Maria Bakalova
The Bulgarian Turkish Names Conflict and Deocratic Transition
Abstract
It has become a truism that transformations in countries of the former Soviet block were accompanied by space and borders along national lines’ in a variety of appearances and forms. The notion of transition nationalism has become closely associated with violence and ethnic conflict. This contribution discusses a case in which ethno-nationalist violence could have erupted but did not, or rather a case in which ethno-nationalist violence was prevented. It is the case of the conflict over the names of Bulgarian Turks. In the mid-1980s, the Bulgarian communist regime set out to enforce a name-changing policy, targeting especially Bulgarian Muslims with Turkish- or Arab-sounding names. This policy culminated in the mass exodus of Bulgarian Turks to Turkey in the summer of 1989. This coincided with the onset of the transition process in Bulgaria. In an attempt to avoid the pitfalls of retrospective determinism, this article argues that the preclusion of violence was neither guaranteed nor the sole option during the initial transition period. Indeed, the onset of Bulgaria's transition saw a situation of rapidly escalating ethnic tensions: the issue of the ethnic Turks was high on the transition agenda, and outbursts of ethnic violence loomed. This article seeks to answer the question why nationalist and ethnic violence did not break out and how confrontational nationalism was prevented from gaining the upper hand in Bulgaria during and after the initial transition phase. More generally, it is argued that despite a heavy historical legacy and pre-determined circumstances, outbursts of confrontational nationalism and ensuing ethno-national violence are neither unavoidable nor bound always to happen. While political transitions are most vulnerable to outbreaks of violence, voluntaristic and contingent factors play a significant role in the outcome of nationalism- or ethnicity-related situations, especially in situations of profound and rapid socio-political transformation.
The ‘initial transition phase’ covers the period from mid-1989 to the end of 1992. The issues under consideration were studied on the basis of detailed process-tracing and an analysis of the dynamics of political and inter-group interactions, paying special attention to time sequences and critical junctures. Accounting for the uncertainty and contingency in the process of political space reconfiguration during the initial transition period, the analysis focuses on the positions of key political actors and on how and why their positions changed, i.e. whether this was the result of a cause–effect scheme or whether it was contingent. The aim is to reveal how intentions, apprehensions, interpretations and mutual inducement among transition actors produced sequences of events and decisions that shaped the ‘Turkish issue’ and resulted in non-violence.
Georgiy Kasianov
The Burden of the Past: The Ukrainian-Polish Conflict of 1943/44 in Contemporary Public, Academic and Political Debates in Ukraine and Poland
Abstract
This article deals with the current debate in Poland and Ukraine concerning the Ukrainian–Polish conflict of 1943/44 in the Volhynia-Polissia-Galicia region of contemporary Ukraine. Centuries of social conflict between the Ukrainian peasantry and Polish nobility, aggravated by ethnic and religious divisions, led to a bitter conflict in the age of nationalism and resulted in the Polish–Ukrainian war in western Ukraine in 1918/19, with the subsequent defeat and downfall of the western Ukrainian People's Republic. This conflict continued during the period of the Polish Second Republic in the 1920–1930s, and was marked by the insurrection of Ukrainian nationalist organizations against the ‘Polish occupation’. This war culminated in terrible massacres of Polish and Ukrainian civilians in the years 1943/44 that left a legacy of enduring mutual prejudice and hatred, reinforced by historical stereotypes that evolved over centuries. During the period of communist rule, this conflict was considered taboo both in Ukraine and Poland, but this changed with the end of the communist era. The controversy reached its peak in 2003, when the conflict's 60th anniversary was commemorated. The political establishments of both countries became involved in heated debates that triggered public discussion in western Ukraine and Poland, affecting relations between the two states. The historical conflict thus took on inter-ethnic and inter-state dimensions.
Natalia Cojocaru
Nationalism and Identity in Transnistria
Abstract
The conflict over Transnistria is both a community conflict over territory and sovereignty and a conflict in international relations between Moldova on the one hand, and Russia on the other. This article provides an overview of this conflict and then proceeds to discuss the gradual consolidation of a distinct ethno-national identity in Transnistria following the armed conflict of 1992, albeit relying on ‘collective memories’ fermented in previous times. It relies on data obtained through qualitative in-depth interviews with 35 students at Tiraspol University. These interviews show that Transnistrian identity has acquired distinct boundaries vis-à-vis Moldovan identity, especially among young people. This complicates reintegration within a federal model.
Alla A. Yaz'kova
Russia
and its Minorities: An Overview of Existing and Potential Ethno-political Conflicts
Abstract
This article provides an overview of the existing and potential ethnic conflicts in the contemporary Russian Federation. The Russian Federation comprises 20 national republics, one autonomous region and nine autonomous districts. Community conflicts exist in Central Siberia, the Volga-Ural region and Northern Caucasus. The root of many of these conflicts is to be traced in the forced population movements that occurred during the 1940s and 1950s that changed the ethnic composition of several republics in a significant way. The revival of ethno-nationalism following the breakdown of the Soviet Union in conjunction with the gradual move away from federalism in modern-day Russia and the persistence of gross socio-economic inequalities has led to the aggravation of conflicts in several areas with little prospect for short-term resolution.
