State and Legal Practice in the Caucasus: Anthropological Perspectives on Law and Politics

Legal pluralism and the experience of the state in the Caucasus are at the centre of this edited volume. The book describes how social action and governance takes place in this region affected by a multitude of legal orders. The authors ask how conceptions of order are enforced, used, followed and staged in social networks and legal practice. Principally, how is state perceived and performed in both the North and South Caucasus?

From elections in Dagestan and Armenia to uses of traditional law in Ingushetia and Georgia, from repression of journalism in Azerbaijan to the narrations of anti-corruption campaigns in Georgia - the text reflects the multifarious uses and performances of law and order. The collection includes approaches from different scholarly traditions and their respective theoretical background and therefore forms a unique product of multinational encounter. The volume will be a valuable resource for legal and political anthropologists, ethnohistorians and researchers and academics working in the areas of post-socialism and post-colonialism.