Book Description
When the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917, they set themselves the task of building socialism in the vast landscape of the former Russian Empire, a territory populated by hundreds of different peoples belonging to a multitude of linguistic, religious, and ethnic groups. Before 1917, the Bolsheviks had called for the national self-determination of all peoples and had condemned all forms of colonization as exploitative. After attaining power, however, they began to express concern that it would not be possible for Soviet Russia to survive without the cotton of Turkestan and the oil of the Caucasus. In an effort to reconcile their anti-imperialist position with their desire to hold on to as much territory as possible, the Bolsheviks integrated the national idea into the administrative-territorial structure of the new Soviet state.
In Empire of Nations, Francine Hirsch examines the ways in which former imperial ethnographers and local elites provided the Bolsheviks with ethnographic knowledge that shaped the very formation of the new Soviet Union. The ethnographers—who drew inspiration from the Western European colonial context—produced all-union censuses, assisted government commissions charged with delimiting the USSR's internal borders, led expeditions to study "the human being as a productive force," and created ethnographic exhibits about the "Peoples of the USSR." In the 1930s, they would lead the Soviet campaign against Nazi race theories.
Hirsch illuminates the pervasive tension between the colonial-economic and ethnographic definitions of Soviet territory; this tension informed Soviet social, economic, and administrative structures. A major contribution to the history of Russia and the Soviet Union, Empire of Nations also offers new insights into the connection between ethnography and empire.
Customer Reviews:
A good addition.......2005-06-19
There has been much new scholarship on the Soviet 'Empire' in Central Asia in recent years. This book builds on others such as 'State of Nations', 'Vieled Empire' and 'Affirmitive Action Empire' to explain how Soviet ethnographers tried to shape the new Russian state. Several themes were common. The Soviets were devout anti-imperialists, and the Russian people as a distinctive state ceased to exist after they attained power, in place of the U.S.S.R became a state of 'nations' whereby different ethnic minorities not only were preferred in the state but new nations were created.
The second theme is that of Russia as an 'Empire'. Recent scholarship shows how Russia used 'colonial methods' to extrapolate and study and compile census's of the peoples that inhabited russia. The problem with this line of reasoning is two fold. First it is unequivacally a fact that Russia raised the awareness of the peoples they encountered, bringing them alphabets and encoruaging native literature. At the same time it is not neccesarily 'colonial' to want to census the people that live in your country. However the theory is that all this understanding ethnicity work had colonial overtones.
Leaving this behind this is a fascinating, illuminating and wonderful work that opens a door unto the multitude of peoples that inhabited soviet Russia. In many places where a people existed that had no boundaries, no written language and no schalarly culture the Soviets created local elites, education systems and drew boundaries where the minority would be a majority.
Russia became an 'empire of nations' in this manner. Mostly the book looks at the first 20 years of Soviet rule, from 1917 when Soviet forces enlisted minorities in the fight against the Whites through to Stalins encouragement of diversity. In the end the programs were abandoned to some degree in the late 1930s as the build up to WWII began, in the aftermath corrupt elites built on this system, creating nationalism, discriminating against ethnic russians and in many cases creating national awareness where non existed before. A good book.
Seth J. Frantzman
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State Feminism, Women's Movements, and Job Training: Making Democracies Work in the Global Economy (Women and Politics in Democratic States)
Amy Mazur
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 0815334389 |
Book Description
Drawing from the work of internationally renowned scholars from the Research Network on Gender, Politics and the State (RNGS), this study offers in-depth analysis of the relationship between state feminism, women's movements and public policy and places them within a comparative theoretical framework. Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Canada, and the U.S. are all discussed individually.
Book Description
In recent years the European Union's membership has increased from 15 to 25 countries, it has adopted the Lisbon strategy for achieving greater economic competitiveness, taken steps towards a more purposive common foreign and defence policy, and significantly increased its efforts to deal with challenges to internal security. The new edition of this highly successful textbook brings the reader up-to-date with the range of core policy challenges facing the European Union and the ways in which they are being addressed. It includes a new chapter which lays out the primary questions of the book against the background of new research and a new chapter on employment policy which covers the major developments in this area.
