Ukrainian Nationalism in the 1990s
A Minority Faith

This work examines the impact of nationalism on the politics of Ukraine, arguably the most important of the non-Russian states to emerge from the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

Andrew Wilson (Author)

9780521574570, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 October 1996

320 pages, 8 maps 15 tables
22.7 x 15.1 x 1.9 cm, 0.456 kg

'This study on Ukrainian nationalism fills an important research gap and covers an enormous amount of original historical and political material. … All in all, this is a book that will soon be a standard item in the field of Ukrainian studies. In many ways it can even be used as a kind of encyclopaedia.' Gwendolyn Sasse, London School of Economics

The complex interrelationship between Russia and Ukraine is arguably the most important single factor in determining the future politics of the Eurasian region. In this book Andrew Wilson examines the phenomenon of Ukrainian nationalism and its influence on the politics of independent Ukraine, arguing that historical, ethnic and linguistic factors limit the appeal of narrow ethno-nationalism, even to many ethnic Ukrainians. Nevertheless, ethno-nationalism has a strong emotive appeal to a minority, who may therefore undermine Ukraine's attempts to construct an open civic state. Ukraine is therefore a fascinating test case for alternative nation-building strategies in countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

1. Ukraine: historical roots of diversity
2. Ukrainian nationalism in the modern era
3. Channels of nationalist discourse: political parties, civil society
4. National communism
5. A minority faith: the limits to nationalist support
6. The nationalist agenda: domestic politics, Ukrainianisation and the state
7. The nationalist agenda: external affairs - untying the Russian knot
8. Conclusions: Nationalism and national consolidation.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV]