Historical Legacies of Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe

This book elaborates an empirical approach to the study of historical legacies of communism, revolving around relationships and mechanisms rather than correlation and outward similarities.

Mark Beissinger (Edited by), Stephen Kotkin (Edited by)

9781107054172, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 July 2014

258 pages, 7 b/w illus. 25 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.45 kg

'This volume is a must-read for anyone interested in the topic of post-Communist transitions in particular, and of transitions from authoritarian rule in general. While this work will mostly appeal to scholars and graduate students, the essays are written in such a way that they are accessible to advanced undergraduates as well.' Christopher Marsh, The Russian Review

This book takes stock of arguments about the historical legacies of communism that have become common within the study of Russia and East Europe more than two decades after communism's demise and elaborates an empirical approach to the study of historical legacies revolving around relationships and mechanisms rather than correlation and outward similarities. Eleven essays by a distinguished group of scholars assess whether post-communist developments in specific areas continue to be shaped by the experience of communism or, alternatively, by fundamental divergences produced before or after communism. Chapters deal with the variable impact of the communist experience on post-communist societies in such areas as regime trajectories and democratic political values; patterns of regional and sectoral economic development; property ownership within the energy sector; the functioning of the executive branch of government, the police, and courts; the relationship of religion to the state; government language policies; and informal relationships and practices.

1. The historical legacies of communism: an empirical agenda Stephen Kotkin and Mark R. Beissinger
2. Communist development and the post-communist democratic deficit Grigore Pop-Eleches
3. Room for error: the economic legacy of Soviet spatial misallocation Clifford G. Gaddy
4. Legacies of industrialization and paths of transnational integration after Socialism Béla Greskovits
5. The limits of legacies: property rights in Russian energy Timothy Frye
6. Legacies and departures in the Russian state executive Eugene Huskey
7. From police state to police state? Legacies and law enforcement in Russia Brian D. Taylor
8. How judges arrest and acquit: Soviet legacies in post-communist criminal justice Alexei Trochev
9. Historical roots of religious influence on post-communist democratic politics Anna Grzymala-Busse
10. Soviet nationalities policies and the discrepancy between ethnocultural identification and language practice in Ukraine Volodymyr Kulyk
11. Pokazukha and cardiologist Khrenov: Soviet legacies, legacy theater, and a usable past Jessica Pisano.

Subject Areas: Marxism & Communism [JPFC], Politics & government [JP], History: specific events & topics [HBT]