George Tarkhan-Mouravi and Nana Sumbadze
The Abkhazian-Georgian Conflict and the Issue of Internally Displaced Persons
Abstract
In November 2003, mass protests against electoral fraud toppled Eduard Shevardnadze's government in Georgia leading to the inauguration of a new generation of politicians, most having little memory of the Soviet past and a Western education. International mass media transmitted the images of victorious masses in this bloodless coup known as the ‘Rose Revolution’. The future president of Georgia, 36-year-old Mikheil Saakashvili, announced the arrival of a new era in Georgian history, pledging to establish the rule of law, boost the country's democratic credentials, and restore Georgia's sovereignty over the country's entire territory. The population showed euphoric confidence in his ability to fulfil these promises. Coups and the ousting of a government was not a new phenomenon for the South Caucasian republic. Power succession in Georgia usually involved turbulence, unlike the peaceful pattern found in neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia. Still, this ‘revolution’ was considered to be something very special, and many expectations, locally and internationally, were connected to it. Evidently, it was not the format of change that was so important, but rather the symbolic meaning ascribed to it, and the indication that a new revolutionary wave had evolved that would drastically change the geopolitical map of Eurasia.
The Caucasus and Georgia have become the most dynamic and contentious areas, where many seeds of the future regional order have taken root. Ethnic relations and ethnic conflicts played and continue to play a decisive role in this process. Since the end of the 1980s, ethno-territorial conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia have become the most conspicuous aspect of Georgia's new political reality, damaging stability, developmental prospects and economic self-sufficiency. A particularly sensitive issue is that of Abkhazia, due mainly to an immense number of forced migrants, ethnic Georgians who greatly outnumbered the Abkhazians prior to the conflict but are now displaced, living with the hope of returning to their homes in Abkhazia. However, the constellation of a number of factors makes it less probable that this conflict will be resolved any time soon.
Juldyz Smagulova
Kazakhstan: Language, Identity and Conflict
Abstract
The last third of the twentieth century witnessed a surge in ‘ethnic revival’, with renewed emphasis on language. The post-Soviet Central Asian republics were not an exception to this tendency. During the Soviet era, citizens of the USSR were very conscious of belonging to a particular ethnicity that was registered as a permanent classification in their official documents. At the same time, the central government attempted to cultivate a single integrative ‘Soviet identity’; the Russian language was the linguistic glue that was supposed to bind all ethnic groups together. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former republic faced the problem of state/national identification and language became the single most important instrument in defining new independent states and nations. One of the greatest challenges to the countries’ leaders in the coming decades will be to consolidate new nations while satisfying the conflicting interests of different ethnic groups, complying with international requirements on minorities’ rights, all within the larger context of international, regional and global forces. This article aims to shed some light on the nature of language conflict in Kazakhstan and the stabilizing factors that have prevented open ethnic and language conflict. It underlines some of the challenges to language planning efforts, allowing a better understanding of the dynamics of Kazakh, Russian and other languages in Kazakhstan.
Ksenia Victorova
Identity Conflict in the Roumean Community: The Elite versus the Public
Abstract
The Roumean ethnic group is located in Priazovye, the Donetsk region of south-eastern Ukraine. The Roumeans, who speak a version of Modern Greek, moved to Priazovye from the Crimea in the 1770s, together with Ouroums (a turkophone Orthodox group) and other Christian ethnic groups. Like many other ethnic minorities, Roumeans are experiencing an ‘ethnic renaissance’ which evolved during the 1980s in what was then the Soviet Union. By ‘ethnic renaissance’ I refer to the creation and propagation of myths and symbols which, first, draw a positive image of the ethnic group needed for its consolidation and mobilization, and, second, utilize its symbolic heritage—cultural traits, prominent figures, language, and historical events—through appropriate interpretation. An important actor in this process is the elite of the group. This article looks at the existing disagreement between the Roumean elite and others in the community on what the appropriate interpretation of Roumean symbolic heritage entails.
Boris Wiener
Explaining a Choice of Denomination: Religious Converts in Contemporary St. Petersburg
Abstract
Though the data of the latest Russian census of 2002 are presently unavailable, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, mass media, and scholars agree that an increase in ethnic and religious diversity in Russian cities is evident following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. On the one hand, there is a high influx of migrants from regions which previously contributed little to the population of Russian megalopolises (such as the Northern Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia), as well as from countries outside the former USSR. On the other hand, general interest in religion has increased because of declining economic conditions, the end of state atheist politics, and a loss of ideological reference points such as communism. This has led to the conversion of some St Petersburg residents to denominations that are non-traditional for their ethnic groups (Islam, Bahai, Buddhism, etc.). At the same time, some migrants have converted to denominations that are non-characteristic of their ethnic groups (mainly Greek Orthodox and various Protestant denominations).
Religious mobility can generate problems. When a ‘deserter’ converts to a denomination that is not specific to her/his ethnic group, s/he commits a double ‘misdeed’, affecting not only her/his former religious group, but also a group of her/his ethnic origin. That is why members of the convert's group may react negatively to such a desertion, and these reactions can damage inter-denominational and inter-ethnic relations. This article is based on my exploratory analyses of viewpoints and religious histories of those who belong to the traditional denominations of their ethnic groups as well as of converts, and discusses correlations between their ethnic and religious identities.
Alexander Davydov, Galina Mikhajlova and Mikhail Kokorin
The Nenets People and Oil: Community Conflicts on the Island of Kolguev in the Post-Soviet Era
Abstract
In 2002, a review was launched to assess plans for the establishment of a new Protected Natural Area on the Island of Kolguev. The review included a survey on the opinions of the inhabitants of the Bugrino settlement as well as ethnographic research with in-depth interviews with the settlement's residents, and interviews with decision makers. The main results of the survey were presented to the residents of Bugrino in a meeting in March 2002, and at a conference to which representatives of oil companies and the administration of the Nenets Autonomous Area were invited. This field research, which continued throughout 2004, provides an ethno-sociological portrait of a group of the Nenets population living on the Island of Kolguev and reveals the basic contradictions that exist both on the island and beyond. Research on the Island of Kolguev is now being carried out under a research programme of the Russian Academy of Sciences entitled ‘The Ethno-cultural Interactions in Eurasia’. In this article we report on the findings of our research carried out between 2002 and 2004.
