[Discussion] CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS- Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies, Vol. 2

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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS- Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet
Societies

The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies, Vol. #2,
December 2004
An electronic journal of social sciences
Web: www.pipss.org/

Call for Contributors: "Military and police elites" in Russia and
Post-Soviet Societies

Pipss.org is a new electronic journal of social sciences devoted to the
armed forces and power institutions of post-Soviet societies. Pipss.org
is a
multi-disciplinary journal, which addresses issues across a broad field of
disciplines including sociology, anthropology, political science,
psychology, economics, history, legal science. Its main objective is to
study changes and their underlying mechanisms in post-Soviet republics,
through the analysis of the institutions that remain most hidden from the
public eye: armies and power institutions. As an electronic journal,
pipss.org also aims to promote scholarly debate across as broad an audience
as possible, and make CIS research available to Western scholars. Thanks to
its international scientific board drawn from a large pool of leading
academics and experts in their respective fields, it is in a position to
become a leading source of analysis on post-Soviet societies.

Second Issue:

The issue editors of Vol. 2 would like to invite scholars and experts to
submit their papers for publication in a special issue on "Military and
police elites" in Russia and Post-Soviet Societies

"Silovye elity" and "voennye elity": comparisons

Our second issue will focus first on the power elites (silovye elity) and
military elites in Russia. How are these elites defined ? Through their
position in the hierarchy or due to the reputation of their members ? How
are they perceived outside of their respective administrations? Given the
spread of rather controversial figures concerning the "take-over" of the
siloviki, we will try to determine the real extent of the influence of the
"siloviki" on the government;

  - the notions of "silovye struktury" and "siloviki" will be analysed in
    order to understand where these terms come from, who used them first
and
    what they designate.
  - our aim is to launch a debate on the renewal of police and military
    elites, their sociological composition, the changes in recruitment and
    evaluation systems and in career profiles, on the endurance of
military and
    police networks belonging to the Soviet period: did the collapse of the
USSR
    and the rapid social and political transformations lead to changes
among
    these elites? Can one speak of new elites? Is there a power struggle
between
    the old and the new elites? How are these elites changing, how are
these
    changes visible in the army and in power structures?
  - with the dismantling of the tax police and the reorganization of the
    secret services, can one say the the Russian police system is going
through
    a period of concentration.

"Silovye elity" and "voennye elity": interrelations

The second part of this issue will be devoted to the relationships between
the armed forces and other power structures. The topics addressed are:

  - the action of military and power elites as lobby groups and the
    perceptions they generate. Are these elites no more than interest
group(s)
    competing with others for the ownership and use of resources, power,
etc. or
    does their state function (defense, public order) confer upon them a
    specific role and modus operandi?
  - how have these relationships been reorganized since the dismantling of
    the USSR and the arrival of Vladimir Putin to power? What influence
has the
    war in Chechnya had on the reorganization of these relationships?
How are
    these relationships perceived by the members of these elites, by the
    political sphere and by society?
  - we will also address the question of the influence of different power
    structures on the redefinition of foreign policy (Irak, United States,
    Europe, etc.)

"Silovye elity"  and  "voennye elity"  in the CIS

Since Russia and other Republics of the CIS share a common past, are these
debates applicable to the military and police elites of the Republics? The
latter also have had to face their own specific problems such as:

  - changes in the ethnic composition of the armed forces of the CIS due to
    the massive departure of Russian officers (who returned mainly to Russia
and
    the Ukraine)
  - the training of a specialist corps whose members are recruited among a
    population with a low level of instruction, and which was not
allowed to
    occupy positions of responsibility during under the Soviet regime.
  - the difficult interaction of Russian officers with local officers
due to
    language problems affecting the chain of command.

Finally we would also like to address the following question:

  - The importance of former army officers of the CIS in Russian or foreign
    private companies employing mercenaries or security guards.

Papers dealing with other issues related to armies and  power institutions
in the CIS, as well as book review  proposals are also welcome.

Reviews:

Publishers interested in publicizing their editions, please send mail
review
copies to:

Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski
15 rue Charlot
75003 Paris
France

Forthcoming Issues:

For the forthcoming issues, the journal welcomes articles that focus on
such
topics as:

  - "The influence of military culture on Russian society and post-Soviet
     societies" (Third issue). More details soon on www.pipss.org.
  - We are still interested in articles on dedovshchina.

Guidelines for article submission:

The journal will be published in four languages (French, English, Russian,
and German with a 100-word abstract in English) thanks to which most
authors
will be able to write in their mother tongue. This will ensure greater
precision in the articles and avoid a decrease in scientific quality.
But we
draw your attention to the fact that most pipss.org readers are essentially
English speakers, therefore we do encourage articles in English in order to
reach an audience as broad as possible.

The articles submitted to pipss.org for publication should be original
contributions and should not be under consideration for any other
publication at the same time. Manuscripts should be attached as Microsoft
Word format. (For more details about the guidelines for article submission
please check www.pipss.org or contact the Editorial Board). There should be
a cover page stating the author's background and affiliation, full address.
The deadline for submission is October 31, 2004, with publication in
mid-December. Final decisions on publication will be made by the Editorial
Board.

Please send your contributions or inquiries to:

Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski, Chief Editor, (2nd Issue Editor)
E-mail: kozlowsk@club-internet.fr
Gilles Favarel-Garrigue (2nd Issue Editor)

Editorial Board : Eden Cole, Francoise Dauce,  Gilles Favarel-Garrigue,
Anne
Le Huerou, Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski, Joris Van Bladel