Plural: History, Culture, Society (Dec 2014)
Ethnic Political Mobilization: an Integrative or Disintegrative Force in the Modern Polity? Case-Studies of Political Mobilization by Non-Titular Nations in Moldova, Estonia and Lithuania
Abstract
The ethnic political mobilizations, which were originally led by the non-titular nations of the Soviet republics, traced different paths at their latter phase, after the collapse of the USSR in particular; the emerging of de facto independent states inside de jure newly-established states (Moldova and Georgia), the political reconciliation by forming autonomy (Moldova and Ukraine), the uprising of the inter-state war (Azerbaijan and Armenia), and the ethnic tension toward improvement of minority rights (Lithuania and Estonia). The four casestudies presented in this paper demonstrate that rich material and immaterial resources increased the sustainability of ethnic political mobilization. The sustainability was an important factor in achieving de facto independent states after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This paper emphasizes that these material and immaterial resources were not valid for the mobilization until the appearance of political opportunity and political will for collective action by social political organizations. The political mobilization in Transnistria not had only rich resources, but strong political will among associates toward regional independence. The political actors discovered the resources, supplied the resources to the participants of collective action, motivated them toward political activity and increased the potentiality of immaterial resources.
