Minority Reconsidered: Towards a Typology of Latvia’s Russophone Identity

Abstract

Latvia’s Russophones are often seen as a consolidated ethno-linguistic unit. The goal of this essay is to test this assumption by exploring Russophones’ in-group differentiation over an extended period of time. Conceptually, the essay combines social representation theory with the quadratic nexus model. By analysing cross-sectional survey data it is argued that citizenship of Latvia and generational belonging are two major factors that explain the deviation from the standard model of identification that is primarily imposed by Russia as a symbolic homeland. The essay also suggests that the standard model has experienced inconsistent support over the years and this has opened up space for identification with a more emancipated in-group representation.     

Financial Crisis Management and the Rise of Authoritarian Populism: What Makes Hungary Different from Latvia and Romania?

Abstract

Within the context of the debates on the worldwide rise of populism, this article aims to uncover factors that may reduce the vulnerability of a system to populist challenges. Based on existing theories, Hungary, Latvia and Romania are all susceptible to populism but authoritarian populism has emerged only in Hungary. This puzzle is addressed through examining the process of financial crisis management in the three cases and its impact on the political system. Comparative analysis shows that paternalistic expectations of the state and the government’s willingness to accept Russian support distinguish Hungary from Latvia and Romania.     

Multiple Winning Formulae? Far Right Voters and Parties in Eastern Europe

Abstract

Can theories explaining far right voting in Western Europe be extended to post-communist Eastern Europe? We address this question with a comparative demand-side analysis of far right parties and their voters in four post-communist countries: Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia. Our findings indicate the emergence of two distinct types of far right party. While the Latvian and Lithuanian far right resemble the new radical right (NRR) model, the Bulgarian far right comes closer to the welfare chauvinist ideal type. The far right mobilised anti-Semitic voters in Latvia, Slovakia and Bulgaria. In all four cases, the far right was especially successful in capturing the votes of ethnic majority members who are the most opposed to their country’s formerly dominant ethnic group.     

Identity and Media-use Strategies of the Estonian and Latvian Russian-speaking Populations Amid Political Crisis

Abstract

In this essay, we examine the connections between media use and trust strategies, and the identity development of the Russian-speaking populations in Estonia and Latvia in the context of the political crisis in Ukraine. We argue against the levelling, uniform view of Russian-speaking audiences as being completely under the influence of Russian media and thereby politically identifying themselves with the Kremlin. We present a typology of Russian-speaking audiences, explain how they construct their identities as audience members within these types in times of political crisis, and discuss how this self-identification as audience members shapes the development of broader civic and ethnic identities among the Estonian and Latvian Russian-speaking populations.     

Diversity in Daugavpils: Unpacking Identity and Cultural Engagement among Minority School Youth in Eastern Latvia

Abstract

Studies of minority ‘integration’ often focus heavily on group boundaries of ethnicity, language and identity. This essay challenges these conventional approaches in Latvia by examining individuals’ quotidian, lived experiences and how these transcend common analytical boundaries. Using the Daugavpils region as a case study, I explore Russian speaker and Latvian participation in events explicitly linked with ‘ethnic’ Latvian cultural identity. I argue, by adopting multifaceted analytical measures of identities, ethnicity and belonging, new perspectives on banal integration and minority engagement within national culture emerge. Individuals engage with each other and with ‘national’ identity and culture in complex ways. Young ‘Russian speakers’ are often more integrated with their ethnic Latvian peers than the extant literature suggests, both civically and in Latvia’s cultural sphere, as consumers and producers of Latvian ‘national’ identity.     

Mujahideen Mobilization: Examining the Evolution of the Global Jihadist Movement’s Communicative Action Repertoire

Abstract

Drawing on Tilly’s notion of “repertoire of action,” this article shows how the evolution of the global jihadist movement’s communicative action repertoire has increased the potential resonance of its discourse. It foresees the construction of the global jihadist movement’s discourse of mobilization as the result of the evolution of its network of actors, the context in which its communications are undertaken, and its adaptation to new communication technologies. Accordingly, it argues that the decentralization of the global jihadist movement has led to a widening of its communicative action repertoire and a diversification of its discourse offering.     

How Dependent Are the Baltic States on Russia?

Abstract

This article explores the impact of international trade on private investment in the three post-Soviet Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—by applying the business cycle synchronisation theory and highlighting the importance of big neighbours for small open economies. The study covers 1995–2015. The study shows that changes in the GDP growth of trading partners can have a greater effect on domestic private investment in small open economies than GDP changes in their own economies. The ongoing business cycle synchronisation between Russia and the Baltic countries means that the impact of Russia as a big neighbour remains an important issue for the latter.     

