Teaching Nationalism Studies in a PostSoviet Educational Institution

1
Teaching Nationalism Studies in a Post-Soviet
Educational Institution

• Mikael Zolyan

2
Nationalism Studies

• An interdisciplinary field of research, which
  deals with issues of ethnicity, nationalism,
  nationalist politics, ethno-political conflict

3
Domination of Primordialism

• One of the biggest problems is the undisputed
  domination of the primordialist paradigm of
  ethnicity. Primordialism i.e. the idea that
  nations are eternal and unchanging entities that
  exist since times immemorial, dominates the
  post-Soviet thinking about nationalism and
  nationality. Primordialism comes either in the
  form of radical nationalist dogmas or in the more
  scientific and moderate form of the Soviet theory
  of ethnos.

4
Lack of knowledge about other research paradigms

• among the majority of social scientists in the
  post-Soviet countries theoretical paradigms, such
  as constructivism or instrumentalism, are either
  virtually unknown at best, or perceived as
  ideological weapons of global freemasonry at
  worst.

5
Problem of terminology

• Many key concepts and terms that are used in this
  field of studies are understood quite differently
  in the Eastern mainly Russian, and Western,
  mainly Anglo-Saxon traditions (e.g. such terms as
  nation vs. ?????, ethnic group vs. ?????)

6
Ethnocentric and xenophobic attitudes

• this problem reaches far beyond the borders of
  the academic community. A lecturer has to
  struggle with ethnocentric and xenophobic
  attitudes and stereotypes among the students as
  well as academics.

7
Ignoring ones own nationalism

• Quite often it is easy to talk about the
  nationalism among other nations, but it becomes
  difficult to analyze and deconstruct the
  nationalist ideas as soon as it comes to the
  nation with which the members of the audience
  identify themselves.

8
Thank you for your attention!