This book examines some of the important linguistic changes that have taken place in Eastern Europe since 1991. Most of the papers deal with Russia, which has undergone a particularly complex process of re-adjustment. Though it is early to draw definitive conclusions, the contributions provide a preliminary understanding of the new language situation of post-Soviet Russia. Of the remaining papers one compares Russian, Ukrainian, one examines Komi-Permiak, while one looks more generally at language and society.

This is the first comprehensive volume to compare the sociolinguistic situations of minorities in Russia and in Western Europe. As such, it provides insight into language policies, the ethnolinguistic vitality and the struggle for reversal of language shift, language revitalization and empowerment of minorities in Russia and the European Union. The volume shows that, even though largely unknown to a broader English-reading audience, the linguistic composition of Russia is by no means less diverse than multilingualism in the EU. It is therefore a valuable introduction into the historical backgrounds and current linguistic, social and legal affairs with regard to Russia’s manifold ethnic and linguistic minorities, mirrored on the discussion of recent issues in a number of well-known Western European minority situations.

This edited book fills a void in the existing research concerning anti-communist movements in Central and Eastern Europe, outlining the linguistic implications of the cultural, social and political metamorphoses brought about by the (change of) regime. The authors included in this volume approach the topic from a variety of perspectives, but, ultimately, focus on language seen as a fundamental tool for simultaneously subjugating and liberating, concealing and revealing truth, discouraging dissidence and fostering revolt. Readers are invited to discover the linguistic implications of the many shapes and forms that the 1989 anti-communist revolutions took. Equally interesting are the investigations of the revolution aftermath, in the first years of transition to democracy. Perceived as a whole throughout the Cold War (1947-1991), the so-called "Eastern Bloc" managed to reveal its heterogeneity, the singularity of each of its comprising states and the multitude of its internal contrasts, most vividly perhaps, in the manifold manifestations of the 1989 anti-communist fight. This book will be of interest to academics and researchers from various fields, including history, (socio)linguistics, political studies, and conflict studies.

This volume provides an in-depth analysis of the attempts of language experts and governments to control language use and development in Eastern Europe, Eurasia and China through planned activities generally known as language planning or language policy. The ten case studies presented here examine language planning in China, Russia, Tatarstan, Central Asia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and focus in particular on developments and disputes that have occurred since the ‘fall of communism’ and the emergence of a new order in the late 1980s. Its authors highlight the dominant issues with which language planning is invariably intertwined. These include power politics, tensions between ‘official language’ and ‘minority languages’, and the effects of a country’s particular political, social, cultural and psychological environment. Offering a detailed account of the socio-political and ideological developments that underlie language planning in these regions, this book will provide a valuable resource for students and scholars of linguistics, cultural studies, political science, sociology and history.

This book presents a sociocultural linguistic analysis of discourses of conflict, as well as an examination of how linguistic identity is embodied, negotiated and realized during a time of war. It provides new insights regarding multilingualism among Ukrainians in Ukraine and in the diaspora of New Zealand, the US and Canada, and sheds light on the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on language attitudes among Ukrainians around the world. Crucially, it features an analysis of a new movement in Ukraine that developed during the course of the war – ‘changing your mother tongue’, which embodies what it is to renegotiate linguistic identity. It will be of value to researchers, faculty, and students in the areas of linguistics, Slavic studies, history, politics, anthropology, sociology and international affairs, as well as those interested in Ukrainian affairs more generally.

" With the first volume of Bochum Studies in International Adult Education we are launching a new series of publications from the Chair of Adult Education at the Ruhr-University of Bochum. BSIAE addresses not only researchers, university teachers and students of adult education but also those from related disciplines. While not explicitly addressing practitioners, except for providing them with up-to-date research overviews, each issue will also address politicans and policy makers. Each volume will be organised around one topic or issue which is of interest, importance or of particular relevance for adult education in general. This particular topic will be considered from various points of view, i. e. comparative, historical, gender, socio-political and cultural. The first volume of BSIAE intends to look closely at the topcis Language - Mobility - Identity and attempts to discuss these issues from the point of view of adult education. The intention of this volume is to create a compilation of different viewpoints and critical analyses on the three topics which together form an overview of their interrelation and their relevance for European development, adult education and adult's learning. "

This volume explores the discursive nature of post-1989 social change in Central and Eastern Europe. Through a set of national case studies, the construction of post-communist transformation is explored from the point of view of accelerating and unique dynamics of linguistic and discursive practices.

Can we trace attempts taken in Russian history to overcome the inability to speak publicly? How do different social groups in modern Russia cope with situations when they have to participate in a public discussion and arrive at a compromise? What historic, sociological, linguistic, and psychological reasons underlie intolerance towards different opinions? Can this situation be changed?Bringing together an international team of leading historians, sociolinguists and sociologists in this field, this volume explores these questions from different methodological perspectives, using various sets of data and examining the different domains of private, public and official discourses. Offering detailed case studies of the past and present communicative successes and failures in various social groups, the book explores why Russian society is unable to reach a consensus through dialogue. The first book to offer a detailed exploration of the condition of public debate in Russia, this pioneering volume presents a truly interdisciplinary perspective on Russian language and society making it essential reading for advanced students and specialist in the fields of Slavic Studies, Cultural Studies, Sociolinguistics and Russian history, politics and sociology.

This book explores the richness of contemporary philosophical reflection in Eastern and Central Europe. Philosophers from Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, and the United States discuss the status of democracy, nationalism, language, economics, education, women, and philosophy itself in the aftermath of communism. Fresh ideas are combined with renewed traditions as poignant problems are confronted.

These ten essays are concerned with theoretical and empirical analyses of trust and distrust in post-Communist Europe after the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1989. Differences between meanings of trust in countries with democratic traditions and in post-totalitarian countries raise questions about the ways in which history, culture and social psychology shape the nature and development of political phenomena. The authors show that while political and economic changes can have rapid effects, cultural and psychological changes may linger behind and influence the quality of political trust and representations of democracy.