Cultural Memory of the North Caucasian Communities in the Conditions of the Risk-Generating Ethnopolitical Situation

Abstract

The ethnopolitical situation in the North Caucasian communities is characterized by instability, which is caused not only by the socio-economic situation in the region, but also by socio-cultural processes. Recently, in the socio-cultural life of the region, the issues of the memory of history have been actualized in connection with the spread of various cultural meanings manifested in cultural memory, aimed at preserving and reproducing the integrity of the sociocultural organism, and historical memory, which is an ideological reflection of social reality, framed by political interests of ethnic entrepreneurs. The aim of the study is to determine which mechanisms of the reproduction of socio-cultural practices, namely, cultural memory and / or historical memory – prevail in the North Caucasian communities. The study revealed the dominance of historical memory as a factor in the dynamics of socio-cultural processes. This results in the formation by each ethno-nation of its “own” historical memory, the use of which leads to an increase of risks for the stability of ethnopolitical situation in the North Caucasus. The conclusion is made about the importance of activating the mechanisms of consolidation in the socio-cultural practice of the North Caucasian communities, and strengthening peace and cooperation between people of different ethnic and religious identity. This can be facilitated by the reorientation of the historical consciousness of the inhabitants of the North Caucasus region from historical to cultural memory.

Keywords

• cultural memory
• historical memory
• ethnopolitical situation
• north caucasian community
• risks
• community integrity
• sociocultural practice