Youth Movements and Elections in Eastern Europe (Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics) - Hardcover

Nikolayenko, Olena

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 110841673X ISBN 13: 9781108416733

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2017

Synopsis

At the turn of the twenty-first century, a tide of nonviolent youth movements swept across Eastern Europe. Young people demanded political change in repressive political regimes that emerged since the collapse of communism. The Serbian social movement Otpor (Resistance) played a vital role in bringing down Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Inspired by Otpor's example, similar challenger organizations were formed in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine. The youth movements, however, differed in the extent to which they could mobilize citizens against the authoritarian governments on the eve of national elections. This book argues that the movement's tactics and state countermoves explain, in no small degree, divergent social movement outcomes. Using data from semi-structured interviews with former movement participants, public opinion polls, government publications, non-governmental organization (NGO) reports, and newspaper articles, the book traces state-movement interactions in five post-communist societies: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Serbia, and Ukraine.

About this title

Book Description:

Given the interdisciplinary nature of the book's subject matter, it will be of interest to historians, political scientists, and sociologists. In particular, the book will appeal to readers, with a geographical interest in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies. The book may be adopted for use in upper-level undergraduate courses in social sciences.

About the Author:

Olena Nikolayenko is Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, New York. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto, and held visiting appointments at Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine. Her research was supported by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her articles have appeared in the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Comparative Sociology, Europe-Asia Studies, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, International Political Science Review, Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Youth and Society, and other journals.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 110841673X
• ISBN 13: 9781108416733
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 270