Countries versus Disciplines: Comparative Analysis of Post-Soviet Transformations in Academic Publications from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to outline and compare frameworks for studying post-Soviet transformations developed by social scientists from various disciplines in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The objective is realized by means of quantitative content analysis of scholarly articles’ abstracts in ninety-four journals in eight (inter)disciplinary fields that covers the period of 2001-2015. This paper seeks to answer the question whether differences in the studies of the post-Soviet transformations are defined by country discourse or by the field of study. The research results suggest that there is a two-level mechanism, by which the societal context affects academia, in this case, social sciences and humanities. While general directions of scholarly attention are determined by societal differences, representations of post-Soviet transformations are framed through specific disciplinary lenses that combine both international and post-Soviet features.