ETHNO-NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS: EXAMINING PLACE AND HOMELAND IN IDENTITY CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE YOUNG GENERATION BY C2010 Austen Thelen Submitted to the graduate degree program in Geography and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master‘s of Arts. __________________________________ Shannon O‘Lear, Ph. D., Chair __________________________________ Barney Warf, Ph. D. __________________________________ Stephen Egbert, Ph. D. __________________________________ Alexander Tsiovkh, Ph. D. Date defended:______________________ The Thesis Committee for Austen Thelen certifies that this is the approved Version of the following thesis: ETHNO-NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS: EXAMINING PLACE AND HOMELAND IN IDENTITY CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE YOUNG GENERATION Committee: __________________________________ Shannon O‘Lear, Ph. D., Chair __________________________________ Barney Warf, Ph. D. __________________________________ Stephen Egbert, Ph. D. __________________________________ Alexander Tsiovkh, Ph. D. Date approved:______________________ ii Acknowledgements I want to thank several people for the help and support they gave me throughout the process of completing this work. First, I need to thank my parents James and Mary for their constant support and encouragement to follow my dreams, even if it meant sending their son to the North Caucasus. I want to say thank you to all of my professors at the University of Kansas. To my advisor Dr. Shannon O‘Lear, thank you for all the encouragement you have provided me since I arrived at KU and especially for the guidance you gave me regarding this project. To my committee members Dr. Barney Warf, Dr. Stephen Egbert, and Dr. Alexander Tsiovkh, thank you all for your help and intellectual insights, but above all, thank you for the time that you all allocated to me throughout the last two years. I believe that I have been able to achieve my academic goals to this end because of your support and also because I have tried to follow the examples you set. Also, special thanks are due to Jason Lee at the KU center for data analysis for all of his advice. Thank you to James Leonard and Tatiana Ivanovna Orlova at Agency AKT in Stavropol for all that you have done for me. Without your help facilitating my field work in Russia, this project would not have been possible. Thank you to Maryat Gubedevna Dakohova at Karachay-Cherkessia State University and Victoria Nikolaiva Mazinkina at Stavropol State Medical Academy for assisting me in data collection. I greatly appreciate all that you did for me. Your help was vital to my success in the field. Thank you to all of my friends in the Geography Department at Stavropol State University. I hope that we will be able to collaborate throughout our academic careers. Finally, I want to thank Anya, Oleg, Sasha, and everyone else in Stavropol and Cherkessk for being so supportive during my time in Russia. I will always be thankful for the time and effort that you all spent helping me with this project. You all played a vital role in its success. iii Abstract The dynamic landscape and historical legacies of the North Caucasus make it one of the world‘s most diverse and interesting regions. Throughout the region‘s history, its changing political geographies have worked to influence local constructs of identity and place. The younger generation today inhabits the North Caucasus in the context of Russian Ethno- Federalism, providing a variety of meanings regarding ethno-national groups and their territories. My aim is to explore how place factors into the construction of ethno-national identity by examining the concept of ―homeland‖ (rodina) and the meanings associated with several place- based and traditional identity factors among young adults in Stavropol Krai and Karachay- Cherkessia. I utilized statistical analyses of survey data and a cognitive mapping exercise to identify significant differences regarding conceptions of place and ethno-national identity among groups of participants based on nationality, religion, and other factors. Using interview data and theory, I explain why these differences exist. iv Table of Contents Title Page……………………………………………………………………………………………………i Acceptance Page……………………………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………...iii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………….iv Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………………………..v List of Figures and Tables……………………………………………………………………….viii Chapter I: Historical Contexts Regarding Ethno-National Identity in the North Caucasus………………………………………………………………………………………….1 Introduction and Project Goals……………………………………………………………………………..1 Concepts in Political Geography and Territorial Identity…………………………………………………..4 Ethnicity…………………………………………………………………………………………...5 Territory, Place, and Identity……………………………………………………………………...6 Regarding Cognitive Maps………………………………………………………………………16 Historical Geography and Identity in the North Caucasus………………………………………24 The Russian Empire……………………………………………………………………………………….24 The Soviet Period………………………………………………………………………………………….30 Ethno-Federalism and Territorial Policy in the Russian Federation………………………………………39 Chapter II: Study Area, Local Factors of Ethno-National Identity, and Methodology………...