Institutional Legacies of Communism

Twenty years after the demise of communist policy, this book evaluates the continuing communist legacies in the current minority protection systems and legislations across a number of states in post-communist Europe. The fall of communism and the process of democratisation across post-communist Europe led to considerable change in minority protection with new systems and national political institutions either developed or copied. In general, the new institutions reflected the practices and experiences of (western) European states and were installed upon advice from European security organisations. Yet many ideas, legislative frameworks, policies and practices remained open to interpretation on the ground. With case studies on a diverse set of post-communist polities including Slovakia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Ukraine, Estonia, Croatia, the Baltic States and Russia, expert contributors consider how the institutional legacies of the communist past impact on policies designed to support minority communities in the new European democracies. Providing unique empirical material and comparative analyses of ethnocultural diversity management during and after communism, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, European politics, political geography, post-communism, ethnic politics, nationalism and national identity.

Karl Cordell is Professor of Politics at Plymouth University, UK. Timofey Agarin is Lecturer in Politics at the Queen's University Belfast, UK. Alexander Osipov is Senior Research Associate of the European Centre for Minority Issues in Flensburg, Germany.

Part I 1. Introduction: Establishing the Context Karl Cordell and Timofey Agarin 2. The Dead Weight of the Past? Institutional Change, Policy Dynamics and the Communist Legacy in Minority Protection Timofey Agarin 3. Faulted for the Wrong Reasons: Soviet Institutionalization of Ethnic Diversity and Western (mis)interpretations Pal Kolsto 4. Minorities' Protection in Russia: Is there a 'Communist Legacy'? Bill Bowring 5. Soviet Parity of Nations or Western non-discrimination: is there a Dilemma for Russia? Alexander Osipov Part II 6. The Ideology of Minority Protection During the post-Communist Transition in Europe Karl Cordell 7. Institutional Memories and Institutional Legacies: Managing Minority-Majority Relations in post-Communist Europe Qua Cultural Autonomy David Smith 8. Damp Squibs? Essentialist Underpinnings of Nationalities Policy and the Limits of Minority Participation in Slovakia Ada-Charlotte Regelmann 9. Ethnic Power-Sharing in Bosnia and Macedonia: Institutional Legacies of Communism Cvete Koneska 10. Between the Soviet Legacy and Opportunism: Minority Policy in Ukraine Tatyana Malyarenko Part III 11. Old Concept New Rhetoric? Zero Classes for Romani Children as an Example of Minority Governance in Slovakia Jarmila Lajcakova 12. Soviet Nationalities Policy and Minority Protection in the Baltic States: a Battle of Legacies Priit Jarve 13. Boosting Similarity and Difference or Only Difference? Soviet Nationality Policies and Integration in post-Communist Estonia Elo-Hanna Seljamaa 14. Estonia's state-building: The Dying Embers of the Soviet Institutional Legacy? Olena Podolian 15. The Representation of Minorities in the Public Sector in the EU Accession Process: The Case of Croatia Simondia Kacarska 16. Conclusion Karl Cordell and Timofey Agarin