CONF./CFP- AAG Panel on Nation-Building and National Identity in the FSU, Mar. 22-27, 2009

Distrib. by: Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian Studies

CONF./CFP- AAG Panel on Nation-Building and National Identity in the FSU, 03/09

Posted by: Natalie Rochelle Koch <natalie.koch@colorado.edu>

Call for Papers (October 10th deadline)
Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting
22-27 March 2009, Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada*

Nation-Building and National Identity in the FSU
Session Organizer: Natalie Koch, University of Colorado at Boulder

The meanings of "nationality" and "ethnicity" in the Soviet Union
differ markedly from the way in which they are understood in the West
and other places around the world. Rogers Brubaker (1996) suggests a
fundamental tension within the Soviet nationality policies it promoted
two independent definitions of nationhood: one territorial and
political, the other ethnocultural. While territorial jurisdiction was
ascribed to certain nationalities, "territory" and "nation" were
neither spatially, conceptually, nor legally congruent. Independence
has stimulated the "nationalization" of the various successor states.
This has been accomplished through various means, such as the
increased "nativization" of power structures, the implementation of
stringent language policies, and the emergence of racialized
discourses and practices. This CFP invites submissions that seek to
address the legacies of this Soviet conception of nationhood for these
former Soviet states.

Possible topics could include, and are not limited to:
- a case study examining the implications of the Soviet nationalities policy
- defining the "nation" and/or "ethnicity" in the post-Soviet context
- the nation-building strategies of successor state leaders
- the role of state-scale actors in fostering a new "national"
identity and its role in legitimating their rule
- the role of territory and borders (as both symbols and
institutions) in articulating the "nation"
- the relationship between religion and national identity in the FSU
- gender and the nation/nationalist project
- comparative study of FSU and another region/country
- language politics
- inter-ethnic violence in the FSU
- xenophobia/racism in the FSU, especially in the Russian Federation
- methodological approaches and challenges in studying
nation-building/nationalism in the FSU

Please send related proposals to Natalie Koch
(natalie.koch@colorado.edu) by October 10th, 2008. Include title,
abstract (under 250 words), and PIN number.

*For more information about the AAG meeting, see:
http://aag.org/annualmeetings/2009/index.htm

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