…...45 The Study Area and its Major Ethnic Groups……………………………………………………………..45 Cherkess(Circassians)…………………………………………………………………….………46 Karachay………………………………………………………………………………….………47 Nogai……………………………………………………………………………………...………49 Abazin………………………………………………………………………………………...…..50 Russian(Cossack)…………….……………………………………………………………...……50 v Language…………………………………………………………………………………...……..52 Migration………………………………………………………………………………………….53 Economics…………………………………………………………………...……………………54 Heritage and Family………………………………………………………………………………55 The Role of Islam in the North Caucasus………………………………………………………...56 National-Cultural Autonomy……………………………………………………………………..58 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………60 Data Collection…………………………………………………………………………………...60 Interviews…………………………………………………………………………………………62 Survey Data……………………………………………………………………………………….63 Cognitive Mapping Exercise……………………………………………………………………...69 Chapter III: Examining Factors of Ethno-National Identity in the North Caucasus………………………………………………………………………………………………….70 Place-Based Elements of Ethno-National Identity………………………………………………………...76 Birthplace…………………………………………………………………………………………77 Living in the Russian Federation…………………………………………………………………82 Living in the Southern Federal District…………………………………………………………..87 Living in a Particular Krai or Republic…………………………………………………………..90 Living in the North Caucasus…………………………………………………………………….94 Other Identity Factors in the Context of the North Caucasus ……………………………………....…...100 Native Language…………………………………………………………………………..….....100 Religious Belief…………………………………………………………………………..…......103 Ethno-National Heritage (The nationality of One‘s Ancestors)………………………………...108 Living and Socializing among representatives of One‘s Own and Other Nationalities………...113 Comparing Place-Based Identity Factors and Other Traditional Factors in a Hypothetical Situation…..116 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………….…118 Chapter IV: Cognitive Images of Homeland and Their Meanings in the North Caucasus………..124 vi Maps (Bounded Spaces) and Cartographic Detail……………………………………………………….127 The Federal Scale………………………………………………………………………………………...134 Federal Places…………………………………………………………………………………………....140 The Regional Scale……………………………………………………………………………………....144 The Local Scale……………………………………………………………………………………….…146 Landscape Features……………………………………………………………………………………....148 Religious Places and Ethnic Symbols…………………………………………………………………... 151 Map Descriptions from Interviews…………………………………………………………………...….152 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………….190 Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………………………...195 Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………………………...196 References……………………………………………………………………………………………….199 vii List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Pacione‘s Model of the Cognitive-Behavioral Process……………………..………....22 Figure 2: Monument to General Yermolov in Stavropol………………………………………...25 Figure 3: The Study Area's Political Borders in 1860…………………………………………...26 Figure 4: Monument in Cherkessk ―400 Years with Russia‖……………………………………27 Figure 5: The Study Area's Political Borders in 1911…………………………………………...28 Figure 6: 1943-57: Stavropol and Cherkessk Autonomous Oblast Post-Deportation..………….32 Figure 7: Post 1957: Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Oblast under Stavropol‘s Administration…………………………………………………………………………………...34 Figure 8: Post USSR: Stavropol Krai and the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia……………….39 Figure 9: Average Means Scores Regarding the Importance of Each Dependant Variable……..74 Figure 10: Average Mean Scores Regarding the Importance of Birthplace between Titular and Non-Titular Participants…………………………..…………………………………………79 Figure 11: Mean Averages Regarding the Importance of Birthplace between Participants Born in the Same Place as Their Own Parents and Those Not……..…………………………...80 Figure 12: Mean Averages Regarding Living in the Russian Federation Between Russians and Non-Russians………………….…………………………………………………………….84 Figure 13: Average Mean Scores Regarding the Importance of Living in Russia between Islamic and Non-Islamic Participants………………...………………………………………….86 Figure 14: Average Mean Scores Regarding the Importance of Living in Russia between Participants Born in the Same Place as Their Parents and Those Not…………………………...87 Figure