12/24/2023 0 Comments Russian rulers![]() Because of the gradual expansion of the Russian state over centuries, the territorial and ethnic boundaries of the Russian nation were poorly defined. Hosking argues that the overlap between russkii (referring to the ethnic group) and rossiiskii (referring to the state) helps explain the fluidity and ambiguity of Russian national identity. For Hosking, a cohesive sense of nationhood is essential for stability in the modern world, so the lack of a clearly defined sense of national identity is the fundamental problem-indeed the tragedy-of Russian history both before and after 1917. 2 The fundamental premise of both works is that imperial state building interfered with the consolidation of a Russian nation. Rulers and Victims: The Russians in the Soviet Union is a sprawling, ambitious, and highly readable book, a sequel to the equally magisterial Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917. Engagingly written and erudite, Hosking's books draw on archival research as well as literary sources and memoirs to analyze key themes in Russian society and culture. His works appeal to specialists as well as nonscholars, recalling a time when historians were not so minutely specialized and reluctant to make broad arguments. Professor Hosking has never been shy about tackling the big questions of Russian history. The contrast he describes between Russia's status as the "leading nation" of the Soviet Union and its impoverished and degraded condition in the final Soviet decades is one important reason for the resentment felt by many Russians during and after the Soviet collapse. How can we explain the rise of such virulently nationalist attitudes in the past few years, so seemingly at odds with the Soviet-era discourse of anti-racism and internationalism? Geoffrey Hosking's work on Russians in the Soviet Union, while not explicitly focused on the post-Soviet period, is a compelling introduction to the roots of this phenomenon. Popular hostility is directed not only toward visiting foreigners from Asia and Africa but also toward the peoples who have historically been bound up in an imperial relationship with Russia-Muslims of the Caucasus and Central Asia. In 2004, the slogan "Russia for the Russians" was supported by 59 percent of Russians polled, while nearly half agreed that "national minorities have too much power in this country." Large numbers of ethnic Russians wish to curtail immigration, maintain that non-Russians are themselves responsible for the ethnic violence committed against them, and believe that Russians live worse than other ethnic groups within the country. Public opinion evidence shows that these fears are not entirely misplaced. Post-Soviet Russia has become known as a xenophobic land, a place where non-Europeans are reluctant to go for fear of encountering hostility and violence.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |