ABSTRACT
The Routledge Handbook of the Caucasus offers an integrated, multidisciplinary overview of the historical, ethno-linguistic, cultural, socio-economic and political complexities of the Caucasus. Covering both the North and South Caucasus, the book gathers together leading Western, Caucasian and Russian scholars of the region from different disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Following a thorough introduction by the editors, the handbook is divided into six parts which combine thematic and chronological principles:
- Place, peoples and culture
- Political history
- The contemporary Caucasus: politics, economics and societies
- Conflict and political violence
- The Caucasus in the wider world
- Societal and cultural dynamics.
This handbook will be an essential reference work for scholars interested in Russian and Eastern-European studies, Eurasian history and politics, and religious and Islamic studies.
1. Introducing the Caucasus; Part I: Place, peoples and culture; 2. Caucasus paradigms revisited; 3. Peoples, languages and lore; 4. The early Christian Caucasus; 5. The Muslim Caucasus: the role of ‘adats and shari‛ah; Part II: Political history; 6. The ‘long millennium’: the Caucasus from the medieval to the early modern periods; 7. The Caucasus in the Russian Empire; 8. Between the Russian Empire and the USSR: the independence of Transcaucasia as a socio-political transformation; 9. The Soviet Caucasus, 1920-91: resistance and accommodation; Part III: The contemporary Caucasus: politics, economics and societies; 10. Azerbaijan: politics, society and economy since independence; 11. The new Georgia: politics, economy and society; 12. Armenia: from revolution to revolution; 13. The north-eastern Caucasus: Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia; 14. The north-western Caucasus: Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Adygea; Part IV: Conflict and political violence; 15. Ethno-territorial and secessionist conflicts: causes and trajectories; 16. Unrecognised statehood? The de facto states of the South Caucasus; 17. Jihadist violence in the North Caucasus: political, social and economic factors; 18. Transnational Salafi and jihadist networks: from an independent insurgency to a leaderless network; Part V: The Caucasus in the wider world; 19. Russia in the Caucasus; 20. The South Caucasus and the West: from hegemony to contestation; 21. Turkey and the Caucasus: mutual interests and influences in the post-Soviet era; 22. The Caucasus and Iran; 23. The Caucasus and the Caspian Sea: legality, energy politics and regional security; Part VI: Societal and cultural dynamics; 24. Demography of the Caucasus; 25. Gender and society in the Caucasus; 26. Civil society in the Caucasus: voluntary youth organisations; 27. New media and digital activism: comparing Armenia and Chechnya
