Social Science Research Council

Governance in Eurasia: Historical and Contemporary Approaches

On March 5-7, 2004, the Eurasia Program held its annual dissertation development workshop, funded by the US State Department under Title VIII, at the University of Texas, Austin. It was composed of ten graduate students chosen on a nationally competitive basis and five faculty members representing different social science disciplines. Having completed a series of three such workshops on the regions of Central Asia and the Caucasus, the Eurasia Program shifted its focus this year to the issue of governance, a way of approaching the study of power relations by simultaneously looking at the effects of interactions between and among the state and private sectors, society, individuals, and kin networks.

The term governance has been used by international, governmental and non-profit sectors, as well as by academics, and now has myriad definitions and common usages ranging from an exclusive focus on government institutions to a broader conception of the intersection of governmental, social and non-governmental institutions. By defining the term broadly, the Eurasia Program managed to attract a diverse, interdisciplinary mix of graduate students to present dissertation chapters or papers in a collegial and intellectually rigorous setting. Five respected professors, from leading US universities, offered their expertise and suggestions to the students over two and a half days, in an effort to both further the students' dissertation objectives and tackle the theme of governance from various angles.

In addition to the challenging workshop activities, the University of Texas, through its Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREEES), held a public seminar on "Issues of Good Governance," at which key university professors paralleled many of the issues raised during the workshop in a larger, more comparative setting (unrestricted by area studies region). The public seminar and the reception that followed allowed workshop participants to interact with a larger network of interested scholars from the University of Texas and expand professional contacts. Although the workshop, entitled "Governance in Eurasia: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives," was the first Eurasia Program workshop to address the complex theme of governance, it proved an initial success, relating well to additional program initiatives. The Eurasia Program staff, in consultation with the Title VIII Selection Committee, will assess the results of the workshop and offer suggestions for future workshops and activities that may further expand upon this important and timely issue.

Faculty Participants: