Ethnic Mobilization, Political Process, and the Demise of the USSR: An Event Analysis

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9310036 Beissinger This research extends our understanding of nationalist mobilization through an empirical investigation of the wave of mass unrest that engulfed the former USSR during the glasnost'period. A unique set of event-level data on thousands of demonstrations, strikes, and mass violent events in the former Soviet Union to be completed during this research will explore the role played by the dynamics of political change and political opportunities in structuring national consciousness and ethnic mobilization. The data are the only systematic and detailed record of mass protest activity in the former USSR currently in existence. Building on previous research, the project uses this unique set of data to provide new insights into the glasnost'protest cycle, as well as to explore the ways in which politics acts to structure ethnic identitites and ethnic political action. Unlike traditional approaches to the study of nationalist mobilization, this study takes the political arena itself as a key factor in determining the nature and intensity of ethnic mass action. In particular, the project focuses on the effects of political liberalization, elite conflict and turnover, governmental coercion, and electoral competition on ethnic mobilization and conflict. Data gathered on these factors are used to explore their roles in triggering waves of ethnic mobilization and in shaping the character of protest.