Nation-Building and Ethnic Integration in Post-Soviet Societies: An Investigation of Latvia and Kazakhstan by Pål s> Kolstø (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS I89 In sum, this well-structuredand lively book offersa fascinatingpicture of Russia's post-Soviet economy in the I99os, as well as that of the role played by the state. During this decade, Russia experienced tension between continuity and change, and the main problem was to overcome the Soviet cultural, institutional, and economic legacy. This latter related to the infrastructureof pipelines and power-lines, the location and technologies of industry, and the geographic distributionof the workforcewhich were all a legacy of the Soviet era. According to Gustafson, the ongoing processes of change could evolve in three directions: a return to the pre-I998 Russian Nineties, authoritarian backlash, or continued democratic and market-orientedreform. While the first is unlikely, the second is all too plausible. As to the third, although the face of Russia has already been transformed,Russian politics remains fluid and thereis as yet no stableorviable politicaland economic order. Ruislip J. L. PORKET Kolsto, Pal (ed.). Nation-Building andEthnicIntegration in Post-Soviet Societies. An Investigation ofLatviaandKazakhstan. Westview,Boulder, CO and Oxford, 1999. xii + 3i6 pp. Notes. Tables. Figures.Bibliography.Index. ?57.95. CROss-regionalcomparative works on nation-building in post-Soviet states are very few. This volume is the second major one in the field after David Laitin's Identityin Formation. RussianSpeaking Populations in theNearAbroad (Ithaca,NY, I998), comparingthe differentialpathsof integrationof Russianspeakers in the new states of Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and Kazakhstan. Describing Latvia and Kazakhstanas ethnically 'bipolarsocieties' (Kazakhstan as 'stronglybipolar' and Latvia as 'moderatelybipolar'), Kolsto and his associatesseek to shed light on the absence of overt ethnic conflict, and assess the prospects for ethnic integration in these states. The volume is aimed at 'contributing to a better understanding of ethno-social processes in bipolar societiesin general'(p. 14). The introductorythreechaptersby Kolsto sketchthetheoreticalframework, and examine the relevance for post-Soviet societies of nation-building and social integration theories developed in the Western contexts. He examines the relative weight of historical, religious, regional, intra-ethnic, and other cleavages, maintaining that these essentially reinforce the bipolarity within these societies. Among other chapters are one on ethnic integration in Latvia by Aina Antane and Boris Tsilevich, on political integration in Kazakhstan by J0rn Holm-Hansen, and one comparing the attitudinaland linguistic integration in both societies by Irina Malkova, Kolsto and Hans Melberg. Offering a refreshinganalysis, Tsilevich and Antane show how Latvia has managed to avoid violent ethnic conflict by steering nationalist sentiments into legal channels. It is evolving in the direction of an 'ethnic democracy' in which general democratic principles prevail alongside ethnic favouritism. Russophones areopting for'aJewish model' of socialbehaviour,seekingintegration I90 SEER, 79, I, 2001 primarilyby engaging in commerce and trade, and leaving the political arena to ethnic Latvians. Holm-Hansen details how Kazakhstan has attempted to attain several incompatible goals at the same time, assertingthat 'ethnic nation-buildingis bound to be controversial', whereas 'civic nation-building' is a 'very demanding task' (p. 157). While offering very useful data on the changing official rhetoric on ethnic relations, the cultivation of formal institutionsfor ethnic management, and the control wielded by the presidential apparatus, the chapteris limited to offeringa top-down analysis.It failsto give a sense of how varyingindividualand groupresponsesto the state'sethnic management can ultimatelysubvertofficialgoals. A troublingconcept throughoutthe book isthatof a 'bipolarsociety',which is treated as an independent variable. Classifying societies into bipolar, homogeneous, and fragmented (the typology used in the book) has little analyticalvalue in predicting futuretrajectories.The descriptionof Kazakhstan as 'stronglybipolar'is problematic for it discountsthe trends towardthe crystallizationof a Soviet identityin the republicbefore i99I, and glossesover the complex natureof ethnic affiliations.A more usefulapproachwould be to probe howbipolarityis arrivedat, which can yield useful insightsinto how it can be preservedor overcome. Despite the initial caveat that 'bipolarization' is only a 'description, and not a prescription' (p. 42), the rest of the book succumbsto treatingit as an objectivecondition. More fundamentally,does a homogeneous societyexistasan objectivefact? Kolsto not only alludes to homogeneity as an overriding goal, but also implicitly equates it with 'civic' and 'integrationist' nation-building, very much in the tradition of Karl Deutsch and Ernest Gellner. Referring to the measuresundertakenby both statesto promote 'de-bipolarization',he states: 'if these differencesare completely eradicated, the bipolaritywill be eliminated , and...