Release of the book “We witnessed the break-up”, where a group of Swedish and Danish researchers recount their experiences in the Caucasus region during the final years of the Soviet Union. Find the book here : http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-49064 (download or print). Published in the series Caucasus Studies at Malmö University, 2021.
The Caucasus, like the Baltic region, was on the outskirts of the Soviet Union, but these two regions were to play an important role in the reform process that Gorbachev initiated in 1985 and that six years later led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
In their contributions the authors write about the new movements for independence in the Caucasus and increasing tensions with Moscow, how the Soviet structures at different levels were breaking down and the national cultures became increasingly important. They describe how premodern traditions still play a role, despite Soviet modernization, account for specific cultural features and similarities and also witness deepening ethnic antagonism.
The authors are political scientist Ib Faurby, cultural geographer Lars Funch Hansen, researcher on minority issues Helen Krag, slavicist Märta-Lisa Magnusson, historian and Iranologist Søren Theisen and general linguist Karina Vamling.
Editors of the book are Märta-Lisa Magnusson and Karina Vamling.