Ethnic Relations in Post-Soviet Russia : Russians and Non-Russians in the North Caucasus

By focusing on the ‘everyday’ and the local, this book presents an understanding of ethnic relations in post-Soviet Russia. It contributes to the construction of a record of history after the collapse of the USSR and the attempts of the Soviet government to eradicate ethno-nationalism. The book extends the application of literature on ethnic relations and political geography to include the post-Soviet North Caucasus, and it raises questions about sovereignty, territoriality, and nationalism, emphasizing the importance of both the rural and urban dimensions to interethnic relations in the post-Soviet space.

While the collapse of communism in Russia was relatively peaceful, ethnic relations have been deteriorating since then. This deterioration poses a threat to the functioning of the Russian state and is a major obstacle to its future development. Analysing ethnic relations in the North Caucasus, this book demonstrates how a myriad of processes that characterised post-Soviet transition, including demographic change, economic upheaval, geopolitical instability, and political re-structuring, have affected daily life for citizens. It raises important questions about ethnicity, identity, nationalism, sovereignty, and territoriality in the post-Soviet space.