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.
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