Project: “Accounting for state-building:

Stability and violent conflict in Caucasian and Central Asian transitional societies”

http://www.oei.fu-berlin.de/en/projekte/cscca/

 

The project was accomplished in October 2005.

 

The project “Accounting for State-Building, Stability and Violent Conflict” (CSCCA) explores the conditions for successful or failed defusing of conflict potential in the Caucasian and Central Asian societies. The analysis is placed within the context of re-emergence of statehood after the collapse of empire. Point of departure of the analysis is the assumption that states with low institutional capacities and scarce provision of public goods are a breeding ground for violent conflicts. Violent conflict, on the other hand, may be a strategy to establish regime stability and thus often accompanies state building processes.

The Project is funded by the Volkswagen Fundation and implemented by the Institute for East-European Studies and the Institute for Social Anthropology of the FU Berlin.

 

In this research, the basic focus of my studying is formalized "traditional" institutions, in particular institution of aksakals, and their role in a state building at the local level. First of all, I study the role of this institution during regulation of conflicts on water, both between communities, and between members inside of communities. And also, the special attention is given to mechanisms of functioning of this institution, in their interaction with inhabitants of a local community and with institutions of local government.