Book Description
One of the most unexpected outcomes of the Soviet bloc's transition out of communism is the divergent but important paths followed by once ruling communist parties. In The Left Transformed this ideological split into free market social democrats (Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania), anti-Western neo-Leninists (Russia and Ukraine), and doctrinal fence-sitters (the ex-communists of former East Germany) is explored through in-depth interviews, party presses and primary documents, and national election data. The careful examination of each party's transition as well as the most current information on organization, ideology, and electoral fortunes through late 2002 makes this book an invaluable resource for anyone interested in contemporary history, political parties, or comparative government in the former Soviet Empire. ... Read more

Book Description
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Letters from Heaven features an international group of scholars investigating the place and function of `popular' religion in Eastern Slavic cultures.The contributors examine popular religious practices in Russia and Ukraine from the middle ages to the present, considering the cultural contexts of death rituals, miracles, sin and virtue, cults of the saints, and icons. The collection not only fills a void in religious scholarship, but also responds to current theoretical challenges.

Book Description
During the controversial 2004 elections that led to the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine, cultural and linguistic differences threatened to break apart the country. Contested Tongues explains the complex linguistic and cultural politics in a bilingual country where the two main languages are closely related but their statuses are hotly contested. Laada Bilaniuk finds that the social divisions in Ukraine are historically rooted, ideologically constructed, and inseparable from linguistic practice. She does not take the labeled categories as givens but questions what "Ukrainian" and "Russian" mean to different people, and how the boundaries between these categories may be blurred in unstable times.

Bilaniuk's analysis of the contemporary situation is based on ethnographic research in Ukraine and grounded in historical research essential to understanding developments since the fall of the Soviet Union. "Mixed language" practices (surzhyk) in Ukraine have generally been either ignored or reviled, but Bilaniuk traces their history, their social implications, and their accompanying ideologies. Through a focus on mixed language and purism, the author examines the power dynamics of linguistic and cultural correction, through which people seek either to confer or to deny others social legitimacy. The author's examination of the rapid transformation of symbolic values in Ukraine challenges theories of language and social power that have as a rule been based on the experience of relatively stable societies. ... Read more

Book Description
Provides an overview of the Ukrainian economy revealing opportunities for investment and joint ventures. Written in collaboration with the Confederation of British Industry. ... Read more

Book Description

To offer a broad historical and contemporary portrait of the European city Lviv, John Czaplicka has gathered together a wide range of scholars from the areas of historiography, history, art and architectural history, urban planning, literary history and criticism, and cultural history. Known variously over the centuries as Leopolis, Lwów, Lvov, and Lemberg, this city served as laboratory for the forging of modern Jewish, Polish, and Ukrainian identities. Historically, Armenians, Germans, Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians interacted in this Galician and formerly Polish and Habsburg metropolis. The resulting confluence of cultures in this now Ukrainian city was at times violent, but each of the ethnic groups and religions residing in the city contributed to its urban, urbane, and truly European character. This volume emphasizes the richness of the local cultural heritage.

The collection derives from revised papers presented at a conference sponsored jointly by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. Other authors were invited to round out the picture of a European city in the shifting crosscurrents of cultures.

Book Description
After decades of official atheism, a religious renaissanceswept through much of the former Soviet Union beginning in the late 1980s.The Calvinist-like austerity and fundamentalist ethos that had evolvedamong sequestered and frequently persecuted Soviet evangelicals gave way toa charismatic embrace of ecstatic experience, replete with a belief infaith healing. Catherine Wanner's historically informed ethnography, thefirst book on evangelism in the former Soviet Union, shows howonce-marginal Ukrainian evangelical communities are now thriving andgrowing in social and political prominence. Many Soviet evangelicalsrelocated to the United States after the fall of the Soviet Union,expanding the spectrum of evangelicalism in the United States and alteringreligious life in Ukraine. Migration has created new transnationalevangelical communities that are now asserting a new public role forreligion in the resolution of numerous social problems.

