Chechen intelligentsia discuss preservation of nation in globalized worldTimur Aliyev, North Caucasus – More than 40 Chechen intellectuals met in Grozny on September 19 to discuss how best to preserve their nation in the era of globalization.
University lecturers, writers, journalists and public figures took part in a round-table, "Chechnya in the 21st century: How to Preserve their Nation in a Globalized World," which was organized by Lam, the Chechen Cultural Centre.
"Our goal is not to find a ready solution, which probably doesn‘t exist, but to depict the problems that might emerge in our republic and offer proposals aimed at avoiding them," stated political scientist Edilbek Khasmagomedov.
The participants voiced various solutions to the problems such as: forming unity based on their common language, isolationism, shifting attention from Russia to the Caucasus, revitalizing the economy, and establishing strong financial groups in Chechnya.
Baret Nanayeva, lecturer at the Grozny Oil Institute, said that Chechens need to form an elite as "It is they who determine a nation."
"During the Soviet era we had an elite around which Chechen society consolidated; now it is lost," she added.
Poetess Lula Zhumalayeva disagreed with Nanayeva. "Even if an elite had existed, it was marginal. Actually, we need a national idea that will ‘cement‘ the Chechens."
Etnographer Sayd-Magomed Khasiyev agreed with her. "We didn‘t have an elite under the Tsars either or during the deportation period [to Central Asia on Stalin’s orders]. The Chechen nation is egonistic, like the ancient societies of Sparta and Athens. But while in Athens they survived thanks to culture, in Sparta they made a name for themselves via death. And Chechen society now lives according to the Spartan example."
"In all of Europe only Chechnya views death not as the Grim Reaper but as "Beautiful," which comes solely to the selected ones," Khasiyev elaborated. "So Chechens' salvation rests in changing the Spartan model to an Athenian one."
"Globalization is a natural process; and only those societies that become more technological have a future," he added.
"Actually, they fear us," stated Nadirslot Elsunkayev, director of the Humanitarian Research Center. In his opinion, there are three nations, Germany, Japan and Chechnya, that present a threat to the U.S. style of globalization.
"In order to survive, Chechens need to boost their administrative system. The crooks now in power are unable to lead the republic. Therefore, the leadership needs moral supervision, i.e. the intellectuals must come to power," Elsunkayev said. (T/E) |
