Irreconcilable Differences?

Explaining Czechoslovakia's Dissolution

Contributions by Ján Carnogursk?, Václav Havel, Stanley Hoffmann, Owen V. Johnson, Petr Kopeck?, Daniel Kroupa, Carol Skalnik Leff, Miroslav Macek, Petr Pithart, Jan Rychlík, Jan Svejnar, Franti?ek Turnovec, Martin Vadas, Sharon L. Wolchik, Peter Zajac, Milan Zemko Edited by Michael Kraus, Allison Stanger

Publication date:

05 July 2000

Length of book:

368 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780847690206

This unique volume brings together a multi-disciplinary group of scholars as well as Czech and Slovak decisionmakers who were personally involved in the events leading up to the separation of Czechoslovakia. Asking whether the dissolution was inevitable, the contributors bring a range of different approaches and perspectives to bear on the twin problems of democratic transitions in multinational societies and ethnic separatism and its origins. The blend of analysis and insider experiences will make this book invaluable for all concerned with nationalism and ethnicity, democratization, and transitions in Eastern Europe.

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Past as a Prologue
Chapter 3 Contending Views of Czechoslovakia's Demise
Part 4 Part I: Legacies of the Past
Chapter 5 Inevitability, Probability, Possibility: The Legacies of the Czech-Slovak Relationship, 1918-1989, and the Disintegration of the State
Chapter 6 The Possibilities for Czech-Slovak Compromise, 1989-1992
Part 7 Part II: Institutional Challenges and Constitutional Controversies
Chapter 8 From "Velvet Revolution" to "Velvet Split": Consociational Institutions and the Disintegration of Czechoslovakia
Chapter 9 The Impact of Institutional Factors on the Breakup of the Czechoslovak Federation
Chapter 10 Electoral Rules and the Fate of Nations: Czechoslovakia's Last Parliamentary Elections
Chapter 11 The Price of Velvet: Constitutional Politics and the Demise of the Czechoslovak Federation
Part 12 Part III: Media, Economic, and International Factors
Chapter 13 Failing Democracy: Journalists, the Mass Media, and the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
Chapter 14 Explaining Czechoslovakia's Dissolution: Assesing Economic performance Before and After the Breakup
Chapter 15 The End of Czechslovakia: International Forces and Factors
Part 16 Part IV: The View from the Ground: Czech and Slovak Perspectives
Chapter 17 A Retrospective Look at the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
Chapter 18 The Division/Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Old Sins and New Forms of Selfishness
Chapter 19 A Comment on Carnogursk? and Pithart
Chapter 20 Fragments from the Dividing of Czechoslovakia
Chapter 21 Domestic and International Aspects of the Czechoslovak State's Crisis and End
Chapter 22 Czechoslovakia After 1989: The Reasons for the Division
Chapter 23 Notes on the Role of Television in Czechoslovakia's Dissolution
Part 24 Part V: Czechoslovakia's Dissolution in Comparative Perspective
Chapter 25 On Ethnic Conflicts and their Resolution
Chapter 26 Lessons from the Breakup of Czechoslovakia
Chapter 27 Appendix: Narrative Chronology of the Czech-Slovak Conflict, 1990-1992

Why did the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia occur and how did it take place without violence? With an approach that is at once imaginative, comprehensive, and effective, Kraus and Stanger juxtapose explanations advanced by several scholars with the insider views offered by leading political figures—both Czech and Slovak—who participated in the process. The resulting tour de force represents indispensable reading for all who are interested in the comparative study of nationalism and separatism.