David R. Marples - Belarus : A Denationalized Nation

This book forms part of the authors continuing research on Belarus. Its goal is to examine the contemporary situation in Belarus: in politics, society, and the economy, with the intention of providing a useful guide for scholars, university and college students, and for those doing business in or visiting Belarus. It is based on numerous visits to the republic, and extensive library work, interviews, and travel therein. Over the past five years I have travelled widely in the country, though I have generally been based in Minsk. The premise behind the research is (in part) the view that Belarus remains relatively neglected among Western scholars. According to a recent survey of applications for IREX grants for studies on the newly independent republics from the United States, only four were for topics on Belarus, two of which were funded. The author has attended conferences over the past year in Minsk, New York, Boston, and other centers ana once again the number of scholars working actively in this academic areaparticularly if one excluded those from the Belarusian diasporaremains small. Belarus is often regarded as a less attractive research site than those in Russia or Ukraine. A repressive political system and difficult living conditions perhaps preclude the arrival of a flock of scholars, descending on the archives like vultures on carrion.