Bonds of Blood?: State-building and Clanship in Chechnya and Ingushetia

The North Caucasus, particularly Chechnya and Ingushetia, has experienced deadly and protracted conflicts. This book examines state-building in the region, focusing on the role of tribes (teips) and their loss of organizational structure and roles. Subnational authoritarianism is not the result of the pre-existing social composition but of the rules of the game imposed by Moscow and political choices of the Kremlin-installed local elites.

Format: Hardback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 09 March 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The North Caucasus, particularly Chechnya and Ingushetia, has witnessed some of the most devastating and protracted conflicts in Europe. This book delves into the intricate relationship between the state and society in this region, considering how state-building has unfolded amidst complex social structures, a history of colonialism, Soviet authoritarianism, and subsequent post-Soviet wars and trauma. By conducting a systematic analysis of subnational state-building in post-Soviet Chechnya and Ingushetia, and the role of tribes (clans) in this process, this study challenges the widely held academic assertion that governance and ethnic consolidation in the North Caucasus are shaped by the politics of tribes. Through socio-anthropological exploration of the clans and their functioning towards political systems, Sokirianskaia demonstrates how the tribes lost their organizational structure and roles, rendering them incapable of mobilizing for political action. While the symbolism of tribes remains politically significant, and kinship bonds hold immense importance, they do not form the basis of politics and subnational state-building in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Consequently, subnational authoritarianism in the region is not a result of the pre-existing social composition of society but rather a reflection of the rules of the game imposed by Moscow and the political choices made by the Kremlin-installed local elites.

The North Caucasus, particularly Chechnya and Ingushetia, has witnessed some of the most devastating and protracted conflicts in Europe. This book delves into the intricate relationship between the state and society in this region, considering how state-building has unfolded amidst complex social structures, a history of colonialism, Soviet authoritarianism, and subsequent post-Soviet wars and trauma. By conducting a systematic analysis of subnational state-building in post-Soviet Chechnya and Ingushetia, and the role of tribes (clans) in this process, this study challenges the widely held academic assertion that governance and ethnic consolidation in the North Caucasus are shaped by the politics of tribes. Through socio-anthropological exploration of the clans and their functioning towards political systems, Sokirianskaia demonstrates how the tribes lost their organizational structure and roles, rendering them incapable of mobilizing for political action. While the symbolism of tribes remains politically significant, and kinship bonds hold immense importance, they do not form the basis of politics and subnational state-building in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Consequently, subnational authoritarianism in the region is not a result of the pre-existing social composition of society but rather a reflection of the rules of the game imposed by Moscow and the political choices made by the Kremlin-installed local elites.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350271692