Social transformation and the politics of memory in modern Chechnya
https://doi.org/10.31143/2542-212X-2026-3-261-279
EDN: LUJBSN
Abstract
The article explores the dynamics of social transformations in modern Chechnya in the context of memory politics, the significance of historical memory and memorial culture for the formation of identity and social cohesion in society. Based on field materials and literary data, the article analyzes how the reinterpretation of historical memory and changes in the memorial landscape influence the creation of collective identity and the restoration of social connections. The article focuses on the processes of decommunization, the transformation of urban toponymy, and contemporary holidays that reflect the society's desire to restore traditional symbols and values. The article examines changes in the role of women and young people in Chechen society, as well as positive trends in education and employment. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the policy of memory in Chechnya, despite historical traumas, plays a key role in the social transformations and daily life of Chechen society as part of Russian society.
About the Author
Georgy S. KorytinRussian Federation
Postgraduate student at the N.N. Miklukho‑Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences; specialist in the department for implementing city‑wide interethnic events at the Moscow House of Nationalities.
References
1. ASSMANN A. Novoye nedovol’stvo memorial’noy kulturoy [New dissatisfaction with memorial culture]. – M.: Novoye lit. obozrenie, 2016. – P. 232 (In Russ.).
2. ASSMANN YA. Kul’turnaya pamiat’: Pis’mo, pamiat’ o proshlom i politicheskaya identichnost’ v vysokikh kulturakh drevnosti [Cultural memory: Writing, memory of the past, and political identity in the high cultures of antiquity]. In: M.: Yaziki slavyanskoy kul’tury, 2004 – P. 368 (In Russ.).
3. GORYUSHINA E.M., ALKHASTOVA Z.M. Vnutri memorial’noy kul’tury Chechenskoy Respubliki: ot nastoyashchego k vosozdavaemomu proshlomu [Within the memorial culture of the Chechen Republic: from the present to the reconstructed past]. In: Tempus et Memoria. – 2023. – T. 4, № 2. – P. 42–49. (In Russ.).
4. GORYUSHINA E.M. Ekho nepreodolimykh posledstvii sobytiy v Chechne 1994–1996 gg. i 1999–2000 gg.: konflikt i nivelirovaniye pamiat’ [The echo of the insurmountable consequences of the events in Chechnya in 1994–1996 and 1999–2000: conflict and the erasure of memory]. In: Novoye proshloe / The New Past. – 2018. – № 2. – P. 146-166. (In Russ.).
5. GORYUSHINA E.M., OSMAEV A.D. Chto khochet zapomnit’ i zabyt’ gorod Groznyy? Izmeneniya v memorial’nom landshafte v 2000–2022 gg. [What does the city of Grozny want to remember and forget? Changes in the memorial landscape in 2000–2022]. In: Tempus et Memoria. – 2024. – T. 5, № 1. – P. 25–34. (In Russ.).
6. DROBIZHYEVA L.M. Grazhdanskaya rossiyskaya identichnost’: dinamika i potentsial v konsolidatsii polit’etnicheskogo obshchestva [Russian civic identity: dynamics and potential in the consolidation of a multi‑ethnic community]. In: Etnicheskoye i religioznoye mnogoobraziye Rossii / Pod red. V.A. Tishkova, V.V. Stepanova. Izd. 2-e, ispravlennoe i dopolnennoye – M., 2018. – P. 110. (In Russ.).
7. IVANOVA S.YU. Pamyat` o Velikoj Otechestvennoj vojne kak faktor integracii narodov Severnogo Kavkaza: opy`t prazdnovaniya yubileya 80-letiya Pobedy` [The memory of the Great Patriotic War as a factor in the integration of the peoples of the North Caucasus: the experience of celebrating the 80th anniversary of Victory.]. In: Narody` Kavkaza v XVIII–XXI vv.: istoriya, politika, kul`tura: materialy` XII Mezhdunarodnogo foruma istorikov-kavkazovedov (g. Suxum, 1–4 oktyabrya 2025 g.) / [otv. red. akad. G.G. Matishov]. – Rostov-na-Donu: Izdatel`stvo YuNCz RAN, 2025. – P. 620 (In Russ.).
8. ILYASOV L. Chechenskiy tayp [Chechen tayp]. In: Chechenskaya Respublika i chechentsy: istoriya i sovremennost’: materialy Vserossiyskoy nauchnoy konferentsii. – M., 19–20 aprelya 2005 g. – M., 2006. S. 178. (In Russ.).
9. Instituttsional’nye, istorizheskie i kul’turnye ramki formirovaniya obshcherossiyskoy identichnosti na Severnom Kavkaze [Institutional, historical, and cultural frameworks for the formation of a pan‑Russian identity in the North Caucasus] / V.A. Avksent’ev, B.V. Aksyumov, G.D. Gritsenko i dr. [pod red. V.A. Avksent’yeva, M.M. Shul’gi]. – Rostov-na-Donu: Izd-vo YUTC RAN, 2022. – P. 224. (In Russ.).
