Bourdieu's Secret Admirer in the Caucasus is a gripping account of the developmental dynamics involved in the collapse of Soviet socialism. Fusing a narrative of human agency to his critical discussion of structural forces, Georgi M. Derluguian reconstructs from first-hand accounts the life story of Musa Shanib - who from a small town in the Caucasus grew to be a prominent leader in the Chechen revolution. In his examination of Shanib and his keen interest in the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, Derluguian discerns how and why this dissident intellectual became a nationalist warlord. Exploring globalization, democratization, ethnic identity, and international terrorism, Derluguian contextualizes Shanib's personal trajectory from de-Stalinization through the nationalist rebellions of the 1990s to the recent rise in Islamic militancy. He masterfully reveals not only how external economic and political forces affect the former Soviet republics but also how those forces are in turn shaped by the individuals, institutions, ethnicities, and social networks that make up those societies. Drawing on the work of Charles Tilly, Immanuel Wallerstein, and, of course, Bourdieu, Derluguian's explanation of the recent ethnic wars and terrorist acts in Russia succeeds in illuminating the role of human agency in shaping history.

About the Author
Georgi M. Derluguian is associate professor in the Department of Sociology and the International Studies Program at Northwestern University. He is coeditor of Questioning Geopolitics.

Reviews
"Derluguian is endowed with a special ability to show how the grinding wheels of world history affect actual human lives." - William H. McNeill, author of Plagues and Peoples and Pursuit of Power"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226142838
Author Georgi M. Derluguian
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 624g
Dimensions(mm) 23mm * 15mm * 3mm