Nikolay Zakharov – författare

This book is novel not only in its theoretical framework, which places racialisation in post-communist societies and their modernist political projects at the centre of processes of global racism, but also in being the first account to examine both these new national contexts and the interconnections between racisms in these four regions of the Baltic states, the Southern Caucasus, Central Asia and Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, and elsewhere. Assessments of the significance of the contemporary geopolitical contexts of armed conflict, economic transformation and political transition for racial discourse are central themes, and the book highlights the creative, innovative and persistent power of contemporary forms of racial governance which has central significance for understanding contemporary societies.The book will be of interest to scholars and students in the areas of racism and ethnicity studies."What an important and much-needed addition to the growing,but still grossly insufficient, body of work on Soviet racial thinking and its impact on Soviet and post-Soviet racisms. At the time of renewed racial tensions in the West and the growing racial anxieties underlying a variety of nation-building projects in the former Soviet spaces it is important to understand the often ignored linkages between Communist paternalism and Western views of race and racial difference. Even though its focus remains the former Soviet Union this book contains a valuable analytical toolkit for the scholars of race and racism across political and geographical boundaries."-Maxim Matusevich, Seton Hall University, USA"Post-Soviet Racisms is the first comprehensive comparative study of the politics of race in post-Soviet states. Why do racialising or overtly racist theories at times become central to the construction of post-Soviet identities? How do racisms of the dominant national groups and minorities compare? How does the process of the transnational circulation of racist and racialising discourses work? These are some of the important questions which are addressed in this ground-breaking book that enriches our understanding of the complexity of the current developments in the region."-Vera Tolz, University of Manchester, UK

This book is novel not only in its theoretical framework, which places racialisation in post-communist societies and their modernist political projects at the centre of processes of global racism, but also in being the first account to examine both these new national contexts and the interconnections between racisms in these four regions of the Baltic states, the Southern Caucasus, Central Asia and Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, and elsewhere. Assessments of the significance of the contemporary geopolitical contexts of armed conflict, economic transformation and political transition for racial discourse are central themes, and the book highlights the creative, innovative and persistent power of contemporary forms of racial governance which has central significance for understanding contemporary societies.

The book will be of interest to scholars and students in the areas of racism and ethnicity studies.

"What an important and much-needed addition to the growing,but still grossly insufficient, body of work on Soviet racial thinking and its impact on Soviet and post-Soviet racisms. At the time of renewed racial tensions in the West and the growing racial anxieties underlying a variety of nation-building projects in the former Soviet spaces it is important to understand the often ignored linkages between Communist paternalism and Western views of race and racial difference. Even though its focus remains the former Soviet Union this book contains a valuable analytical toolkit for the scholars of race and racism across political and geographical boundaries."

-Maxim Matusevich, Seton Hall University, USA

"Post-Soviet Racisms is the first comprehensive comparative study of the politics of race in post-Soviet states. Why do racialising or overtly racist theories at times become central to the construction of post-Soviet identities? How do racisms of the dominant national groups and minorities compare? How does the process of the transnational circulation of racist and racialising discourses work? These are some of the important questions which are addressed in this ground-breaking book that enriches our understanding of the complexity of the current developments in the region."

-Vera Tolz, University of Manchester, UK

​This book assesses the nature and extent of the project of deracialisation required to counter the contemporary dynamics of racialisation across four varieties of modernity: Sweden, South Africa, Brazil and the UK, based on original research on each of the four country contexts. Since racism began to be recognised or identified as a problem, an assemblage of supra-national initiatives have been devised in the name of combatting, dismantling or reducing it. There has been a recent shift whereby such supra-national bodies move toward embedding strategies against racism within the framework of human rights and devolving such responsibility to other bodies at a national level.The authors bring together a team of international experts in this field, in order to compare the priorities and effectiveness of current strategic approaches in each national context, examining their relationalities and connecting these cases within a joint theoretical and methodological framework. Thus, this book contributes to theoretical knowledge on racialisation and deracialisation, produce a new data set on contemporary interventions and institutions and establish new principles and practice for national projects of deracialisation and anti-racism, building on cross-national learning.

​This book assesses the nature and extent of the project of deracialisation required to counter the contemporary dynamics of racialisation across four varieties of modernity: Sweden, South Africa, Brazil and the UK, based on original research on each of the four country contexts. Since racism began to be recognised or identified as a problem, an assemblage of supra-national initiatives have been devised in the name of combatting, dismantling or reducing it. There has been a recent shift whereby such supra-national bodies move toward embedding strategies against racism within the framework of human rights and devolving such responsibility to other bodies at a national level.The authors bring together a team of international experts in this field, in order to compare the priorities and effectiveness of current strategic approaches in each national context, examining their relationalities and connecting these cases within a joint theoretical and methodological framework. Thus, this book contributes to theoretical knowledge on racialisation and deracialisation, produce a new data set on contemporary interventions and institutions and establish new principles and practice for national projects of deracialisation and anti-racism, building on cross-national learning.