The Value of the Past: Myths, Identity and Politics in Transcaucasia

How did we get here? Three-and-a-half-day school weeks. Prisoners farmed out to the mainland. Tent camps for the migratory homeless. A blinkered dependence on tourism and the military for virtually all economic activity. The steady degradation of already degraded land. Contempt for anyone employed in education, health, and social service. An almost theological belief in the evil of taxes.At a time when new leaders will be elected, and new solutions need to be found, the contributors to The Value of Hawai‘i outline the causes of our current state and offer points of departure for a Hawai‘i-wide debate on our future. The brief essays address a wide range of topics—education, the environment, Hawaiian issues, media, tourism, political culture, law, labor, economic planning, government, transportation, poverty—but the contributors share a belief that taking stock of where we are right now, what we need to change, and what we need to remember is a challenge that all of us must meet.Written for a general audience, The Value of Hawai‘i provides a cluster of starting points for a larger community discussion of Hawai‘i that should extend beyond the choices of the ballot box this year.Contributors: Carlos Andrade, Chad Blair, Kat Brady, Susan M. Chandler, Meda Chesney-Lind, Lowell Chun-Hoon, Tom Coffman, Sara L. Collins, Marilyn Cristofori, Henry Curtis, Kathy E. Ferguson, Chip Fletcher, Dana Naone Hall, Susan Hippensteele, Craig Howes, Karl Kim, Sumner La Croix, Ian Lind, Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie, Mari Matsuda, Davianna McGregor, Neal Milner, Deane Neubauer, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio, Charles Reppun, John P. Rosa, D. Kapua‘ala Sproat, Ramsay Remigius Mahealani Taum, Patricia Tummons, Phyllis Turnbull, Trisha Kehaulani Watson. How did we get here? Three-and-a-half-day school weeks. Prisoners farmed out to the mainland. Tent camps for the migratory homeless. A blinkered dependence on tourism and the military for virtually all economic activity. The steady degradation of already degraded land. Contempt for anyone employed in education, health, and social service. An almost theological belief in the evil of taxes. At a time when new leaders will be elected, and new solutions need to be found, the contributors to The Value of Hawaii outline the causes of our current state and offer points of departure for a Hawaii-wide debate on our future. The brief essays address a wide range of topicseducation, the environment, Hawaiian issues, media, tourism, political culture, law, labor, economic planning, government, transportation, povertybut the contributors share a belief that taking stock of where we are right now, what we need to change, and what we need to remember is a challenge that all of us must meet. Written for a general audience, The Value of Hawaii provides a cluster of starting points for a larger community discussion of Hawaii that should extend beyond the choices of the ballot box this year. Carlos Andrade, Chad Blair, Kat Brady, Susan M. Chandler, Meda Chesney-Lind, Lowell Chun-Hoon, Tom Coffman, Sara L. Collins, Marilyn Cristofori, Henry Curtis, Kathy E. Ferguson, Chip Fletcher, Dana Naone Hall, Susan Hippensteele, Craig Howes, Karl Kim, Sumner La Croix, Ian Lind, Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie, Mari Matsuda, Davianna McGregor, Neal Milner, Deane Neubauer, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoole Osorio, Charles Reppun, John P. Rosa, D. Kapuaala Sproat, Ramsay Remigius Mahealani Taum, Patricia Tummons, Phyllis Turnbull, Trisha Kehaulani Watson. Acknowledgements Contents List of Maps Introduction: Myths, Symbols and Politics Part I. The Armenian-Azeri Confrontation 1. Myths and identity 2. From Tigran the Great to Soviet Armenia 3. Myth and politics in Armenia: from migrants to indigenous people 4. The value of indigenous ancestors 5. The origins of the Armenian people, and the Armenian school 6. The Armenization of Urartu: revisionist concepts 7. The birth of the Azeri nation 8. The search for historical concepts, and major politics 9. The Median temptation and Soviet patriotism 10. Between Media, Caucasian Albania and the Turkic world: thirst for a new view 11. Revisionists: the pan-Turkic assault 12. The struggle between the “conservatives” and the “revisionists”, and a school education 13. The struggle for Nagorny Karabagh: the clash of myths 14. The Nakhjivan passions 15. History and intense politics Part II. The Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict 1. A republic with restricted sovereignt 2. The Abknazian republic in search of its glorious ancestor 3. The adventures of the early Georgians in Asia Minor 4. Eternal Georgia 5. The Colchian mirage 6. Turchaninov’s “discovery" 7. The Abkhazians in a struggle for the “right” past 8. The Abkhazian-Georgian competition 9. From competition to confrontatio 10. History, religion, demography, politics Part III. Thrown Over the Ridge 1. Southern Ossetia in the Georgian context 2. Scythiomania Conclusion: Ethnocentrism and the Breakup of the Soviet Union Notes Literature Index of Authors and Personal Names Index of Political, Geographical, Tribal and Ethnic Names