Russia and the Former Soviet Space
Russia and the Former Soviet Space

Author: Vasile Rotaru

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2018-01-23

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 1527507475

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This book represents a fresh contribution to the contemporary academic debate regarding the determinants of current Russian foreign policy assertiveness. More precisely, it addresses the ways in which perceived security threats have been used by Russia to legitimize its interventions in the former Soviet Space. It is argued here that the security dimension has been successfully used by the Kremlin for the domestic justification of its aggressive actions in neighbouring countries, and that the narrative of the ‘besieged fortress’ was applied to both the war in Georgia and the intervention in Ukraine. Bringing together a number of authors from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Romania, Germany and the UK, the volume presents both local, regional and Western European perspectives on the various events analysed here. It will appeal to a wide range of students and professors specialized in Russia and the former Soviet space in the fields of international relations, international law, foreign policy analysis and security studies, as well as to think tanks and policy makers.

Gendering Post-Soviet Space
Gendering Post-Soviet Space

Author: Tatiana Karabchuk

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-02-01

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 9811593582

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This volume combines approaches from three disciplines – economics, sociology, and demography – and empirically analyzes the key aspects of the labor market and social demography processes in post-Soviet transitional societies while focusing on the gender perspective. Here, readers will find empirical studies on such countries as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The volume contributes to the literature by addressing the lack of academic empirical research on gender difference issues in the labor markets of post-Soviet countries as well as gender inequalities in fertility preferences, gender disparities among the youth and elderly, the gender pay gap, gender differences in employment, and female voices. The book brings together researchers of different disciplines from a variety of countries, distinguishing this project as international and interdisciplinary. The authors use the quantitative survey micro-data approach as well as the qualitative methods of interview data analysis to provide a comprehensive and detailed overview of the economic and social developments in the region regarding gender differences. The volume consists of three parts tackling the following topics: 1) gender differences and demography (family formation and fertility, youth and elderly employment); 2) gender differences and labor market (gender wage gap, motherhood wage penalty, gender differences among freelancers, and women in STEM science); and 3) gender differences, well-being, and gender equality attitudes (women’s voices, women’s collective actions, gender equality attitudes, and spending patterns of housewives).

The Adventures of Owen Hatherley In The Post-Soviet Space
The Adventures of Owen Hatherley In The Post-Soviet Space

Author: Owen Hatherley

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2018-11-13

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 1912248263

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Nearly thirty years after the fall of the USSR, the word "Soviet" should be as meaningless by now as "Hapsburg" or "Hohenzollern". Strangely, though, it endures, as places both inside and outside the former Soviet Union define themselves for or against what happened when it existed. But does that experience mean anything today, or is it just an enormous cul-de-sac? This book tries to find out, through an itinerary that goes from the Baltic to Belarus, from Ukraine to the Urals, from the Caucasus to Central Asia, and in cities that range from nuclear new towns of the Fifties to gleaming new capitals of the 21st century. In this Eurasian post-Soviet space, we try to find the continuities with Communism - if there are any - and the remnants of revolutions both distant and recent. Instead of a wistful journey through ruins, this intends to be an engaged travelogue, a subjective, personal Marxist Humanist guidebook to somewhere that actually exists, but which is constantly haunted by what it didn't become, whether a real Communist utopia or a successful or fair capitalism. In the course of this transcontinental account of what used to be the Soviet Union and is now a patchwork of EU democracies, neoliberal dictatorships and Soviet nostalgic enclaves (often found in the same countries) we might just find the outlines of a way of building cities that is a powerful alternative, both in the past and present.

Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space
Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space

Author: Johannes Socher

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-06-17

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0192651722

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The right to self-determination is renowned for its lack of clear interpretation. Broadly speaking, one can differentiate between a 'classic' and a 'romantic' tradition. In modern international law, the balance between these two opposing traditions is sought in an attempt to contain or 'domesticate' the romantic version by limiting it to 'abnormal' situations, that is cases of 'alien subjugation, domination and exploitation'. This book situates Russia's engagement with the right to self-determination in this debate. It shows that Russia follows a distinct approach to self-determination that diverges significantly from the consensus view in international state practice and scholarship, partly due to a lasting legacy of the former Soviet doctrine of international law. Against the background of the Soviet Union's role in the evolution of the right to self-determination, the bulk of the study analyses Russia's relevant state practice in the post-Soviet space through the prisms of sovereignty, secession, and annexation. Drawing on analysis of all seven major secessionist conflicts in the former Soviet space and a detailed study of Russian sources and scholarship, it traces how Russian engagement with self-determination has changed over the past three decades. Ultimately, the book argues that Russia's approach to the right of peoples to self-determination should not only be understood in terms of power politics disguised as legal rhetoric but in terms of a continuously assumed regional hegemony and exceptionalism, based on balance-of-power considerations.

