Nelly Bekus is a Belarusian social scientist and publicist, and a member of the European Cultural Parliament. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and is Assistant Professor at the East Slavonic European Studies Department, University of Warsaw.
Rejecting the cliché about “weak identity and underdeveloped nationalism,” Bekus argues for the co-existence of two parallel concepts of Belarusianness—the official and the alternative one—which mirrors the current state of the Belarusian people more accurately and allows for a different interpretation of the interconnection between the democratization and nationalization of Belarusian society.
The book describes how the ethno-symbolic nation of the Belarusian nationalists, based on the cultural capital of the Golden Age of the Belarusian past (17th century) competes with the “nation” institutionalized and reified by the numerous civic rituals and social practices under the auspices of the actual Belarusian state.
Comparing the two concepts not only provides understanding of the logic that dominates Belarusian society’s self-description models, but also enables us to evaluate the chances of alternative Belarusianness to win this unequal struggle over identity.
Author(s): Nelly Bekus
Publisher: Central European University Press
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 313
City: Budapest
Tags: Belarusian nation nationalism identities White Russia Belarus Eastern Europe East European politics post communist traansition Soviet transformation Aliaksandr Lukashenka
Introduction 1
PART I. NATION IN THEORY
Chapter 1 Nation-Formation Strategies in Contemporary Nation-Studies 13
Chapter 2 State and Nation 27
Chapter 3 Nationalism, Capitalism, Liberalism: The East European Perspective 33
Chapter 4 Nationalism and Socialism: The Soviet Case 41
PART II. THE RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF
THE BELARUSIAN NATIONAL IDEA
Chapter 5 The First Belarusian Nationalist Movement: Between National and Class Interests 53
Chapter 6 Byelorussian Republic within the Soviet State 69
Chapter 7 Post-Soviet Conditions for Independence 79
PART III. BELARUSIAN POST-COMMUNISM
Chapter 8 The Election of the First Belarusian President as a Mirror of Belarusian Preferences 85
Chapter 9 “Labels” of the Belarusian Regime 93
Chapter 10 “Triple Transformation” and Belarus 99
Chapter 11 Prerequisites of Democratization and Authoritarianism in Belarus 121
PART IV. ARGUMENTS AND PARADOXES
OF WEAK BELARUSIAN IDENTITY
Chapter 12 Belarus as an Example of National and Democratic Failure 133
Chapter 13 The Russian Factor in Belarusian Self-Perception 139
Chapter 14 The Paradox of “National Pride” 145
Chapter 15 Paradoxes of Political and Linguistic Russification 151
Chapter 16 Lack of Religious Basis for National Unity 157
PART V. THE STRUGGLE OVER IDENTITY
Chapter 17 Two Ideas of “Belarusianness” 163
Chapter 18 Belarusian-Specific Nature of the Public Sphere: “Invisible Wall” 169
Chapter 19 Belarusian History: The Alternative and Official Historical Narrations 179
Chapter 20 Political Discourses of the Alternative Belarusianness 197
Chapter 21 National Ideology of the Belarusian State as a Political Articulation of Official Belarusianness 211
PART VI. CULTURAL MANIFESTATION VERSUS SOCIAL REIFICATION
Chapter 22 Two Approaches to the Politics of Identity 223
Chapter 23 Belaruski Globus: An Encyclopedia of What Existed before Communism 227
Chapter 24 The Belarusian National Film Misterium Occupation: Distancing Themselves from Soviets and Russians 229
Chapter 25 The “Free Theater” or the Alternative Belarusianness on Stage 235
Chapter 26 Independent Rock Music: Critical Reflection and Protest 241
Chapter 27 Medieval Reenactors: A Manifestation of Belarus’s European History 253
Chapter 28 The Official Politics of Identity: Social Reification Strategy 261
Conclusion 277
Bibliography 283
Index 303
