| Review of: | Ethnic Politics after Communism edited by Zoltan Barany, Robert G. Moser |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Chris Hann |
| Reviewed in: | Nations and Nationalism |
| Date accepted online: | 02/11/2007 |
| Published in print: | Volume 13, Issue 2, Pages 341-367 |
Book Reviews
Deriving from a workshop at the University of Texas, Austin, in 2003, this volume offers many insights into the changed political significance of ethnicity since the collapse of the Soviet bloc. In the first substantive chapter Mark Beissinger probes the nature of the Soviet Union as an empire which 'obfuscated' and 'blurred' the lines of social cleavage through its nationalities policy; he also assesses the continuing fluidity of the post-Soviet landscape, arguing for the continued relevance of empire as a category of analysis (indeed, he thinks it can also be applied to the post-9/11 US). In Chapter 2 David Laitin notes a general 'cultural revolution' in the wake of Soviet collapse. He concentrates on its manifestations in language use in Estonia, where Russians have been steadily assimilating in recent years. However, it is not easy to explain the complexity of recent trends, set against a background of increasing Europeanisation that affects both Estonians and Russians, in terms of sharp distinctions between types of integration and assimilation. Zoltan Barany's chapter presents a model of ethnic mobilisation in which 'political opportunity' is the critical element and factors such as finance and symbols are merely contingent. The model is illustrated with reference to Albanians in Macedonia (successful mobilisation) and Roma throughout Eastern Europe (failed political mobilisation, despite considerable external support). Robert Moser takes us into more technical realms of political science in his survey of the role of ethnicity in the new electoral politics and party systems.
The main cases discussed are Russia and Lithuania but the role of ethnic parties in Bulgaria and Romania is also reviewed; the general message is that such parties, and ethnic voting in general, are not necessarily detrimental to the consolidation of democracies. Daniel Chirot's chapter contrasts the stability of post-communist Romania and Bulgaria with the violence that has racked the Ivory Coast in recent years. His explanation relies in part on the Balkan states' longer experience of 'binding' majority nationalism, but he also argues that the choices made by individual leaders and the sanctions enforced by external powers (notably the EU and the US) must always be taken into account. Charles King considers ethnic aspects of migration, including that promoted by new notions of the 'kin-state', exemplified by Hungary's 'status law' of 2001. King sees such provisions more as a regulation of migratory flows than as a pandering to nationalist voters. He also broaches the role played by ethnicity in facilitating diffuse transnational flows, in particular the trafficking of sex workers. Finally, in his carefully argued chapter Will Kymlicka reviews the internationalisation of minority rights which has occurred since 1990. Few post-communist states have been willing to embrace the ideals of territorial autonomy that are now generally accepted in the West. For Kymlicka the former have paid only lip service to the notion of a 'right to enjoy one's culture' and this provision is anyway inadequate. In practice, the 'security track' has usually proved decisive in shaping Western policymaking, but for liberals it is vital not to abandon the 'legal rights track' (pp. 208-9) - too much pressure may be counterproductive, but unless the international community insists on minimum standards of 'effective participation' for minority citizens, the danger is that only belligerence will be rewarded.
In addition to these seven chapters, the volume is elegantly introduced and concluded by Ronald Suny and Roger Petersen, respectively. Suny offers a masterful sketch of the main developments since the late Soviet era, both in area studies and the ethnicity literature. Petersen too takes up the issue of 'constructivist' approaches and urges us to recognise the 'limited' relevance of choice-based models in Eastern Europe, where the categories 'available for mobilization' (p. 230) have been drastically reduced in the course of long histories of state-building. While applauding the editors' efforts to open up a general comparative framework, Petersen gently chides them and other contributors for perhaps paying insufficient attention to the 'legacy of communism'.
Ethnicity is clearly a topic where 'cultural' factors cannot be ignored, and they are occasionally factored in to the analyses developed in this volume. Barany reports, for example, that Albanians 'actively follow their age-old traditions' (p. 91), while Roma ethnic identity remains weak, in part because few are able to adhere to 'the exacting standards of ancient Romani culture and traditions' (p. 97). He makes no reference to recent controversies concerning their status as an 'underclass' (a view put forward by the sociologist Ivan Szelényi and criticised by the anthropologist Michael Stewart). At such points it might be useful to hear more from the anthropologists, but the writings of scholars such as Tone Bringa and Robert Hayden on the Balkans, or Anatoly Khazanov and Valery Tishkov on the former USSR, are barely mentioned. Of course it is hard to squeeze the insights of ethnographic analyses into political science models. Robert Moser calls for demarcating the entire field of ethnic studies as a branch of comparative politics. Similarly, Charles King enters a theoretical claim for the 'reducibility' of ethnicity: instead of positing such a soft variable as an ultimate cause, he urges us to investigate the institutions and social networks through which ethnic identities come into operation. To my mind this is precisely where the detail of the ethnographer is needed. The same tension is present in the case of the sociologist Laitin, who struggles at the end of his chapter to retain a model that explains language and ethnicity in terms of strategic action and 'cultural calculation'. He concedes that the developing picture in Estonia is more complex than that envisaged in his original 'tipping game', but argues that the emergence of new stabilising 'habits' does not preclude the possibility of a return to the greater fluidity of the 1990s. This already implies a modification of strong rational choice theory, since it appears that formal models privileging individual action are more pertinent in some circumstances than they are in others. Laitin offers more empirical evidence concerning ethnic factors in everyday life than the other contributors to this volume, but it seems to me desirable to complement media analysis and survey data (in this case including the opinions of schoolchildren) with ethnographic accounts.
It is easy to cavil at shortcomings from the perspective of a discipline not represented in this collection. Other readers may have other quibbles. The coverage is of course selective and some will be disappointed that Côte d'Ivoire receives more attention than the Caucasus or Central Asia. Most authors have taken the opportunity to elaborate and/or modify arguments they have put forward in recent monographs, but none treads new ground here and there is no unifying theoretical thread. But the volume is well produced and will serve as a useful stock-taking for a wide range of readers, especially political scientists. It is worth consulting for Kymlicka's chapter alone, even though in my view his central concepts of 'national minority' and 'culture' remain suspect.