ДЕСЕКУЛЯРИЗАЦИЯ ИСЛАМА «СВЕРХУ» В КАБАРДИНО-БАЛКАРИИ: 1940-Е ГГ. – НАЧАЛО XXI В.

Abstract

The study is about Kabardino-Balkaria’s state policy toward Islam from the Great Patriotic War until the beginning of the twenty-first century. Desecularization “from above” is used as the main conceptual approach of the study. This approach is viewed as a state-controlled, rather than a grassroots movement led, rebirth of religion from private to public space. It is noted that the growing Islamic mobilization, being also under the influence of external political technologies, required the Soviet and Russian state to create a “top-down” desecularization strategy in order to avoid the emergence of autonomous centers of violence and separatism. Ultimately, despite changes in the political regime since the middle of the 20th century not only had the state kept re-ligious processes within certain limits, sometimes using authoritarian methods, but also integrated existing potential into a productive political agenda, be it ensuring internal security and stability or foreign policy strategies.