The Transition Paradigm, Neopatrimonialism, and Ethic Problems in the Borderland

Abstract

The article seeks to examine the opportunities, which modern theories of neopatrimonialism provide for the analysis of ethnic relations in the former Soviet countries. Until recently, the analysis of post-Soviet ethnic politics has been largely  subject to the transition paradigm and particularly to the theories of democratization. In the meantime, the transit paradigm has demonstrated its inadequacy to the analysis of post-communist transformation, and the theories of neopatrimonialism have come to the forefront as the most promising explanatory framework. Neopatrimonialism has proved its validity as a theoretic instrument for the description of the ‘developing’ countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America and is being increasingly employed with regard to ex-Soviet societies. The author argues that the neopatrimonialist paradigm allows for exploring such features of ethnic politics as the general loyalty of ethnic minority constituencies to the existing ‘nationalizing’ statehoods; the symbiosis of formal and informal institutions; the modes of legitimation pertinent to diversity policies; the patterns of public mobilization on ethnic grounds and co-optation of ethnic activists in the mainstream establishments; social networking and mobility.