Social Mood and Ethnic Tension: The Case of the Former USSR

Abstract

The author analyzes the phenomenon of
social mood and its impact on the intensification
of ethnic tensions. According to
him, the mobility and the variability of the
social mood can be expressed through the
display of its intensity, which is especially
pronounced in the deepest shifts occurring
in the bosom of ethnic self-consciousness
during the times of social turmoil. The
article makes it evident that many
international and interethnic tragedies
could be avoided, if the authorities reacted
to the fluctuations of social mood of the
people on time. The sociological studies'
of ethnic conflicts and tensions on the
territory of the former USSR after its
disintegration serve as an illustration
material for his theory.