Hundreds of American evangelical missionaries have engaged in "churchplanting" in Ukraine, which is today home to some of the most active androbust evangelical communities in all of Europe. Thanks to massiveassistance from the West, Ukraine has become a hub for clerical andmissionary training in Eurasia. Many Ukrainians travel as missionaries toRussia and throughout the former Soviet Union. In revealing the phenomenaltransformation of religious life in a land once thought to be militantlygodless, Wanner shows how formerly socialist countries experienceevangelical revival. Communities of the Converted engages issues ofmigration, morality, secularization, and global evangelism, whilehighlighting how they have been shaped by socialism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It is an introduction to a new branch of scholarly inquiry.
One of the most substantial political sciense, geopilitical,andphilosophical research in contemporary Ukraine. The book is a joint effortof Ukraine's independent intellectuals (Yevhen BYSTRYTSKY, Serhiy MAKEYEV,Oleksandr DERGACHOV) and leading scholars from the US (Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI,Sherman W. GARNETT, James E. MACE), Great Britain (Markian BILYNSKY),France (Georges MINK, Jean-Charles SZUREK), Canada (Anna MAKOLKIN), Germany(Aleksandr ZINOVIEV), and other countries.

The volume offered, asone of the first attempts at interdisciplinary research in this area, isbut an attempt at achieving an intellectual breakthrough in the socialsciences. It is an endeavor to find the theoretical linchpin, without whichit would be impossible to discern the trends of political thought andcritically examine the political realities and contradictions inpostcommunism.

The most outstanding part is "The politicalphilosophy of the postcommunist era" mainly by Yevhen BYSTRYTSKY. Theauthor attempts to offer a new methodology for political philosophy of thepostcommunist period.

As such it is an introduction to a new branchof scholarly inquiry, an attempt to analyze and understand the new world inwhich we live. ... Read more

Book Description

An examination of post-Soviet society through ethnic, religious, and linguistic criteria, this volume turns what is typically anthropological subject matter into the basis of politics, sociology, and history.

Ten chapters cover such diverse subjects as Ukrainian language revival, Tatar language revival, nationalist separatism and assimilation in Russia, religious pluralism in Russia and in Ukraine, mobilization against Chinese immigration, and even the politics of mapmaking. A few of these chapters are principally historical, connecting tsarist and Soviet constructions to today's systems and struggles. The introduction by Dominique Arel sets out the project in terms of new scholarly approaches to identity, and the conclusion by Blair A. Ruble draws out political and social implications that challenge citizens and policy makers.

Rebounding Identities is based on a series of workshops held at the Kennan Institute in 2002 and 2003.

Customer Reviews (1)

Outstanding history of the Ukrainian minstrel tradition.
The "Ukrainian Minstrels" by the Harvard-trained scholar and folklore authority, Natalie Kononenko, who currently teaches at the University of Virginia, is enormously interesting. Among the many intriguing characteristics of the Ukrainian folk tradition is the fact that Ukrainian epics were sung by a special type of minstrel - the blind mendicant. Yes, blindness was obligatory! These minstrelswere organized into professional guilds that set standards for training and performance and provided the singers with protection and support throughout their careers. Natalie Kononenko's book is a revelation of a distinctive folk tradition and a little-known social order. One learns about the difference between the kobzari and lirniki, since there were two types of minstrels, who played different types of instruments,about the unique relationship between the established minstrel and his apprentice, the duration of training, and the extensive and fascinating repertoire one had to master. The book containsmany rare photographs of minstrels. One also learns about a great tragedy which befell the Ukrainian minstrels in the 30's at the hands of the Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, who like the villain in a Greek tragedy, organized a bogus minstrel convention in Moscow, where he had them arrested and murdered, and their instruments destroyed. Sort of a pre-cursor to the massacre of the Polish officers by Stalin at Katyn during WWII period. Highly recommended to any folklore enthusiast. A real treat! ... Read more

Book Description
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, nationality groups have claimed sovereignty in the new republics bearing their names. With the ascendance of these titular nationality groups, Russian speakers living in the post-Soviet republics face a radical crisis of identity. That crisis is at the heart of David D. Laitin's keenly awaited book.

