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Valery Tishkov | |
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| Born | 1941 |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University |
| Known for | contributions to the theory of nation, and as a politician |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | ethnohistory, theory of nation, political anthropology |
| Institutions | Russian State University for the Humanities,Russian Academy of Sciences |
Valery Aleksandrovich Tishkov (Russian:Вале́рий Алекса́ндрович Тишко́в; born 6 November 1941) is an ethnologist and former chairman of the State Committee of theRussian SFSR on nationalities[1] from 27 February to 15 October 1992 (Minister for Nationalities according toCarnegie Endowment for International Peace).[2]
Born inSverdlovsk, Tishkov attendedMoscow State University, where he received aB.A. in 1964. He earned anM.A. in 1969 fromNorth-Eastern State University inMagadan, and aPh.D. in 1978 from the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 2000, he has been Director of theInstitute of Ethnology and Anthropology of theRussian Academy of Sciences (IEA).
Tishkov started his academic career in Canadian ethnohistory with two books on pre-ConfederationCanada and the first Russian version of theHistory of Canada (1982). His publications gave birth to Canadian studies within Russia. In the 1980s, he studied indigenous peoples and published a general text on the contemporary Amerindian population ofNorth America. His primary interests were in political status, historic and comprehensive claims, Indian government and movements.
Since 1990 he has focused on the ethnic factor in Russian transformation as well as on the theory and political practice of ethnicity.
Tishkov's theoretical challenge came also from his formula ‘Forget the Nation’ (2000) where he suggested a post-nationalist understanding of nationalism. He argued that thenation is a powerful metaphor which two forms of social groupings – polity and ethnic entity – are fighting to have as their exclusive property. There is no sense in defining states and ethnic groups by the category of nation. The latter is a ghost word, escalated to a level of meta-category through historical accident and the inertia of intellectual prescription. A suggested ‘hard scenario’ for breaking the methodological impasse is a ‘zero option’, when both major clients for being a nation will be deprived of a luxury called by that label.
He edited two fundamental encyclopedias on ethnic groups ofRussia (1994) and ethnic groups and religions of the world (1998) that present a comprehensive enterprise in ethnographic reference literature.
Tishkov is a full member of theRussian Academy of Sciences.
Since 2005 he has been a member of theCivic Chamber of Russia.