Nation-Building and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space
Nation-Building and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space

Author: Rico Isaacs

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-14

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1317090187

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Nation-building as a process is never complete and issues related to identity, nation, state and regime-building are recurrent in the post-Soviet region. This comparative, inter-disciplinary volume explores how nation-building tools emerged and evolved over the last twenty years. Featuring in-depth case studies from countries throughout the post-Soviet space it compares various aspects of nation-building and identity formation projects. Approaching the issue from a variety of disciplines, and geographical areas, contributors illustrate chapter by chapter how different state and non-state actors utilise traditional instruments of nation-construction in new ways while also developing non-traditional tools and strategies to provide a contemporary account of how nation-formation efforts evolve and diverge.

EU Induced Institutional Change in Post-Soviet Space
EU Induced Institutional Change in Post-Soviet Space

Author: Ryhor Nizhnikau

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-07-24

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1351337173

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This book analyses the role of the European Union in the process of institutional change in its Eastern neighbourhood and explains why EU policies arrive at contradictory outcomes at the sectoral level. Combining EU studies approaches with insights from the fields of new institutionalism, international development studies and transnationalisation, it explains how the EU policies contribute to rule persistence or lead to institutional change. Highlighting the importance of investigating how the policies of external intervention interact with domestic institutions, the book also provides a coherent presentation of the political and economic problems of Ukraine and Moldova and a comparative analysis in key areas at critical junctures of their development. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Union politics and more broadly to International Relations, post-Soviet and Russian studies.

Reforming Child Welfare in the Post-Soviet Space
Reforming Child Welfare in the Post-Soviet Space

Author: Meri Kulmala

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-09-24

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1000193667

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This book provides new and empirically grounded research-based knowledge and insights into the current transformation of the Russian child welfare system. It focuses on the major shift in Russia’s child welfare policy: deinstitutionalisation of the system of children’s homes inherited from the Soviet era and an increase in fostering and adoption. Divided into four sections, this book details both the changing role and function of residential institutions within the Russian child welfare system and the rapidly developing form of alternative care in foster families, as well as work undertaken with birth families. By analysing the consequences of deinstitutionalisation and its effects on children and young people as well as their foster and birth parents, it provides a model for understanding this process across the whole of the post-Soviet space. It will be of interest to academics and students of social work, sociology, child welfare, social policy, political science, and Russian and East European politics more generally.

Post-Soviet Migration and Diasporas
Post-Soviet Migration and Diasporas

Author: Milana V. Nikolko

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-02-20

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 3319477730

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This book examines the relationship between post-Soviet societies in transition and the increasingly important role of their diaspora. It analyses processes of identity transformation in post-Soviet space and beyond, using macro- and micro-level perspectives and interdisciplinary approaches combining field-based and ethnographic research. The authors demonstrate that post-Soviet diaspora are just at the beginning of the process of identity formation and formalization. They do this by examining the challenges, encounters and practices of Ukrainians and Russians living abroad in Western and Southern Europe, Canada and Turkey, as well as those of migrants, expellees and returnees living in the conflict zones of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova. Key questions on how diaspora can be better engaged to support development, foreign policy and economic policies in post-Soviet societies are both raised and answered. Russia’s transformative and important role in shaping post-Soviet diaspora interests and engagement is also considered. This edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of diaspora, post-Soviet politics and migration, and economic and political development.

Shaping the Post-Soviet Space?
Shaping the Post-Soviet Space?

Author: Laure Delcour

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781409402244

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Drawing on a wealth of sources and extensive fieldwork conducted in the Commonwealth of Independent States and interested in exposing why the EU has not pursued a strategy of 'region-building' in the post-Soviet area, Delcour examines the disintegration dynamics affecting the area following the collapse of the USSR.

Building Hegemonic Order Russia's Way
Building Hegemonic Order Russia's Way

Author: Michael O. Slobodchikoff

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2014-10-24

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 0739185772

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This book examines Russia’s emergence after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its creation of a security architecture in the post-Soviet space. Many scholars argue that Russia is a coercive power in the region that forces states to act in only its own interests. While acknowledging Russia’s power this author argues that it is not able to merely force states to behave as it wants them to. Instead, Russia must use bilateral and multilateral cooperation to develop a security architecture that provides order, stability and predictable behavior for both Russia as the hegemon and the weaker powers in the region. By building this security architecture, Russia and the other states in the post-Soviet space are better able to achieve their strategic goals and provide for their own security. To achieve this, weaker states are able to press for certain concessions from Russia regarding how to structure bilateral relations as well as multilateral organizations. While Western politicians have argued that Russia has tried to reestablish the Soviet Union through coercive means, the reality is much more of a nuanced interaction among all of the states in the region, which ensures state sovereignty while allowing the weaker states to pursue their own interests. Using network analysis, this author shows how the regional structural architecture of cooperation was built and indicate how Russia is able to achieve order. This book also shows that there is a lack of order where states have refused to cooperate in building the structural architecture, which has led to conflict and territorial disputes.