Laitin portrays these Russian speakers as a "beached diaspora" since the populations did not cross international borders; the borders themselves receded. He asks what will become of these populations. Will they learn the languages of the republics in which they live and prepare their children for assimilation? Will they return to a homeland many have never seen? Or will they become loyal citizens of the new republics while maintaining a Russian identity? Through questions such as these and on the basis of ethnographic field research, discourse analysis, and mass surveys, Laitin analyzes trends in four post-Soviet republics: Estonia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

Laitin concludes that the "Russian-speaking population" is a new category of identity in the post-Soviet world. This conglomerate identity of those who share a language is analogous, Laitin suggests, to such designations as "Palestinian" in the Middle East and "Hispanic" in the United States. The development of this new identity has implications both for the success of the national projects in these states and for interethnic peace. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well written and extremely interesting
This is a carefully researched, thoughtful and well-written examination ofthe Russian speaking population in the "near abroad" since thebreak up of the Soviet Union.While my experience is largely withLithuania, his discussion of the Russian speaking population in Estonia andLatvia seemed insightful. As a minor criticism, or perhaps more as a termof reference for readers, I should note that Laitin seemed more sympatheticto the diaspora Russians than to the local populations.His discussion ofBaltic events struck me as distinctly pro-ethnic Russian, although notoutrageously so.Persons with Baltic ties may disagree with some hisviews, but they will still find them interesting. ... Read more

Book Description

The Letichev District (Podolia) of Ukraine was a microcosm of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. But there were unique differences. It was the home of the Baal Shem Tov and the cradle of the Chasidic movement. This book is, in part, dedicated to the 300th anniversary of his birth.

The Road from Letichev presents the history of the area through the eyes of individuals who lived there. Interwoven into the fabric of Jewish life are songs, food, folklore, health, education and crime. A complete encyclopedia of the rabbis who traveled The Road from Letichev is provided, together with a detailed description of synagogues (most of which are now destroyed)--the first of its kind.

The best description of a Jewish agricultural colony to date is detailed. On a tragic note, new information is provided on the 1648 Khmelnitsky massacres, as well as the pogroms of 1882, 1903-7, and 1919-21. Finally, the whole purpose for the book is to document what was destroyed in the Holocaust. No understanding of the Holocaust is truly complete without an understanding of what the Nazis took away from the world.

The Road from Letichev provides this insight. Through the testimonials from survivors of the Holocaust we learn new information about the horrors of the Nazi occupation on Soviet soil. The Soviet experience in the Holocaust is relatively rare in the modern literature. Richly illustrated, more than 8300 individuals are indexed, including more than 600 unique Jewish surnames from Letichev District. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Road from Letichev, Vol.2
My mother, who grew up in Deraznia (on the Road to Letichev), died a few years ago. Here, in this book, I found out so much about her life in the Ukraine. It made me feel as if I was there, sharing that life with her!!! What an amazing book!
The work that the authors put into creating this book must have been phenomenal!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

post-soviet politics and history
it is refreshing to see a book that takes an untrodden path in discussing issues in russian and ukrainian transition after communism. first, the author believes it is important to look at these two countries together, rather than one by one. he thinks they are interconnected and dependent on one another for the success of their reform efforts. second, he says that history is important, since it influences current politics, and he combines historical analysis with the look at current events. finally, he looks at development of national identity in russia and ukraine on a broader plane than usual imperialism/nationalism discussions. not a bad reading for anyone interested in the area. ... Read more

Book Description
The series of four sessions on the Russian-Ukrainian encounter held alternately at Columbia University and Cologne University from June 1994 to September 1995 had their origin in both the world of great political events and the world of scholarly discussion. Ukraine's declaration of independence, ratified by the referendum of 1 December 1991, and subsequent international recognition were followed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991. These developments made Ukrainian-Russian relations a major international issue. A new, difficult, and uncertain phase in these relations began with the establishment of these two independent neighbouring states. Since Russia would clearly remain a major world power, while Ukraine was the largest and one of the most populous states of Europe, those relations took on more than binational significance. The future of the post-Soviet order depends largely on how these two largely Slavic countries work out their relations.

The editors of Culture, Nation, and Identity, representing the Seminar for East European History at Cologne University, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta, invited seventy specialists to examine the Russian-Ukrainian encounter in four chronological symposia, from the seventeenth century to the present. The papers on the contemporary period were published in the Harriman Review. The present volume is a selection of sixteen articles developed from presentations on the Ukrainian-Russian encounter from the early modern period to World War II. Historians and Slavists from Canada, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States employ diverse methodologies to examine the many spheres in which Russians and Ukrainians and their identities and cultures interacted.

This title consists of sixteen essays, a preface, and an afterword. Contributors include Viktor Zhivov, Zenon E. Kohut, Frank E. Sysyn, Paul Bushkovitch, Andreas Kappeler, Olga Andriewsky, Serhy Yekelchyk, Dieter Pohl, Yuri Shapoval, and many others. ... Read more