Creating a "People": A Case Study in Post-Soviet History-Writing

Solonari, Vladimir

doi:10.1353/kri.2003.0027

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…In the same line, in a 2011 interview with the author, he stated: ‘Babilunga is the proponent of the preservation of the Moldovan identity, as opposed to the Romanian one (…) We have nothing against the Moldovan identity, yet, we can't really promote it here as it would destroy the multiethnic character of Transnistria’. The separatist leaders, Smirnov himself (see Solonari : 415–7), actively undertook the construction of the ‘Transnistrian people’, based on Soviet‐like multiculturalism, which is equally composed of Russians, Ukrainians and ‘our’ ethnic Moldovans—now distinct from Romanians and from Moldovans on the other side of the Dnestr river (see succeeding texts). In 2003, Smirnov said, ‘Transnistrians are a people with a unique distinctiveness’ (quoted in Shtanski : 221).…”

Section: Nation‐building Step 1: Shifting Boundaries By Expanding Thementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These ethnicities ‘are depicted as peacefully coexisting, interacting, and “assimilating” (each other? ), thus forming the Dnestr community’ (Solonari : 433). Significantly, Slavs are said to be the first settlers in the region with Moldovans settling there at least a thousand years later (Solonari : 428).…”

Section: Nation‐building Step 1: Shifting Boundaries By Expanding Thementioning

confidence: 99%

“…), thus forming the Dnestr community’ (Solonari : 433). Significantly, Slavs are said to be the first settlers in the region with Moldovans settling there at least a thousand years later (Solonari : 428). The myth goes on, maintaining that the first Transnistrian statehood in 1924 was artificially named the Moldovan Autonomous SSR (part of the Ukrainian SSR) and was sacrificed by Stalin to serve the annexation of Bessarabia and the formation of the Moldavian Socialist Soviet Republic after World War II (Voronovich ).…”

Section: Nation‐building Step 1: Shifting Boundaries By Expanding Thementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, Tiraspol produces numerous books on Transnistrian history accounting for the existence of the ‘Transnistrian nation’. Three historical myths serve to expand and invest this new category of ‘Transnistrians’ with identity attributes (based on Cojocaru [], Cojocaru and Suhan [], Solonari [] and the author's analysis of the Russian language Transnistrian sources).…”

Section: Nation‐building Step 1: Shifting Boundaries By Expanding Thementioning

confidence: 99%

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Carving out the nation with the enemy's kin: double strategy of boundary‐making in Transnistria and Abkhazia

Dembińska

2018

Nations and Nationalism

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The 1992–1993 civil wars in Moldova and in Georgia ended with a de facto separation of Transnistria and Abkhazia, respectively. These de facto states are both inhabited by the kin to the ‘enemy’ across the administrative border: Moldovans and Georgians/Mingrelians. How do the de facto authorities foster a collective identity in support of their claim for legitimacy and statehood? Engaging with Wimmer's taxonomy of boundary‐making, this article argues that nation‐building involves not only expansion but also, simultaneously, contraction. Transnistria constructs a higher‐level identity category and co‐opts and contracts the Moldovan category, separating it into ‘our’ and Bessarabian Moldovans in order to incorporate the former into the Transnistrian people. In Abkhazia, the nation‐building project establishes the Abkhazs as the titular nation allowing, however, for the construction of an Abkhazian people that would include minorities, with Gal/i Georgians said to be Mingrelians, distinct from Georgians. These cases show that elites combine different ethnic boundary‐making strategies in order to implement their favoured identity project and to legitimize the claimed statehood.

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Section: Nation‐building Step 1: Shifting Boundaries By Expanding Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nation‐building Step 1: Shifting Boundaries By Expanding Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nation‐building Step 1: Shifting Boundaries By Expanding Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nation‐building Step 1: Shifting Boundaries By Expanding Thementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Carving out the nation with the enemy's kin: double strategy of boundary‐making in Transnistria and Abkhazia

Dembińska

2018

Nations and Nationalism

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“…Significantly, Slavs are said to be the first settlers in the region, with Moldovans settling there at least a thousand years later. 38 Reading the official newspaper Adevărul Nistrean (The Dniestrian Truth), founded in 1994, gives an insight into how Moldovans are framed in elite discourse in the de facto state. According to the editor-in-chief, "students, teachers, and doctors" are its main audience, and its main focus is on "developing and preserving the Moldovan language in Cyrillic alphabet."…”

Section: Transnistrianism-neutralizing Ethnic Moldovan Attributes To Legitimize Separatismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Making of an Empty Moldovan Category within a Multiethnic Transnistrian Nation

Dembińska

Iglesias

2013

East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures

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To legitimize separation from Moldova, Transnistrian elites have been constructing a civic Transnistrian nation, subsuming local ethnic Russian, Ukrainian, and Moldovan identities. This article first identifies changes to the Transnistrian nation-building strategy: from an emphasis on Moldovan nationhood in the early 1990s to oppose “Romanianization” in Chisinau, to Transnistrian nationhood mainly after Moldovanism was adopted in Chisinau in 2001. It then shows how this multiethnic nation is being constructed, with a particular emphasis on the place of Transnistrian Moldovans. While the Moldovan identity category is being institutionalized as a part of the Transnistrian civic nation, its ecological niches are being emptied of Romanian/Bessarabian attributes and invested with Russianness. As a result, “Moldovan” now seems an empty identity category in Transnistria.

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Dual Citizenship inDe FactoStates: Comparative Case Study of Abkhazia and Transnistria

Ganohariti

2019

Nationalities Papers

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The contested nature of de facto states and their acceptance of dual citizenship results in the overlap of multiple citizenship regimes, leading to individuals living in de facto states possessing multiple citizenship statuses. Using the Most Similar Systems Design, this article explores the factors that influence the (divergent) citizenship regimes of Abkhazia and Transnistria; the former allows dual citizenship only with Russia, while the latter places no restrictions. The primary reason for the adoption of dual citizenship is for pragmatic reasons, as the secondary citizenship can compensate for the lack of benefits (such as international travel, diplomatic protection) afforded by the de facto state’s citizenship. This said, having an ethnicized national identity, in contrast to a civic (state-centered) national identity, can produce (dual) citizenship laws that give preferential treatment to the titular group and its diaspora. Additionally, the influence exerted by the patron state (Russia) and the severity of the conflict with the parent state (Georgia/Moldova) influences dual citizenship in becoming conditional and thus more exclusive.

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Creating a "People": A Case Study in Post-Soviet History-Writing

Cited by 17 publications

References 45 publications

Carving out the nation with the enemy's kin: double strategy of boundary‐making in Transnistria and Abkhazia

Carving out the nation with the enemy's kin: double strategy of boundary‐making in Transnistria and Abkhazia

The Making of an Empty Moldovan Category within a Multiethnic Transnistrian Nation

Dual Citizenship inDe FactoStates: Comparative Case Study of Abkhazia and Transnistria

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