Firm-Specific Determinants of Corporate Lobbying Participation and Intensity

Abstract

Lobbying constitutes a major element in the political strategy of firms seeking favorable regulatory outcomes and is perceived as a source of a firm’s competitive advantage. Recognizing firms’ ability to influence their external environments through reactive and proactive political behavior, this paper analyzes the firm-specific determinants of corporate political activity and intensity. Results from US and Japanese firms indicate that firm size, diversification, and internationalization positively influence the likelihood of a firm being an active lobbyist. While firm profitability influences the "intensity" of lobbying activity, foreign nationality has a negative impact.     

Managing Local Intergovernmental Revenues: The Imperative of Diversification

Abstract

Municipal governments have employed a variety of strategies to address their ongoing revenue crises throughout the past several decades. One such strategy that has been employed with great consistency is the use of intergovernmental revenues (IGR). Given this trend, coupled with the fact that we know little about the dynamics of IGR, this paper presents one of the first multi‐year examinations of its use at the local level. Using data from 76 villages and cities in Cook County, IL (greater Chicago) for 1996–2000, we examine IGR use from the perspective of revenue diversification. The analysis indicates that during this period, local governments in Cook County (1) diversified their own‐source revenues and decreased dependence on the property tax; (2) maintained a consistent dependence on IGR; and (3) diversified and significantly altered their IGR structures. We also examine the demographic and organizational correlates of IGR diversification, and find it to be unrelated to characteristics such as population, property tax base, professional administration, and organizational capacity. As a result, we conclude that IGR diversification is a strategy that ought to be considered by all municipalities regardless of size or structure.     

Reconsidering Nationalism: The Baltic Case of Latvia in 1989

This study analyzes the revolution of 1989 in the Baltic State of Latvia and considers its effects on democracy since the reestablishment of independence in 1991. Scholarly and popular accounts tend to depict the 1989 movement as an ethno-nationalist one. While recognizing the importance of ethnicity and cultural nationalism, this article suggests that transnationalism was an equally important force. An analysis of the information bulletin of the Popular Front of Latvia, Awakening [Atmoda] reveals that independence activists deliberately sought to place their movement in a global and transnational framework. The article concludes with a discussion of the fate of this transnational vision after 1991. In the immediate post-independence period, strict citizenship and language legislation indicated a retreat from transnational ideals. However, more recent reforms suggest that this retreat was not permanent and that the discussions of 1989 continue to shape the building of democracy in Latvia. Evidence of the continued existence of transnationalism can be found in government legislation, participation in institutional networks such as the European Union, and individual decisions to apply for citizenship.     

Natural Resources and Small Island Economies: Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Historically, small economies, especially resource-rich ones, underperformed on average relative to their larger counterparts. Small island economies appear still more disadvantaged due to remoteness from both markets and agglomeration economies. Yet a comparison of two small island economies with similar initial conditions other than their mineral endowment suggests that policy outweighs size, isolation and resource endowment in determining economic performance. Resource-poor Mauritius adopted an unfashionable policy of export manufacturing that systematically eliminated surplus labour, which drove economic diversification that sustained rapid GDP growth and political maturation. Like most resource-rich economies, Trinidad and Tobago pursued policies that absorbed rent too rapidly, which impeded diversification and created an illusory prosperity vulnerable to collapse.     

Evolving Dynamics of Societal Security and the Potential for Conflict in Eastern Ukraine

Abstract

In this essay we argue that changes in political structures in post-Soviet Ukraine have affected the potential for conflict during transition. Relying on organisational theory to determine the potential for conflict in Ukraine, we argue that this potential is structurally determined by the changing character of societal relations within and beyond Ukraine. The potential for conflict was always present in post-Soviet Ukraine, but this essay examines the facts of when, how and why conflict happened, and how it was related to weak state institutions, centre–periphery relations and an unsettled relationship with Russia. Relying on our analytical framework, we conclude that the conditions for further conflict greatly outweigh the conditions for peace.     

Which Minority is Appeased? Coalition Potential and Redistribution in Latvia and Ukraine

This article tests fiscal appeasement, needs-based and coalition potential hypotheses for redistribution in post-Soviet Latvia and Ukraine. I argue that the government's decision to reward a minority population depends on the coalition potential of minority parties and voters. In Latvia, the non-participation of minority parties in governing coalitions means that the distribution of spoils among coalition partners does not benefit the regions in which Russian speakers live. In Ukraine, on the other hand, voters and parties in western Ukraine have been sought out by Russian-speaking politicians from eastern Ukraine, and the districts of western Ukraine received preferential treatment as a result.     