10. KURBANOVA L.U., GUNYA A.N., ABDULAEVA E.S. Gorodskaya sreda Groznogo kak prostranstvo konstruirovaniya i vosproizvodstva kollektivnoy pamiati sovremennogo chechenskogo obshchestva [The urban environment of Grozny as a space for the construction and reproduction of the collective memory of modern Chechen society]. In: Sotsologicheskaya nauka i sotsial’naya praktika. – 2025. – T. 13, № 1. – P. 74–94. (In Russ.).
11. MALINOVA O.YU. Politika pamyati kak oblast` simvolicheskoj politiki [Memory politics as an area of symbolic politics]. In: Metodologicheskie voprosy` izucheniya politiki pamyati: Sb. nauchn. tr. / Otv. red. Miller A. I., Efremenko D. V. – M.-SPb: NestorIstoriya, 2018. – P. 224 (In Russ.).
12. MALINOVA O.YU., EFREMOVA V.N. Kommemoracii istoricheskix soby`tij i gosudarstvenny`e prazdniki kak instrumenty` simvolicheskoj politiki [Commemorations of historical events and state holidays as instruments of symbolic politics]. In: Istoricheskaya pamyat` i rossijskaya identichnost` / pod. red. V.A. Tishkova, E.A. Pivnevoj. M.: RAN, 2018. – P. 508 (In Russ.).
13. MAMAKAYEV M.A. Chechenskiy tayp v period yego razlozheniya [The Chechen tayp during its period of disintegration]. – Grozny, Checheno-ingushskoye knizhnoe izdatel’stvo, 1973. (In Russ.).
14. MILLER A.I. Istoricheskaya politika v XXI veke [Historical politics in the 21st century]. – M.: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2002. – P. 648 (In Russ.).
15. Metodologicheskie voprosy` izucheniya politiki pamyati [Methodological issues in the study of memory politics]: Sb. nauchn. tr. / Otv. red. Miller A. I., Efremenko D. V. – M.-SPb: NestorIstoriya, 2018. – P. 224 (In Russ.).
16. NATAEV S.A. Tayp kak forma sotsial’noy organizatsii [Tayp as a form of social organization]. In: Chechentsy / Otv. red. L.T. Solov’yeva, V.A. Tishkov, Z.I. Khasbulatova; Inst. etnologii i anthropologii im. N.N. Miklukho-Maklaya RAN; Kompleksny nauchno-issledovatelskiy in-t im. Kh.I. Ibragimova RAN. – M.: Nauka, 2012. (In Russ.).
17. OSMAEV A.D., GORYUSHINA E.M. Institutsionalizatsiya kollektivnoy pamiati taypov/bratsv v postkonfliktnoi Chechenskoi Respublike [Institutionalization of the collective memory of tayps/brotherhoods in the post‑conflict Chechen Republic]. In: Istoriya, arkeologiya i etnografiya Kavkaza. – 2023. – T. 19. No 4. – P. 1010-1123. (In Russ.).
18. OSMAEV A.D., GORYUSHINA E.M. Geografiya lokal’noy pamiati v Chechenskoy Respublike [Geography of local memory in the Chechen Republic]. In: Vestnik Akademii nauk Chechenskoy Respubliki. – 2024. – № 3 (66). – P. 32–42. (In Russ.).
19. PAVLOVA O.S. Chechenskiy etnos segodnya: cherty sotsial’no-psikhologicheskogo portreta [The Chechen ethnic group today: features of the socio‑psychological portrait]. – M.: OOO „Sam Poligrafist“, 2013 – P. 558. (In Russ.).
20. TANAJLOVA V.A. Istorii o deportacii chechencev: transformacii yazy`ka opisaniya [Stories about the deportation of Chechens: transformations of the language of description]. In: Sibirskie istoricheskie issledovaniya. – 2023. – № 4. – P. 164–179. (In Russ.).
21. TISHKOV V.A., SHABAYEV YU.P. Istoricheskaya pamiat’: formy sokhraneniy, konstruirovaniya i prezentatsii [Historical memory: forms of preservation, construction, and presentation]. In: Izvestiya Komi nauchnogo tsentra URO RAN. – 2019. – № 4 (40). – P. 62–71. (In Russ.).
22. SHNIREL`MAN V.A. Social`naya pamyat` – voprosy` teorii [Social memory – theoretical issues]. In: Istoricheskaya pamyat` i rossijskaya identichnost` / pod. red. V.A. Tishkova, E.A. Pivnevoj. – M.: RAN, 2018. – P. 508 (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Korytin G.S. Social transformation and the politics of memory in modern Chechnya. Kavkazologiya. 2026;(3):261-279. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31143/2542-212X-2026-3-261-279. EDN: LUJBSN
JATS XML