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- A History-Free Diatribe
- Eye opening look at the Red Scare as American Myth
- Latter day Marxist agitprop
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Red Hunting in the Promised Land: Anticommunism and the Making of America (Global Issues Series)
Joel Kovel
Manufacturer: Cassell
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0304700487 |
Customer Reviews:
A History-Free Diatribe.......2003-07-30
Joel Kovel holds the prestigious "Alger Hiss Professor of Social Studies" chair at Bard College, which should tell you all you really need to knopw about both Kovel and Bard College. With the declassification of the Venona papers a few years ago (see: Haynes' and Klehr's "Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America", and "The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors" by Romerstein and Brendel) it became clear that yes, Alger Hiss was indeed a Soviet Agent, and that he was part of a concerted- though mostly unsuccessful- Soviet attempt to steer American foreign policy in the post-WWII era.
Every political movement has its diehards who refuse to give up their most cherished beliefs, even when confronted with glaring evidence to the contrary. For them, the intuitive correctness of their beliefs cannot be sway by mere fact- even when those facts counter the very "truths" that led them to their beliefs in the first place. There are many out there who believe that JFK was actually planning on withdrawing from Vietnam, that the Rosenbergs were innocent, and the moon landing was faked. You can't argue with them, as they've already rejected the best evidence.
Kovel is intelligent to realize that the best evidence is against him, but that doesn't hurt his case as he's not really interested in historical fact. He's a psychiatrist (by training) and a sociologist (by appointment) so he makes his case in a different way, which is to say by making up suppostitions and then justifying them backwards. I.e., if the persons involved were of type X, then they surely would have done Y. And since it's obvious that they did Y, that implies they must be pf type X... which proves they did Y. It's all very circular and relies on a good deal of ignorance of informal fallacies.
Of course he never considers a much simpler story. If you were a true believer in the better world promised by Communism- and many, many tens or hundreds of thousands of people in the US and Europe did believe that in the 1930 and 40s- and the party asked you to do a little espionage to help the state that was the vanguard of the World Revolution- wouldn't you do your bit to help? Of course you would. Look at how many people believed in the Soviet revolution enough to actually emigrate there in the 30s, in the belief that they were building a new utopia. This somehow never occurs to Kovel, which I suppose is a consequence of playing historian without ever having actually read all that much history.
So if you're the sort of true believer who believes that the Soviets never tried to spy on the US, that no US citizen ever worked for the KGB and that that the oil companies are hiding a secret 250mpg carburator, this is certainly the book for you. More critical readers would do well to look elsewhere.
Eye opening look at the Red Scare as American Myth.......2000-05-26
"Red Hunting ..." is a very thoughtful and intellignet book. It makes the case that American anti-Communism was a unique historical phenomenon caused by the nature of this country as a relatively new nation with no long standing traditions; a nation based on a revolutionary ideology and subject to rapid change and constant re-definition. The US need to define itself AGAINST something; and in the late 1800s and on that something became Communism (the British Empire no longer aroused the old hatred)--another new ideology that could serve as an ideal rival. For Americans, Communism became the dark Other, standing out there is the shadows waiting to devour us. American ideas about Communism were often vague and contradictory. Anything that Americans feard at any given moments became associated with Communism whether there was a real life association or not--- modern art, jazz, non-white races, Jews, Catholics, European high culture, psychiatry, pornography, drugs, whatever.
Kovel contrasts the more rational approach to Communism by the other Western democracies who suppressed violent radials while tolerating non-violent expressions of Communist sympathy, freely admitted that some of Marx's points were valid and worked toward greater social and political equality in a way that diminished the possibility of violent revolution by giving dissenters and poor people a respectable voice in society.
