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

"The North Caucasus, specifically Chechnya and Ingushetia is a region that has experienced some of the deadliest and most protracted conflicts in Europe. Chechnya is currently a totalitarian enclave within the increasingly authoritarian Russian Federation, while Ingushetia still suffers from lingering political conflicts and chronic problems with the quality of governance. By examining the relationship between state and society, this book considers how state-building has unfolded in a region with highly complex social structures, a history of colonialism, Soviet authoritarianism, and later post-Soviet wars and trauma. Focusing on a systematic analysis of subnational state-building in post-Soviet Chechnya and Ingushetia and the role of teips (clans) in this process, this study responds to the widely accepted academic claim that governance and ethnic consolidation in the North Caucasus are shaped by the politics of teips and the belief that late and uneven modernization, and the survival of tribal structures have been accountable for systematic failures in state-building in the region. The research is based on over 200 interviews which the author carried out in Ingushetia and Chechnya, as well as interviews with Chechen exiled politicians in Europe. The book also features never-before-seen access to the archives of the Chechen Parliament during the period of de facto independence. Through research into the socio-anthropological analysis of the clans and how they function towards political systems, Sokirianskaia shows how the teip s lost their traditional organizational structure and roles, becoming incapable of mobilizing for political action. She argues that while teip symbolism has remained politically relevant, and the bonds of kinship are highly important, they do not form the basis of politics and subnational state-building in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Consequently, subnational authoritarianism is not the result of the pre-existing social composition of the society, but a reflection of institutional rules imposed by Moscow."-- Provided by publisher Cover Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Acronyms General Maps Introduction 1 Theory: Approaches to State and Society Concepts and hypothesis The state Modern state-building: state-centred perspectives ‘State-in-society’ approaches ‘Clan politics’ theories Descent and kinship in anthropological theory Trust networks, the ‘economy of favours’ and neopatrimonialism 2 Political Order and Social Integration prior to, during and after the Caucasian War Political order and social institutions prior to the Caucasian War (pre-1817) Debates on Nakh feudalism and teip structures Proto-national political institutions and law: Mekhk-Khel, tukhum and adat Social integration and social change during the Caucasian War The stirrings of war Shamil’s imamate Political structures and social institutions during and after the Caucasus War The Russian state and Chechen and Ingush social institutions after the Caucasian War In the Imperial state: social change after the Caucasian War New institutions and laws. New sectors of the economy 3 State-Building, Informal Institutions and Social Integration under the Soviet Union (1921–1991) Social change and the early Bolshevik state (1922–1940) Deportation, social change and social institutions (1944–1957) Social change after exile (1957–1991) Collective memory as a political resource 4 Social Integration in Ingushetia and Chechnya Fieldwork methodology and challenges Descent groups in Ingushetia and Chechnya Is the teip a social organization? Mechanisms of maintaining teip unity Common residence Common ownership of land/property Common defence Rule of the Elders Religious rituals (funerals, weddings, mold) Kinship Categories of kinship and relations between them Kinship relations and kin solidarity Co-habitation: kinship enclaves Kinship and blood feud Regionalism Religious institutions Tariqas and virds Murid groups and local religious authorities Fundamentalists Mechanisms of recruitment to office Kinship and jobs Role of neighbours/zemlyaks, religious, professional and ideological networks 5 State-Building Project in Chechnya under Dzhokhar Dudaev (1991–1994) State-building policies (1991–1994) The economy Law enforcement, justice and the military Political crisis: the Parliament vs. the President State-building and informal social institutions Teips Neo-traditionalism: the Mekhk-Khel and Elders in politics Kinship Religion Political elite formation: ideology, merit and loyalty The mountains vs. lowland divide? Regionalism Slipping towards war 6 State-Building in Chechnya under Aslan Maskhadov (1997–1999) Elections and the early elite Challengers to the Maskhadov regime State-building policies The economy Industry Agriculture Education and healthcare The armed forces Law enforcement and criminality Judicial system Political crises and government response State-building: informal institutions and practices Paramilitary groups Religion and ideology Regional opposition Teips and Elders Descent, kinship and personal networks in Maskhadov’s elite 7 State-Building in Ingushetia under Ruslan Aushev (1992–2001) National movements, founding of the Republic Creation and consolidation of institutions State-building, 1992–2001 The economy Agriculture Law enforcement Education and healthcare Political discord, and the Chechen Wars State-building and informal social institutions Teips and familias Kinship, personal networks, ideology in the Ingush elite 8 In the Authoritarian State: Ingushetia under Murat Zyazikov (2002–2008) Conflict spillover Corruption and ‘clanship’ 9 Ingushetia under Yunus-Bek Yevkurov (2008–2019) Intra-confessional schism Economy and governance The Yevkurov ‘clan’ Opposition and protests The border agreement and massive protests of 2018 2019 protests and clashes: Russia’s biggest politically motivated criminal case Teips in Ingushetia under Yevkurov Religious groups (virds, Salafi communities) 10 Chechnya under the Kadyrovs (2000–) The birth of ‘kadyrovtsy’ Establishing control (2004–2008) Crushing or submerging competitors and insurgency Silencing the critics Pseudo-legitimacy Trust and betrayal The Chechen elite today Social reactions Conclusions Bibliography Index The North Caucasus, specifically Chechnya and Ingushetia, is a region that has experienced some of the deadliest and most protracted conflicts in Europe. By examining the relationship between state and society, this book considers how state-building has unfolded in a region with highly complex social structures, a history of colonialism, Soviet authoritarianism, and later post-Soviet wars and trauma. Focusing on a systematic analysis of subnational state-building in post-Soviet Chechnya and Ingushetia, and the role of teips (clans) in this process, this study responds to the widely accepted academic claim that governance and ethnic consolidation in the North Caucasus is shaped by the politics of teips. Through socio-anthropological analysis of the clans and how they function towards political systems, Sokirianskaia shows how the teips lost their organizational structure and roles, becoming incapable of mobilizing for political action. While teip symbolism has remained politically relevant, and the bonds of kinship are highly important, they do not form the basis of politics and subnational statebuilding in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Consequently, subnational authoritarianism is not the result of the pre-existing social composition of the society, but a reflection of the rules of the game imposed by Moscow and political choices of the Kremlin-installed local elites.