Abstract
Modernization that resulted in contemporary European society has been an attractive goal for Russian officials who proclaimed European values as an important part of Russian identity. But the North Caucasus, which is a specific part of Russia, does not correspond these “European standards.” The patron-client system of governance for the North Caucasus, and the disconnection that it creates between the people who live in the region and Moscow, represents the wider attitude of Russian elites, cultural commentators, and policymakers toward the region. “The Caucasian archaism” has been common discourse for characteristic of the North Caucasus among central and regional elites. This “applied archaic” and military rhetoric has to explain political particularism and ineffectiveness of reforms in the North Caucasus. In fact, dealing with Moscow, post-modern Europe deals with Russian modern society which consists of pre-modern subjects and mechanisms of political communication that complicates both international communication and effective collaboration.
TopTheoretical Framework
There are two groups of theories should be using in the discussion about contemporary North Caucasus: one concerning modernization; the other to do with contemporary medievalism. There is a current opinion among experts that contemporary society is the result of modernization, which has come to encompass the society of the entire world in the twentieth century. Modernization brings with it significant economic and social changes, as well as alterations to the system of international relations. From an academic point of view, most scholars see modernization as the transitional period from a traditional society to a modern one, whose main features include an industrialized, market-based economy, rationalized political structures with mass participation, respect for the rights of the individual in the functioning of civil society, and the involvement of the nation-state in the international system of diplomacy (Modernity, 2003). Mechanical reproduction is considered a characteristic of contemporaneity not only in the sphere of economics but also in terms of the arts (Benjamin, 1969). Recent scholars have argued how art and artists are pursued and tempted by capital and management (Thornton, 2008; Rose, 2008).
The special group of modernization theories is connected with the role of tradition in the process of shaping modernity. Considering social tradition as an inevitable part of any modernization process, it is recognized that traditional social prestige can still play an important role in the new economy. As Marcel Mauss (1925) and others have pointed out, the ‘economy of prestige' is based on an exchange which results in growing the prestige of one or both sides of the process.
While considering tradition as something that does not contradict modernity, and making calls to deal with contemporary challenges ‘as was done in the past', the emphasizing of ‘traditional values' in Russia to be considered as a part of general medievalization process. Contemporary medievalism in this paper means that distance between the past and the contemporaneity are not supposing as absolute, and the past can be touched and can be touch (Derrida, 2000). This concept of ‘touching' eliminating the distance is considering in the chapter as a political factor for using traditional governmental practices. Thus, medievalism means reflected political practices aiming to save traditional societal structures.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Traditionalism: A system of societal rules based on traditional norms and ideas which, as usual, correspond with political behavior tending to save these traditional structures.
Archaism: Using usually with negative connotations, a system of ideas, values, and models of behavior which tends to save traditional practices in the contemporary world. These practices contradict to the contemporary way of social development and thus hamper the progress.
Modernization: A process of transformation of traditional society into a contemporary one based on modern technologies, economy, human rights, and information.
Cossacks: A social and cultural group in contemporary Russia which is promoting conservative norms and models of everyday life and tending to proclaim itself as true holders of Slavonic identity.