Latter day Marxist agitprop.......2000-05-11
Let me begin by saying the Kirkus Review (that you may read nearby on Amazon.com) is descriptive and accurate (even penetrating) enough, insofar as the space alotted allows. But the idea given there, that this is a book that you should not read because it is nasty and false is perhaps misdirected. True, it is a wretched and deplorable work. That being affirmed, there is another side to approaching Joel Kovel's scurrilous type of Marxist Agitprop. Actually this book should be read by all Americans of any intellectual aptitude who are trying to understand our times - our recent history. That approach is to broadcast this book as an entry into the American Marxist frame of mind, its gut and soul and indeed, the International Marxist world view. In that sense it is very instructive. To begin with it should be noted that the author is the "Alger Hiss Professor of Social Science" at Bard College (Stratford On Avon, N.Y.) This is an 'endowed chair' (ie. big bucks). The President of this Artsy Craftsy (and very expensive) establishment for the last 25 or so years is Leon Botkin. He (Botkin) has set us all on notice that he was a decades-long close friend of the late Alger Hiss, a man he says he much admired, (Ltr to the Editor, Chronicle of Higher Education). No doubt that he had a good deal to do with establishing the 'Hiss Chair' upon which our author, Joel Kovel sits. Perhaps, if you should investigate, you will find that the evidence against Alger Hiss, his wife , his brother, and his 'espionage ring', is "massive", not to mention 350 'other' Americans (mostly CP) who spied for the USSR. Not to mention the entire leadership of the CPUSA (including Earl Browder, (CPUSA Head), his brother and his sister). (A. Hiss was not convicted of espionage because the evidence was, no matter how overwhelming, from 'peace time' ('38), and the 3 year 'peace time' statute of limitations for espionage had long run out.). He was convicted of lying under oath - that is, perjury. These facts are central to understanding a work like Kovel's. This deplorable academic holds what might actually be called the Chair of "Treachery and Espionage" at Bard. Now any perusal of Comrade Kovel's book would convince anyone that the author HATES AMERICA, indeed his hatred is a bright, burning flame. To be sure, he devotes about a page (total), in a very long book, to a criticism of the Soviet's ultimate killing regime. This is pro-forma 'cover'. But his narrative argument, going back - mind you to the European immigrant's original wars with the 'innocent' native populations of the New World (which natives were, you know, those warlike cannibals, slavers, and exquisite torturers), including his exposition of American "black holes" of forgetfulness of our original sins against everybody (this Wagnerian Leitmotiv is endlessly repeated). This 4 or 500 year old conflict was because of the "anti-communism" sin of original American immigrants. Now Kovel/Botkin's Bard institute is largely full of "red-diaper babies" and "red-diaper-grandbabies". Descendents of U.S. Communists. Fathers/Mothers who visited their sins on their sons/daughters". So this book, Bard College and its President all ties together. It is for the above reasons that this book is highly recommended to anyone who would wish to understand the interior workings of the Marxist and Neo-Marxist mind in America, and especially within U.S. Universities, where Marxists metastasize, and are, like Kovel, particularly active in the Humanities and English departments. Study this 'work'. Please restrain yourself from "throwing this book forcefully across the room". Those impulses will come, but steady yourself! Finish the damned thing! Kovel's work will give you much insight into both the insanities of American Marxism, Freudian psychotherapy (Kovel is a Psychiatrist), Marco-Fascist Sociology, and the incredible destructiveness of radical movements, the inner workings of the socialist mind, and demonstrate to you much about the continuing Communist influence in America. ( Oh, did you really think that Revolutionary Socialism was DEAD in America?)
Book Description
This best-selling book delivers a comprehensive introduction to the policymaking processes at work in the European Union.
Written by some of the leading authorities in the field, this new edition has been significantly improved to make it even more accessible for second and third year undergraduates. Addressing some of the more contentious areas in order to stimulate students interest, this book covers also continues to cover the vital elements of EU courses including:
* Theory
* History
* Institutions
* Policy
* Relations with member states
* External relations
* Enlargement.
