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Nationalizing States Revisited: Projects And Processes Of Nationalization In Post-Soviet States, Rogers Brubaker

Rogers Brubaker

This paper analyzes Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan as nationalizing states, focusing on four domains: ethnopolitical demography, language repertories and practices, the polity, and the economy. Nationalizing discourse has figured centrally in these and other “post-multinational” contexts. But nationalizing projects and processes have differed substantially across cases. Where ethnonational boundaries have been strong, quasi-racial, and intergenerationally persistent, as in Kazakhstan, nationalization (notwithstanding inclusive official rhetoric) has served primarily to strengthen and empower the titular nation. Where ethnonational and linguistic boundaries have been blurred and permeable, as in Ukraine, nationalization has worked primarily to reshape cultural practices, loyalties, and identities, thereby …