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.
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 R. Beissinger is Henry W. Putnam Professor of Politics at Princeton University and Director of the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. He served on the faculties of Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Beissinger served as the founding Director of Wisconsin's Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia and later as Chair of Wisconsin's Political Science Department, where he also held a Glenn B. and Cleone Orr Hawkins Chair. He has served as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies and as Vice-Chair of the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. He is the author or editor of four books and numerous journal articles. His book Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State (Cambridge, 2002) won three awards: the 2003 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award, presented by the American Political Science Association; the 2003 Mattei Dogan Award, presented by the Society for Comparative Research; and the 2003 Award for Best Book on European Politics, presented by the Organized Section on European Politics and Society of the American Political Science Association. Stephen Kotkin holds a joint appointment in the history department and the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He has served as Vice Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School, and he established Princeton's Global History initiative. From 1996 until 2009 Kotkin directed Princeton's Program in Russian and Eurasian Studies. From 2003 until 2007, he was a member and then chair of the editorial board of Princeton University Press. He currently serves on the core editorial committee of the flagship journal World Politics. He has published four books and has worked as the regular book reviewer for the New York Times Sunday Business section (2006–9) and as a consultant in post-communist higher education for various foundations.
'In the aftermath of revolutionary change, whether after the French
revolution or the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe, scholars have invariably launched heated debates
about whether the new order is indeed new or if it demonstrates
some continuities with the past. In sharp and welcome contrast to
these usually ambling discussions, this edited volume takes a
rigorous approach to the assessment of historical legacies by
defining the term in a precise way that makes the phenomenon both
testable and falsifiable and by identifying factors and mechanisms
that account for when, where, how, and to what extent such legacies
have shaped the institutions and practices of post-communist Europe
and Eurasia.' Valerie Bunce, Aaron Binenkorb Professor of
International Studies and Professor of Government, Cornell
University
'A quarter-century after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the nature
and the very existence of legacies of Soviet-type communism
continue to evoke lively, and thus far inconclusive, debate among
scholars. Mark Beissinger and Stephen Kotkin have moved the debate
forward in this book by putting together a collection of original
essays on particular thematic areas, all of them addressing
multiple post-communist states. The chapters are richly researched,
elegantly written, and framed through an impressive variety of
theoretical lenses.' Timothy J. Colton, Professor and Chair,
Department of Government, Harvard University
'Since the demise of the 'transition paradigm', the study of
post-communist transformations has taken a decisively historical
turn. With this splendid collection of essays … our understanding
of historical factors shaping the regime transformations and their
outcomes across the post-communist world took a large stride
forward. The editors have assembled a stellar cast of scholars and
experts on the region and produced an analytically coherent and
empirically rich account of the role communist legacies play in
various countries and institutional domains. This collection adds
much-needed analytical precision to research on historical legacies
and advances our knowledge of how history in general and communist
experience in particular matter to current political and economic
outcomes in the region. This book is a must-read for those who are
interested in the origin of institutions and policies and in the
cross-national variation of regime change outcomes.' Grzegorz
Ekiert, Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and
Professor of Government, Harvard University
'Mark R. Beissinger and Stephen Kotkin have assembled a who's-who
of scholars on Eastern Europe and Eurasia, many of whom made their
careers in the era after the end of communist rule. The authors are
therefore particularly adept at separating 'historical legacies'
from plain history - examining the precise ways in which the habits
of the past may (and may not) matter in such diverse areas as
policing, property rights, and economic performance. This book
reminds us why edited volumes - carefully crafted around a common
theme - are still indispensable vehicles of scholarly
communication.' Charles King, Georgetown University, author of
Extreme Politics: Nationalism, Violence, and the End of Eastern
Europe
'Total system state socialism is gone, but polities across Eurasia
continue to contend with Leninist legacies. And no wonder: state
socialism was an earth-changing experiment in social engineering.
Historical Legacies of Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe takes
careful stock of how these legacies matter (and, alternatively, how
they fade from significance). Representing the best of historically
informed social science, this book is conceptually innovative,
empirically grounded, contextually sensitive, and intellectually
provocative. Its wide range of cases invites serious thinking about
how the socialist period will continue to shape our world.' Edward
Schatz, University of Toronto
'With Historical Legacies of Communism in Russia and Eastern
Europe, a leading political scientist (Mark Beissinger) and a top
historian (Stephen Kotkin) bring together an all-star group of
academics to help crystallize a growing research agenda on
historical legacies in countries that have made transitions from
communist regimes … this is an important volume that will likely
leave an important scholarly legacy of its own.' Henry E. Hale,
Slavic Review
'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
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