Since the Revolution of 1989 and the fall of Communism, many new nation-states have come into existence and several previously repressed nationalities have been able to function once again as legally recognized entities. One of those revived nationalities is the Carpatho-Rusyns, who since 1989 have been recognized officially in five countries (Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Yugoslavia) where they live. Only Ukraine, where about three-quarters of all Rusyns live, does not accept that they form a distinct nationality.
The unique value of this collection of 42 essays is that it reveals not only the theoretical-historical basis for a current national movement in a strategically located territory within the former Soviet empire (along the borders of Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary), it also provides texts that reveal in practical and concrete ways how the movement has been carried out.