Identity in Formation: The Russian-speaking populations in the Near Abroad

438 Pages·1998·17.07 MB·English

by  David D. Laitin

Identity in Formation
THE WILDER HOUSE SERIES
IN POLITICS, HISTORY,
AND CULTURE
The Wilder House Series is published in association with the
Wilder House Board of Editors and the University of Chicago.
A complete list of titles appears at the end of this book.
David Laitin and George Steinmetz, Editors
Editorial Board:
Andrew Apter
Prasenjit Duara
Gary Herrigel
Steven Pincus
Martin Riesebrodt
William Sewell
Identity in Fortnation
The Russian-Speaking Populations
in the Near Abroad
DAVID D. LAITIN
Cornell University Press
ITHACA AND LONDON
Copyright © 1998 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 1998 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 1998
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Laitin, David D.
Identity in formation : the Russian-speaking populations in the
near abroad/ David D. Laitin.
p. cm. - (The Wilder House series in politics, history, and
culture)
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8014-3495-5 (cloth: alk. paper).-ISBN 0-8014-8495-2
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Russian language-Political aspects-Former Soviet republics.
2. Nationalism-Former Soviet republics. 3. Former Soviet
republics-Ethnic relations. I. Title. II. Series.
PG2074.73.L35 1998
491.7-dc21 97-48670
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible
suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of
its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and
acid-free papers that are also either reLycled, totally chlorine-free, or
partly composed of nonwood fibers.
Cloth printing IO 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
Paperback printing IO 9 8 7 6 4 3
To the memory of my maternal grandmother,
Anna Ruback Blumenkranz
Born in Kremenchug, downstream on the Dnieper from Kiev, she aspired to be
come Russian. (She told me so, though I never heard her speak a word of Russian.)
About her Jewish identity she could only say (in Yiddish), "Feh!" which I glossed as
''Yuck!" In fear of pogroms, her father took her out of gymnasium and brought his
family to the United States. There she worked in a sweatshop, married, and taught
herself to read English, yet still dreamed of Russia and her childhood aspiration.
But her daughters were overwhelmed by the need to conform to the local scene,
and they humiliated her into becoming an American.
Whatever insight there is in this volume on the pains and payoffs to assimilation I
owe to my Grandma Anna.
BLANK PAGE
Contents
Preface
lX
A Note on Transliteration and Terms
XlV
PART ONE
Introduction
1. A Theory of Political Identities 3
2. Why the Peripheral Peoples Did Not Become Russians 36
3. Three Patterns of Peripheral Incorporation 59
PART Two
An Ethnography oft he Double Cataclysm
4. The Double Cataclysm
5. Family Strategies in Response to the Cataclysm
6. If Not Assimilation, Then What?
PART THREE
The Russian Response: Assimilation
199
7. Assimilation: Survey Results 201
8. Calculating Linguistic Stanis: An Experiment 217
9. Turning Megalomanians into Ruritanians 243
PART FOUR
Nationalism and Identity Shift
261
IO. The Russian-Speaking Nationality in Formation
I I. Russian Nationalism in Russia and the Near Abroad 300
Vll
vm Contents
PART FIVE
&tensions oft he Analysis
323
12. Identity and Ethnic Violence 325
13. Future Trajectories of Nation and State 346
Methodological Appendix 365
Authorities Consulted 4-01
Subject Index 405
Preface
This book provides a description of the nationality question involving
the Russian-speaking populations living in four of the republics of the former So
viet Union: Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine. With the collapse of the
Soviet Union, effective sovereignty fell into the hands of the titular nationali
ties-that is, the nationality groups after which the republics were named. As a
consequence, Russian-speakers in all fourteen non-Russian Union republics expe
rienced a cataclysm that has but few analogies; perhaps the Palestinians after the
recognition of Israel's statehood; perhaps the pieds noirs after Algerian indepen
dence; perhaps the English settlers after the transformation of Rhodesia into
Zimbabwe. Things fell apart for Russian-speakers in these republics because their
center did not hold.
The Russian-speakers in the post-Soviet republics are facing a radical crisis of
identity. Daily they face a set of questions about who they are and what they may
become. Are they a people in diaspora, even if it was not they but their country that
moved? Would they "return" to a homeland many of them had never seen? Would
they join forces to fight politically for Russian rights in these republics, or even mil
itarily for the right to reunite with the Russian Federation? Would they become
loyal citizens of the new republics but maintain a Russian identity? Ift hey remained
as loyal citizens, would ethnic conflict bernreen them and the titulars become a per
manent feature of social life? Would a new identity form, not quite Russian, but not
titular either? Would these Russians move along a path that leads, for their children
if not for them, to assimilation with the titular nationality? This book outlines early
trends toward resolution of these questions.
Exploring these questions helps me address rnro more general questions concern
ing all nation-building projects. First, what will be the relationship of nation to
state in the republics of the former Soviet Union? Second, to the degree that na
tional heterogeneity persists, what are the prospects for peace bernreen the national
ities, and how might it break down?
lX
x Preface
The post-Soviet republics have been independent states for a very short time. It
would be the height of folly to make predictions about their future on the basis of
early trends. Present outcomes are too unstable. It is enough, at this stage, to give a
comprehensive portrait of the early years of independence and of the choices that
Russian-speakers have made in the wake of the cataclysm they faced. This is why I
claim to have provided only a descriptive account.
But the description here is unique in its range. First, my colleagues and I con
ducted a large survey of both titular and Russian respondents in each of the re
publics. The survey tells us about the degrees of nationality intermixing and the at
titudes of both Russians and titulars toward assimilation, toward mobilizing for
group rights, and toward the possibility of the Russians' return to their homeland.
Further, I report on four complementary ethnographies, one in each republic.
My collaborators and I compiled extensive biographies of a half-dozen Russian
speaking families in each republic and engaged in participant observation of these
Russians in their daily lives. From this fieldwork we know the degree to which
they understand the titular language and their orientations toward learning it.
Ethnographies of this sort, if taken in isolation, could hardly be thought of as
representative. But in conjunction with large surveys, they enable us to know
whether our informants are typical or not. These ethnographies, when put into a
social context, provide a shockingly clear portrait of the nationality scene in the
post-Soviet world.
As the project developed, it became increasingly clear that the resolution of an
identity crisis for the Russian-speaking population was immensely influenced by
signals coming from the nationalizing governments and the titular societies of the
four republics. Within each republic, therefore, my colleagues and I gathered data
from interviews, from state documents, and from the press on government policies
on nationality questions. Whether the government, its leaders, and viable opposi
tion groups envisioned their republic as a future France (with a single nationality),
a Belgium (with divided cultural zones), or a United States (with conglomerate
identities within an assimilationist framework) had a lot to do with how Russian
speakers framed their identity choices.
Finally, through a large collection of articles published in each republic's press
and about each republic published in the Russian press-I conducted an analysis of
Russian-language discourse concerning the present and future identities of Rus
sians living in the "near abroad." This discourse analysis reveals that, along with
movement toward assimilation to the titular culture, at least in the Baltics, a new
category of identity, the "Russian-speaking population;' has emerged in all four re
publics. This conglomerate identity includes Russians, Belarusans, Ukrainians,
Poles, and Jews, all of whom speak Russian as their first language in republics out
side their putative national homelands. The Russian-speaking population is not a
"nationality;' but there is reason to believe it will take on the feel of a nationality,
just as the Palestinians in the Middle East and the Hispanics in the United States,
both conglomerate groups that formed under special political conditions, have
done. The emergence of such new "identity formations"-with distinct features in
each of the republics-has implications for the kinds of national states that are likely