A companion website also supports this edition, with a clear guide to more technical material such as statistics, as well as regular updates.
This book is essential reading for all students of politics and the European Union.
Book Description
This new edition of the established standard text on policy-making in the European Union has been extensively updated and rewritten to take into account all the most important recent developments in EU affairs. The new edition is even more comprehensive than its predecessor. It now includes 15 case studies of European Union policy-making in a range of different fields. In addition, there are updated introductory chapters on EU institutions and policy processes, and a new chapter explaining the various theoretical approaches to the making of policy in the EU. Major recent developments examined include the move to a single European currency, the expansion of common activities in justice and home affairs, recent initiatives to strengthen common foreign and security policy, negotiations on eastern enlargement, and efforts to reform the Common Agricultural Policy. Core policy fields covered include budgetary policy, trade, competition, and the Single Market. Case studies of environmental policy, social policy, and north-south relations illustrate the range and diversity of EU policy-making. Two entirely new case studies examine the common fisheries policy and the struggle to develop a common approach to biotechnology. The expert contributors come from six EU member states and from the USA.
Book Description
As logical as the existence and role of Public Service Broadcasters seemed to be in the era of broadcasting monopolies, it is equally natural today to question public involvement in the media. Is there still a need for public broadcasters? What are their cultural obligations, political role and remit in the dual European media market? Which changes will new media, the internet, and digital technology bring, and what impact will they have on the media market? Do the public media really make a difference, or are they dinosaurs threatened with extinction in the new and unfamiliar media landscape of modern Europe?
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Policy-Making and Diversity in Europe: Escape from Deadlock (Theories of Institutional Design)
Adrienne Heritier , and
Adrienne H^D'eritier
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0521653843 |
Book Description
Policy-Making and Diversity in Europe examines the European Union and its policy-making processes. In particular, it asks how an institution that is so riddled with veto points manages to be such an active policy maker. Héritier argues that the diversity of actors' interests and the need for consensus in European institutions would almost inevitably lead to deadlock, were it not for the existence of creative informal strategies and policy-making patterns. Termed by the author "subterfuge," these strategies prevent political impasses and "make Europe work."
Download Description
Policy-Making and Diversity in Europe examines the European polity and its policy-making processes. In particular, it asks how an institution which is so riddled with veto points manages to be such an active and aggressive policy maker. HÈritier argues that the diversity of actors' interests and the consensus-forcing nature of European institutions would almost inevitably stall the decision-making process, were it not for the existence of creative informal strategies and policy-making patterns. Termed by the author 'subterfuge', these strategies prevent political impasses and 'make Europe work'. The book examines the presence of subterfuge in the policy domains of market-making, the provision of collective goods, redistribution and distribution. Subterfuge is seen to reinforce the primary functions of the European polity: the accommodation of diversity, policy innovation and democratic legitimation. Professor HÈritier concludes that the use of subterfuge to reconcile unity with diversity and competition with co-operation is the greatest challenge facing European policy-making.
Book Description
This volume provides an up-to-date account of developments in Europe across a range of policy areas, from labour markets to disability and poverty to health care. Drawing on sociological, social policy, political science and economic perspectives, it situates debates about welfare convergence in a theoretical context. Each chapter is written by an expert in this rapidly changing field and is based on original research. Together, these experts demonstrate that EU commitment to an open market economic programme currently gives rise to tensions in accommodating different approaches to social welfare, and that moves to enlargement will compound the pressure.
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Environmental Politics in the European Union: Policy-Making, Implementation and Patterns of Multi-Level Governance (Issues in Environmental Politics)
Christoph Knill , and
Duncan Liefferink
Manufacturer: Manchester University Press
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ASIN: 0719075815
Release Date: 2007-09-04 |
Book Description
This book provides an introduction into the development, the making and the implementation of European Union environmental politics. It employs a clear and accessible analytical perspective based on the theoretical state-of-the-art of EU policy Studies.
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