Minority Ethnic Mobilization in the Russian Federation by Dmitry P. s> Gorenburg (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 783 members. Even those who have read works such as Liudmila Alekseeva's Istoriiainakomysliia v SSSR:noveishii period(Benson, MN, I984) and Aleksandr Nekrich's Otreshis' ot strakha(London, 1979) both are also available in English will gain from Glazov's book some new insights into Moscow intellectuallife some thirtyto fortyyears ago. Department ofSlavonic Studies MARTIN DEWHIRST University ofGlasgow Gorenburg, Dmitry P. MinorityEthnicMobilizationin theRussianFederation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003. xiii + 297 pp. Maps. Tables. Notes. Appendices. Bibliography.Index. ?5o.o: $ 75.00. ONE of the most important questionsin the literatureon post-Soviet Russian federalism is how, when, and why non-Russian ethnic groups attempted to increase their control over the republics that were created for their titular nationalities during the Soviet period. Dmitry P. Gorenburg'sbook, Minority EthnicMobilizationin theRussianFederation, marks a most timely and muchneeded contribution to the debate. Gorenburg addresses this issue by examining meticulously how the titular ethnic groups in four non-Russian republicsof the RussianFederation,namelyTatarstan,Chuvashia,Bashkortostan and Khakassia,developed their nationalistmovements in the late I98os and early I990s. Gorenburg'sbook is, in many respects, a stunning success. First of all, he makesa very significantcontributionto the literature.Contraryto the widely held belief in the literaturethat Russia's ethnic elites are able to manipulate ethnicity at will, he arguesthat the capacity of nationalistleaders to mobilize widespread popular support depends on the extent to which ethnicity is institutionalized by state structures.Gorenburg's findings convincingly substantiate his claim that in the ethnic republics of Russia, '[S]tate institutions structured the interaction between political elites and the rest of the population, influencing the sourcesfrom which nationalist appeals emerged, the forms that nationalist mobilization took, and the reactions of both the elites and the massesto nationalism(p. 3). The book is also well structured, consisting of nine chapters that unfold very effectively.The introductionpresentsthe objectivesand argumentsof the book clearly. In the firstpart of the book (chapterstwo to four), Gorenburg explores the role of Soviet ethnic institutions in the formation of nationalist movements in Tatarstan,Chuvashia,Bashkortostanand Khakassiacomparatively . In the followingpartof the book (chaptersfiveand six),he discusseshow popular supportfor nationalismvarieswith the density and number of ethnic institutionsin theserepublics.In the finalpartof the book, Gorenburginitially explores the extent to which regional governments adopted the nationalist agenda. This is followed by Gorenburg's comparison of his findings from these republics with the statistical findings from Russia's other thirteen republics in the penultimate chapter. In the final chapter, Gorenburg concludes that 'thecreationof institutionsthatfosterseparateethnic identities within a single state may be a short-termsolution to an otherwiseintractable 784 SEER, 82, 3, 2004 cycle of hostility,but it is a solution that is likelyto lead to renewed conflictin the future'(p. 271). Gorenburg'sanalyticalstrengthis generated by the consistencywith which he uses historical institutionalist methodology in order to account for the variationsin differentminorityethnicmobilizationsin the RussianFederation. Besides,his comparisonof the qualitativefindingsfromTatarstan,Chuvashia, Bashkortostan and Khakassia with the quantitative data on Russia's other thirteen republics in chapter eight shows his ability to deal with qualitative and quantitativesetsof data in a very sophisticatedmanner. The volume is a product of extensive research. Throughout, Gorenburg substantiateshis argumentswith data fromfieldworkin these republicsaswell as official documents, public opinion polls and surveys. The book is rich in tables and figures which makes it easier for readers to see the interplay of complex setsof factorsin minorityethnic mobilizationsacrossRussia'sethnic republics. Gorenburg achieves all of his three main objectives;first,in developing an institutionalist account of minority ethnic mobilization in the Russian Federation;second, in showingthatthe capacityof governingelitesto mobilize ethnic groups depends on the extent to which ethnicity is institutionalizedby state structures;and finally, in shiftingthe study of ethnic mobilization from the whysof its emergence to the howsof its development as a political force (p. xi). I would like to make one suggestion, however. It would have been very interesting had Gorenburg devoted a separate chapter to the Chechen case because Chechen nationalists,unlike other cases of minority ethnic mobilization in Russia, demanded outrightindependence, and adopted a very radical strategy of confrontation with Moscow. Although Gorenburg examines the statisticaldata on Chechnia in chaptereight, the majorityof readersare likely to expect a more detailed discussionof this unique and widely discussedcase in a book on minorityethnic mobilizationin the...