Nationalism, myth, and the state in Russia and Serbia
Subtitle: antecedents of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia
By: Veljko Vujačić (Oberlin College)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 336
ISBN-13: 9781107074088
Subjects: Politics and government; Nationalism; History; Myth; Elite (Social sciences); Political activity; Political and social views; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Government / International
Description: "This book examines the role of Russian and Serbian nationalism in different modes of dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in 1991. Why did Russia's elites agree to the dissolution of the Soviet Union along the borders of Soviet republics, leaving twenty-five million Russians outside of Russia? Conversely, why did Serbia's elite succeed in mobilizing Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia for the nationalist cause? Combining a Weberian emphasis on interpretive understanding and counterfactual analysis with theories of nationalism, Veljko Vujačić highlights the role of historical legacies, national myths, collective memories, and literary narratives in shaping diametrically opposed attitudes toward the state in Russia and Serbia. The emphasis on the unintended consequences of communist nationality policy highlights how these attitudes interacted with institutional factors, favoring different outcomes in 1991. The book's postscript examines how this explanation holds up in the light of Russia's annexation of Crimea"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: 1. Russians and Serbs in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia : grounds for comparison and alternative explanations; title: 2. States, nations, and nationalism : a Weberian view; title: 3. Empire, state, and nation in Russia and Serbia; title: 4. Communism and nationalism : Russians and Serbs in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia; title: 5. The nation as a community of shared memories and common political destiny : Russians and Serbs in literary narratives; title: Conclusion; title: Postscript.