LABORATORIUM

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Laboratorium

is a peer-reviewed journal of empirical social research in English and Russian. It is published three times a year as a paper journal and online in Saint Petersburg, Russia, by an international group of sociologists, anthropologists, and historians. The journal’s focus is on historical, comparative, cultural, and ethnographic sociology, but is open to other approaches and to contributions from all social sciences. Laboratorium makes findings and debates from Russian-language social research available to an English-speaking audience, and vice versa. The editors aim to stimulate debate across the language divide and to open up cross-national perspectives. In particular, thematic issues are usually produced by guest editors working in different disciplines and countries. Papers in Russian are accompanied by a full or abridged translation or a long summary in English, and vice versa.

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Rethinking the South Caucasus. Introduction

Tsypylma Darieva , Viktor Voronkov

Introduction to a thematic issue of the same title. The social sciences in the South Caucasus are politicized, marginalized, and institutionally weak. This is due to four factors: lack of professional training, lack of a professional community and widely accessible journals, low academic salaries, and a brain drain to local offi ces of international organizations. Local nationalisms preclude scholarly diversity and dissent. Western studies of the Caucasus are gradually shedding Orientalist preconceptions. Anthropologists in particular have done pioneering research in Georgia and Armenia, though less so in Azerbaijan. They speak the local languages and spend extended periods of time in the fi eld. However, Western scholars are often excluded from local debates because their knowledge of Russian is poor. This issue presents research by young social scientists from the Caucasus in order to launch a debate with Russian-speaking colleagues.

In Russian and English.

New Life in Old Boots. Making One’s Home in a New Village after Collective Resettlement. Summary

Sevil Huseynova , Sergey Rumyantsev

In 1989, during the Karabagh confl ict, the inhabitants of an Azeri village in Armenia, Kyzyl-Shafag, and an Armenian village in Azerbaijan, Kerkendj, performed a peaceful population exchange. Drawing on participant observation and biographical interviews, this paper analyzes how the Azeri settlers made their new home in Kerkendj. It focuses on the preservation of the old cemetery and the creation of a new one, the use of the new houses as repositories of a memory of the exchange, and practices of acquiring local knowledge. We conclude that the population exchange was a means of preserving the social structure and integrity of the village community. The successful adaptation of the settlers was facilitated by the preservation of their customary social ties. Although many settlers moved on to Baku, those who remained managed to avoid a ghetto effect.

In Russian, summary in English.

Street Life in Tbilisi as a Factor of Male Socialization. Summary

Evgeniya Zakharova

In addition to socializing institutions such as the family, school, and army, contemporary Georgian urban society also recognizes the socializing function of the “street”— public environment that enables boys, teenagers, and young men to escape adult control. Georgians often perceive the “street” as an agent of socialization that introduces young men to organized crime. “Street” life is concentrated in the small groups of male teenagers or young adults who regularly assemble in public spaces. It is regulated by a customary code of social norms and roles that distinguishes between “old guys,” “honest guys,” and “mama’s boys.” The “street” is seen as a school of masculinity. The period of active involvement in “street” life, usually ends when young men start higher education or fi nd employment. The functions of the are now being displaced due to recent changes in Georgian society. The study is based on 29 interviews with those formerly involved in “street” life, and with other Tbilisi residents.

In Russian, summary in English.