Framing Gov2.0: A Q-Methodological Study of Practitioners’ and Local Politicians’ Opinions

Abstract

Proponents of Gov2.0 claim that it offers the potential to improve the relationship between the citizen and state. Whether this potential can be realised depends in part on how new web-based technologies are implemented. Local government officials and politicians are important actors in this process, yet we know little about how they view Gov2.0. This paper applies Q-methodology to a sample of English local government actors to generate new data and fill this gap in our knowledge. Four frames of reference within this population are revealed: Sunlight on Government, Cautious Crowdsourcers, Gov1.0 and Platform Providers. The paper concludes that while there is general agreement that technology will be a driver of change, and that local government should adapt, there is no clear agreement as to the nature of reform.     

Latvians on the road to market democracy

This article began as a contrast between the politics and processes of budgeting and revenue mobilization in Latvia under Soviet rule and as an independent country. The dynamics of events in Latvia and opportunities presented during our research broadened its scope. The article became a broad review of the economic and political processes in Latvia since independence, with an emphasis on the effects of attitudes inherited from fifty years of Soviet rule, traditional Latvian values, and emerging public policies. The interdependence between government and business infrastructure is dramatically shown in the bank scandal of 1995. The bank failures caused near catastrophic reductions in tax revenues.     

Nationalists who feared the nation: Adriatic multi-nationalism in Habsburg Dalmatia,Trieste and Venice

Andrew Ezergailis, The Holocaust in Latvia, 1941–1944. Riga: The Historical Institute of Latvia, 1996, xxi, 465 pp.

Saul Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews, Vol. I: The Years of Persecution, 1933–1939. New York: HarperCollins, 1997, xii, 436 pp.

Paul A. Levine, From Indifference to Activism: Swedish Diplomacy and the Holocaust, 1938–1944. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Historica Upsaliensia 178, 1996, 293 pp.

Yosefa Loshitzky, ed., Spielberg's Holocaust: Critical Perspectives on “Schindler's List”. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997, ix, 250 pp.     

New geographies of financial power: global Islamic finance and the Gulf

Abstract

A growing body of critical scholarship has examined the recent growth of Islamic finance (IF), unpacking its ethical assertions and highlighting its close affinities with conventional financial instruments. Receiving less attention, however, is the relationship between the global expansion of IF and the emergence of new financial actors and zones of accumulation. This article situates the evolution of global Islamic circuits alongside processes of capital accumulation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), arguing that contemporary IF is deeply bound up with the internationalisation of capital groups headquartered in the GCC. This is evident in the internationalisation of GCC Islamic banks, which has given the Gulf a powerful foothold in new markets and a variety of sectors that are typically considered ‘non-financial’. Simultaneously, the expansion and geographical diversification of Islamic debt (sukuk) issuance is refashioning the Gulf’s relationships with other global spaces, a process that looks set to intensify given the widespread push to utilise IF in development financing. Seen from this perspective, the global growth of IF sits in a mutually constitutive relationship with patterns of capital accumulation in the Gulf, as well as the region’s burgeoning weight within (and new linkages to) the global economy.     

What Difference Do Polarisation Measures Make? An Application to China

In recent years there has been much discussion of the difference between inequality and polarisation. The vast literature on inequality is held to miss out key features of distributional change, which are better described as changes in polarisation. Axioms have been proposed which capture some of these differences, and measures of polarisation, as distinct from inequality, have been suggested. The theoretical distinctions proposed in this literature are indeed interesting. But do the newly proposed measures of polarisation give different results in comparing societies over time? We address these questions for China, where dramatic increases in inequality and polarisation have been much discussed in the literature. We find that, contrary to theoretical expectation, the new measures of polarisation do not generate very different results from the standard measures of inequality. The paper ends by considering a different approach to polarisation which might better conform to the policy concerns expressed in the specific context of China.     

Contrasts in Development in Bihar: A Tale of Two Villages

Abstract

The article investigates the economic and social changes that have occurred over the last 30 years in two villages in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India. The two villages are on different development paths: one based on agricultural diversification and local non-agricultural employment, the other dependent on migration to distant labour markets. They therefore connect with India’s overall growth in different ways. Neither development model delivers clearly superior outcomes in terms of incomes, nor are they exhausted, but the long-term sustainability of a migration-led model remains debatable.     

Youth perceptions of violence in Western Honduras

Abstract

Youth violence is a growing challenge worldwide, particularly in countries that are experiencing extreme social disorganisation. This is exemplified in Honduras which has been one of the top five countries in the world for intentional homicides for over 20 years. While many studies have examined youth violence in urban cities, few have researched youth violence in rural zones. This study presents a case study using social disorganisation theory to investigate the perceptions of 40 youth in rural and peri-urban Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras, regarding what drives violence and the potential solutions. Consistent with social disorganisation theory, our results demonstrate that youth view violence as an opportunity pathway resulting from economic deprivation, disruptions to the family and neighbourhood, lack of or poorly functioning external agencies and conflicting moral values. There are significant gender differences in the results, with young men pointing to several issues that challenge masculine hegemonic gender norms such as the desire for love and belonging, participation in education and the role of policing.