This book addresses the relationship between the center and its provinces-an important issue in any society-using Russia as a case study. It analyses the historical stages of Russia's past, with special focus on the post-Communist era.

Vladimir Shlapentokh, Mikhail Loiberg

1. Introduction 2. The Major Theoretical Perspective: Regionalism as Past and Contemporary World Development Part I: The Era of the Center's Dominance Before 1985 3. Prerevolutionary Russia: The Center Unchallenged Since the Sixteenth Century 4. The Center and Regions in the Soviet Period: The Provinces Without a Voice 5. The Khrushchev Era: The First Move Toward Decentralization 6. The Brezhnev Era: Stability of Regional Cadres Part II: The Center and Regions in Conflict Since 1985 7. The Gorbachev Era: destabilization of Center-Periphery Relations 8. Developments in Post-Communist Russia: First Moves Toward Autonomy, 1991-1992 9. The Growth of Regionalism and the Center's Counterattack, 1993-1996 Part III: The Center and Regions in Confrontation 10. The Center and Regions in Political Struggle 11. Regions on the Offensive 12. The Regional Elite as Advocate of Regionalization 13. The Ideological Struggle Surrounding Regionalization 14. The Center and Regions in the Period of Marketization of the Economy 15. Differentiation Between Regions in the Struggle for Autonomy 16. The Regionalization and Political Fragmentation of Russia 17. Regions in Coalition Against the Center Part IV: The Effect of Regionalism on Russian Society 18. The Contradictory Consequences of Regionalization 19. Conclusion