Evolving Patterns of State-Society Relations Across Post-Communist Eurasia

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

With the revolutions of 1989 and the break-up of the USSR seen as ushering in "the end of history," the expectation (or hope) of many had been that post-communist countries of Eurasia would gradually converge with the West at least in terms of fundamental principles governing state-society relations. Over a quarter century later, while many countries of the West – including post-communist countries that are now EU members – cope with a surge of right-wing populism, throughout Eurasia – defined here as the vast expanse stretching from the Slavic countries of Eastern Europe to Central Asia and China – we see neither the rising tide of populism, nor a sustained movement towards Western style liberal democracy. In fact, state-society relations in different domains have been shaped by quite varied understandings of orderly relations between state and society that are distinct from what we see in Europe and North America but also cannot be simply reduced to shared communist legacies or authoritarian backsliding. Of course, none of this is meant to suggest a monolithic "Eurasian" view of state-society relations either. In fact, there are significant variations across Eurasian countries and across different domains, reflecting very nationally specific social and organizational patterns – some of which pre-date communism and some of which reflect responses to the turbulence of political and economic transition at the end of the 20th century. This panel explores the experiences of different aspects of state-society relations in one or more Eurasian countries within a comparative framework that does not assume an eventual or inevitable convergence with the West.

The focus on the vast geographic expanse of Eurasia is intended to cover a wide array of countries that, thanks to the common experience of communism and post-communist transition, have acquired a historical and analytic significance that goes beyond conventionally defined geographic “areas" such as "East Europe" or "East Asia." The idea of "Eurasia" also gestures towards the broadly non-western lineage of these countries when it comes to expectations of state-society relations in different domains given past historical inheritances and the early experiences with transition. The papers explore these various domains in one or more Eurasian regimes within a broadly comparative-historical framework. Evans and Sil explore the divergent patterns of relations between state, labor and business in the energy sectors of Russia and Kazakhstan in order to generate some tentative hypotheses concerning why there has been greater labor peace in the oilfields of Surgut (Russia) than in Zhanaozen (Kazakhstan). Hsueh examines how the early push for liberalization in Russia and China have given way to re-regulation reflecting a distinctively Eurasian push for state-led market governance, with cross-national and sectoral variations evident in the extent to which private business encounters constraints or opportunities vis-à-vis the state. Ren and Chen focus on the growth of left-wing student activism and track the response of Xi Jinping's state – which sees these students as potentially a threat, not due to their ideological commitment to socialism but rather their efforts to bypass the state and organize independently. And, Gilbert examines how a distinctly Eurasian understanding of public order and security is evident in the Russian state's efforts to create legal and regulatory barriers to non-governmental groups, particularly in the wake of the color revolutions. These papers have in common a sense that, even three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, liberal conceptions of state-society do not seem to have acquired a strong, stable foothold across post-communist Eurasia. While this may partly be a function of entrenched leaders such as Xi, Putin and Nazerbayev, there may also be a certain coherence and stickiness across Eurasia of certain non-liberal norms governing state-society interactions even after these strongmen are gone.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 13: The Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries

Individual Presentations

• State, Labor, and Business in the Oilfields of Russia and Kazakhstan - Allison D. Evans, University of Nevada, Reno; Rudra Sil, University of Pennsylvania

• State, Business and Market Governance in Eurasia: China and Russia Compared - Roselyn Hsueh, Temple University

• Enemy of the State? The Security Rationale for NGO Legislation in Russia - Leah E. Gilbert, Lewis and Clark College

• Solidarity or Division? Co-Optation and Demobilization of Chinese Christians - Harris Doshay, Princeton University

Chair

• Rudra Sil University of Pennsylvania

Discussant

• Rudra Sil University of Pennsylvania