Editor's Introduction

Abstract

Although the burning question of the nineteenth century, "Whither Russia?" today has acquired new urgency, another question also agitates postcommunist Russia. "What Is Russia?" asks V.A. Tishkov, referring to the ethnic tensions within the Russian Federation (RF). All the post-Soviet states, he notes, are trying to construct new, or resurrect old, national identities. What alarms him is that in the RF the titular nationalities are monopolizing power in their own republics, an ethnic exclusivity at variance with democracy and "the equality of rights for all citizens." Tishkov's solution is to build a "multicultural nation" based on a dual but not mutually exclusive national identity. The first is ethnocultural. The second would be state-civil. In a formula familiar to Americans, the author suggests that while the Russian ethnic nation (russkaia natsiia) is a reality, citizens of the RF who are not ethnically Russian should nevertheless be considered members of the Russian nation in a civil sense (rossiiskaia natsiia). The problem: his proposal, he concedes, threatens the political base of ethnic politicians in their republics. It may also veil a desire for ethnic Russian dominance.