Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society

Valery Tishkov

University of California Press, Jun 14, 2004 - Social Science - 302 pages

This book illuminates one of the world's most troubled regions from a unique perspective—that of a prominent Russian intellectual. Valery Tishkov, a leading ethnographer who has also served in several important political posts, examines the evolution of the war in Chechnya that erupted in 1994, untangling the myths, the long-held resentments, and the ideological manipulations that have fueled the crisis. In particular, he explores the key themes of nationalism and violence that feed the turmoil there. Forceful, original, and timely, his study combines extensive interview material, historical perspectives, and deep local knowledge. Tishkov sheds light on Chechnya in particular and on how secessionist conflicts can escalate into violent conflagrations in general. With its balanced assessments of both Russian and Chechen perspectives, this book will be essential reading for people seeking to understand the role of Islamic fundamentalist nationalism in the contemporary world.

Contents

• 1 Ethnography and Theory: 3
• War as an Ethnographic Field: 5
• The Method of the Delagated Interview: 7
• Explanatory Models And Theories of Research: 9
• SelfDetermination as a Political Project: 12
• The Demodernization Phenomenon: 14
• 2 Indigenization Deportation and Return: 18
• The Soviet Policy of Indigenization: 23
• The Trauma of Deportation: 27
• The Daily Experience of Deportation: 30
• Searching for Answers: 31
• 3 Contradictory Modernization: 34
• Political Status and Local Elites: 37
• The Contradictions of Modernization and Chechen Disloyalty: 42
• Education and the New Generation: 47
• On Language and History: 49
• 4 Chechen Images: 51
• The Changing concept of the People: 52
• Differentiating among Chechens: 56
• 5 The Road to War: 59
• National Revolution: 62
• The Failures and Miscalculations of Chechen Secession: 65
• The Response from the Center: 70
• An Early Evaluation: 74
• Hero and Devil: 77
• A Proud and Complicated Man: 79
• Mass Perceptionist: 82
• Dudayev and War: 84
• Postwar Glorification: 88
• PostTotalitarian Charismatic Leaders: 90
• 7 The Sons of War: 92
• Joining the Rabjs: 94
• Fear and Bravery: 97
• The Kalashinikov Culture: 99
• Why Fight?: 100
• Renegades Idlers and Parasites: 102
• A Wave of Greed: 105
• The Veterans of War: 107
• 8 The Culture of HostageTaking: 109
• The Political and Psychological Obstacles: 110
• Why Abductions?: 116
• Who Might Be Kidnappedand How: 118
• Organizers and Executors: 121
• Domestic Prisons: 124
• Abductions and Higher Politics: 126
• 9 Violence in Secessionist Warfare: 129
• Imaging and Targeting the Enemy: 131
• Disbelief and Shock at the Outset of the War: 134
• The Cruelty of Both Sides: 137
• Postwar Perceptions of the Violence: 142
• A Conspiracy against the People: 144
• War as Inferno: 147
• Defining the Violence: 148
• 10 The Impact on Family Life: 153
• Parents and War: 157
• The Children of War: 160
• The Loss of Family Members: 162
• Pure Islam: 164
• 11 Religion and the Chechen Conflict: 166
• Propaganda against Religion: 168
• The Retreat of Islam: 169
• The New Muslims: 170
• The Advent of the Wahhabites: 174
• After the First Chicken War: 176
• A New Split in a Torn Society: 178
• 12 The Myth and Reality of the Great Victory: 182
• The Difficulty of Getting Back to Normal: 183
• The Postwar Economy: 188
• Social Life: 191
• Group Rivalries and the Collapse of Governance: 193
• Sharia Law for Chechnya: 196
• 13 An Ideology of Extremes: 198
• A New Chechen Anthropology: 199
• Official and External Enemies: 201
• Liberating the Caucaus: 203
• Modeling State and Nation on Islam: 205
• AntiSemitism and Witch Hunts: 209
• 14 Chechnya as a Stage and a Role: 212
• The Truth and the Moral of the Conflict: 213
• Liberal Interventionism: 218
• Forging Chickens from Ethnographic References: 221
• Conclusion: 226
• NOTES: 235
• MAIN CHARACTERS: 241
• INFORMANTS AND INTERVIEWS: 249
• SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY: 253
• INDEX: 271

Popular passages

Page 280 - Islamic Fundamentalism in Central Asia: Historical Background and Contemporary Context'. Geneva, UNHCR Centre for Documentation and Research Writenet Paper, No. 13/2000, May 2001. Arutiunov, Sergei. 'Ethnicity and Conflict in the Caucasus', in Fred Wehling (Ed.), Ethnic Conflict and Russian Intervention in the Caucasus. San Diego, CA, University of California Institute for the Study of Global Conflict and Co-operation, 1995. Baev, Pavel. Will Russia go for a Military Victory in Chechnya? Sandhurst,...

Page 12 - University and is currently a senior scientific staff member at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

About the author

Valery Tishkov is Professor of History and Anthropology and Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology at the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has published many books in Russian and is also the author of Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Conflict in and after the Soviet Union: The Mind Aflame (1997).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society; Volume 6 of California Series in Public Anthropology
• Author: Valery Tishkov
• Publisher: University of California Press, 2004
• ISBN: 0520930207, 9780520930209
• Length: 302 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Eastern; History / Europe / General; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social