Jews & Muslims, Georgians, Ukrainians, and other "minorities": Was there "justice" in the Russian Empire and the USSR?
Public launch of the new research group on the Soviet Union and Russian Empire about Justice & Minorities (JUSTIMINO) at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient.
Opening: Lecture "Culture on Trial. Russian Colonialism, Georgian Jews and Blood Libel in the Late Imperial Caucasus" by project head PD Dr. Stefan Kirmse (ZMO), 7 November at 6:30pm
Prior to the public launch: Workshop on Justice & Minorities from 10am to 6pm.
What did the diverse Muslim and Jewish communities in the Russian Empire, alongside national groups such as the Crimean Tatars, Georgians, Armenians, Ukrainians, and other ‘minorities’ under Soviet rule expect when they called on ‘justice’ and ‘legality’? And what could they achieve under highly authoritarian rule?
Such questions are raised by the ERC-project “In Pursuit of ‘Legality’ and ‘Justice’ – Minority Struggles in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union” (2023-2028).
While there is no set definition of the ‘rule of law’, with over half a dozen indices competing for recognition, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union would not score high on any of these. And yet, ‘legality’ and ‘justice’ greatly mattered in both: political and cultural elites invoked these notions as much as ordinary people.
JUSTIMINO examines a critical period in history, with non-Russians exceeding 50% of the population in late imperial Russia and nearly 40% in the Soviet Union. Taken together, the various minorities at times, and in different regions, constituted the majority of the population. And yet, most of them continued to have “minority experiences”, that is, they were consistently dominated by powerful ‘Others’.
Whereas religion was one of the key determinants of rights, privileges, and obligations in the empire, ‘nationality’, understood in ethnic terms, replaced religious affiliation in this capacity under socialism. JUSTIMINO thus explores the ways in which ethnic and religious minorities, from the mid-19th century to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, used legal strategies, invoking 'justice' and 'legality' to further and enforce their rights, with outcomes that could not be scripted.
The workshop will explore the challenges faced by ethnic and religious groups under imperial and Soviet rule. What was the value of Soviet constitutions? What did minority activism look like, and what are its legacies and lessons for today? These and other questions will be raised by our project members and a range of guests speakers, including Oliver Reisner (Tbilisi), Samuel Foster (Norwich), Evgeniya Prusskaya (Marburg), Börries Kuzmany (Vienna), Roy Bar Sadeh (Manchester), Elmira Muratova (Flensburg), Simo Mikkonen (Joensuu), Rustamjon Urinboyev (Lund), Nino Aivazishvili-Gehne (Regensburg) and Tsotne Tchanturia (Tbilisi).
At 6.30pm, Stefan Kirmse will introduce his ongoing research on Russian Colonialism, Georgian Jews and Blood Libel in Late Imperial Georgia. The lecture will focus on the Kutaisi Trial, an intriguing case in which nine Georgian Jews fought for their innocence in an imperial courtroom. Following the lecture, a reception will be held at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient.
Interviews can be arranged upon request with:
Stefan B. Kirmse, "Russian Colonialism, Georgian Jews, and the Translocal History of Blood Libel, 1850-1914", www.zmo.de/personen/pd-dr-stefan-b-kirmse, English and German
Gevorg Avetikyan, "Legal Nationalism: Strategies of Seeking ‘Justice’ in the Post-Stalinist Armenian SSR", www.zmo.de/personen/dr-gevorg-avetikyan, English, Russian, Armenian
Lucien Turczan-Lipets, "From Leninist Norms to Human Rights: Stefaniia Shabatura and the Ukrainian Shistdesiatnyky", www.zmo.de/personen/lucien-turczan-lipets, English
This event is public and for free.
Event details:
Workshop "Minorities": Thursday, 7. November 2024, 10:00-18:30
Public Launch: Thursday, 7. November 2024, 18:30
Location: Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Kirchweg 33, 14129 Berlin
Please submit press inquiries to Stefan B. Kirmse, Stefan.Kirmse@zmo.de
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Stefan B. Kirmse, Stefan.Kirmse@zmo.de
Weitere Informationen:
https://www.zmo.de Leibniz Zentrum Moderner Orient
https://justimino.hypotheses.org/meet-the-team The project team
https://www.zmo.de/en/research/mainresearchprogram/representations-of-the-past/justimino
https://justimino.hypotheses.org/ JUSTIMINO blog
https://open.spotify.com/show/1hMySIjk2byryjGWq4EWJg JUSTIMINO podcast
https://www.facebook.com/ZentrumModernerOrient/
https://x.com/ZMO_Berlin
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