The Affirmative Action Empire : nations and nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939

List of Tables and Maps . . xi
Acknowledgments . . xiii
Footnote Abbreviations . . xv
A Note on Style . . xvii

1. The Soviet Affirmative Action Empire . . 1
The Logic of the Affirmative Action Empire . . 2
The Content of the Affirmative Action Empire . . 9
An Affirmative Action Empire . . 15
The Party and the Affirmative Action Empire . . 20
The Geography of the Affirmative Action Empire . . 23
The Chronology of the Affirmative Action Empire . . 25

PART ONE
Implementing the Affirmative Action Empire . . 29

2. Borders and Ethnic Conflict . . 31
The Emergence of National Soviets in Ukraine . . 33
National Soviets in Belorussia and the RSFSR . . 48
National Soviets and Ethnic Conflict in the Soviet East . . 56
Conclusion . . 72

3. Linguistic Ukrainization, 1923-1932 . . 75
The Background to Ukrainization, 1919-1923 . . 78
Ukrainization, 1923-1925 . . 79
Kaganovich's Ukrainization, April 1925-June 1926 . . 84
The Failure of Comprehensive Ukrainization, 1926-1932 . . 98
Conclusion . . 122

4. Affirmative Action in the Soviet East, 1923-1932 . . 125
East and West . . 126
The Cultural Fund 1. . 29
Mechanical Korenizatsiia, 1923 to 1926 . . 132
Functional Korenizatsiia, 1926 to 1928 . . 139
Affirmative Action and Ethnic Conflict in the Industrial Work Place
Cultural Revolution and Korenizatsiia in the Soviet East . . 154
Conclusion: Korenizatsiia in East and West . . 177

5. The Latinization Campaign and the Symbolic Politics of National Identity . . 182
The Latinization Campaign . . 185
Latinization as Derussification . . 194
Language and Terror in the Soviet West . . 204

PART TWO
The Political Crisis of the Affirmative Action Empire . . 209

6. The Politics of National Communism, 1923-1930 . . 211
The Shumskyi Affair . . 212
Nationality and the Left Opposition . . 228
The Socialist Offensive and Cultural Revolution . . 238
The Cultural Revolutionary Show Trial in Ukraine . . 249
Terror as a System of Signaling . . 254
Terror and Policy Reversal in Belorussia . . 260
Conclusion . . 269

7.The National Interpretation of the 1933 Famine . . 273
The Piedmont Principle and Soviet Border Disputes . . 274
The Ukrainian Question in the RSFSR . . 282
The Kuban Affair . . 291
The National Interpretation of the Grain Requisitions Crisis . . 302
Conclusion: The Aftermath of the December 1932 Politburo Decrees . . 307

PART THREE
Revising the Affirrmative Action Empire . . 309

8. Ethnic Cleansing and Enemy Nations . . 311
The Border Regions . . 312
The Politics of Immigration . . 316
Collectivization and Emigration . . 319
The Ukrainian Crisis . . 325
Ethnic Cleansing . . 328
Enemy Nations . . 335
Conclusion . . 341

9. The Revised Soviet Nationalities Policy, 1933-1939 . . 344
The Skrypnyk Affair . . 345
The Greatest-Danger Principle . . 356
Ukrainization after the Skrypnyk Affair . . 362
Silent Korenizatsiia in the Soviet East . . 372
Conclusion . . 392

10. The Reemergence of the Russians . . 394
The Awkward Republic: The RSFSR . . 394
The Internationalization of the RSFSR . . 401
The Russification of the RSFSR . . 403
Script Russification and the Symbolic Politics of the Great Retreat . . 414
Language and the Great Terror . . 422
Conclusion . . 429

11. The Friendship of the Peoples . . 432
The Brotherhood of the Peoples . . 432
The Friendship of the Peoples . . 437
Stalinist Primordialism . . 442
The First among Equals . . 451
Conclusion . . 460

Glossary . . 462
Bibliography . . 465
Index . . 483