Ethnic Politics After Communism - by Zoltan Barany & Robert G Moser (Hardcover)

About the Book

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...

Book Synopsis

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.

Contributors: Zoltan Barany, University of Texas at Austin; Mark R. Beissinger, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Daniel Chirot, University of Washington; Charles King, Georgetown University; Will Kymlicka, Queen's University; David D. Laitin, Stanford University; Robert G. Moser, University of Texas at Austin; Roger D. Petersen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Chicago

Review Quotes

A very timely volume.

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.

About the Author

Zoltan Barany is Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professor of Government and Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies 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.