networks, and this isolation restricted their access to the country's private sector, making it difficult for them to create effective associations capable of representing their interests. This resulted in a high level of Russian exit and the silencing of Russian voices. In contrast, Russians in Latvia were well connected to such networks, which provided them with access to the country's private sector and facilitated the establishment of political parties and nongovernmental organizations that represented their interests. This led to a low level of Russian exit and high level of Russian voice. Commercio concludes that informal networks have a stronger influence on minority politics than formal institutions.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2022)