


№ 3 (2025)
Special Theme of the Issue: Anthropology of Criminality: Delinquence as a Component of Traditional Culture in the Past and Present
Anthropology of criminality: on the current state of research
Аннотация
This article is an introduction to the issue’s special theme on “Anthropology of Criminality: Delinquence as a Component of Traditional Culture in the Past and Present”, featuring contributions by Svetlana Sidneva, Alexander Novik, Oxana Fais-Leutskaia, Alexander Chernykh, and Angelina Potasheva. We assess the developments in, and the current state of, anthropological studies of criminality, focusing on delinquent behavior as a sociocultural phenomenon and taking the cases of several European and Russian regions. This direction of studies still has not been sufficiently explored to date, and perhaps it has been mainly pursued in connection with traditional societies of the Global South. The case studies presented in these contributions are relevant and important, for they help us consider delinquency as based on the remnants of custom law systems and having its expressions in the emic views and notions of the locals and their folklore. The studies draw on ethnographic field research and attempt to offer novel anthropological analyses and reconstructions of the situation in various communities of Greece, Albania, Sardinia, and Russia.



The phenomenon of “μάγκας” in the emic vision of Greeks
Аннотация
The article discusses μάγκας – a sociocultural phenomenon that arose in the lower-class milieu of Greek port cities in the late 19th – first half of the 20th century. It was in that period that the criminalization of port cities occurred due to the impoverishment of the rural population as a consequence of urbanization and its resettlement in search of a better life in larger cities and towns, but mainly due to the Asia Minor catastrophe of 1922, which caused an influx of refugees from Smyrna (Izmir) and its environs to Athens and Piraeus. Mάγκας is a polysemantic word that is difficult to translate from Greek and that has gone over time beyond its originally negative meaning. In this case, we can observe an evolution and metamorphosis of the concept: from a declassed criminal or semi-criminal element, a vagabond, a loafer, sometimes a thief and smuggler, a regular at cheap tekes (hashish dens) in Piraeus, who typically confronts the police, he turns into a brave bully-guy from the ordinary people, who does not place much value on material goods, or sometimes into a virtuoso musician and dancer who performs rebetika, which itself played a significant part in the romanticization of the image of μάγκας. While much of the scholarly work has been commonly focused on Greek rebetika and its development from the folk song to the kind of “underground chanson”, which was initially despised and semi-banned in the official culture and later proclaimed a cultural heritage of Greece, I will specifically focus on μάγκας as the main figure of rebetika, examining his cultural life in a certain social environment and the ways he was perceived in Greek society.



On theft and crime: social norms and deviant practices among Albanians in the Balkans
Аннотация
The study presents an anthropological analysis of the violations of legal, social, cultural, and moral norms in Albania at the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st centuries, as well as the attitudes and sanctions of the society towards such phenomena and their actors. The Western Balkans, characterized by the persistent preservation of patriarchal relations in many spheres of social life, have not yet abandoned many of the norms of customary law that developed during the period of Ottoman rule into a stable system of self-government and self-regulation of various communities – from the regional to the national level. The main focus of the study is the phenomenon of theft, the punishment for which, according to the ancient traditions of the highlanders, was in some cases (theft of herds, unauthorized transfer of land boundaries, etc.) death. In the new conditions, when legal norms are regulated, among other things, by the Criminal Code of a country that has been striving to join the European Union for more than thirty years and therefore has been long trying to bring criminal law in harmony with the legislation of the EU, theft, robbery, and banditry cease to be occupations that pose extreme risk to life. Still, the legislative “indulgence” at the state level does not mean the abolishment of sanctions at the local communal level where the opinion of others, reputational losses, and censure along kin or family lines are perceived as punishment “no better than death” by the majority of Albanians. The research draws on historical sources and author’s own field materials collected during annual work in the region in 1990–2024.



The practice of cattle raiding in Sardinia: from the past to the present
Аннотация
The article takes the case of Sardinia, an archaic and conservative region of Italy, and its central mountainous area of Barbagia in particular, to examine the phenomenon of cattle raiding in historical perspective. I draw primarily on my own field materials to support the analyses provided in the available scholarly literature, since the latter predominantly discuss the topic from the legal point of view. The anthropological standpoint will be helpful in presenting a more complex and multidimensional vision of the Sardinian cattle raiding, shedding light on its intricacies, folk philosophy, and place in the local cultural context, as well as in identifying its connections to the ancient code of customary law and the present values and norms of behavior in the region. I argue that, in the emic views of the villagers, cattle raiding is considered as a phenomenon organically inscribed in the local social-economic and cultural context, being sometimes disapproved of, sometimes “decriminalized” or “heroized” and shown as requiring certain dignity of its actors. By examining this practice in the context of Sardinia, we will be able to better understand many other realities in this European region in its present and historical past.



We don’t stick hands in your pocket but take what is offered to us: fortune-telling practices among the Kalderash Roma of Russia
Аннотация
The article examines the specificity of Roma fortune-telling practices as one of the main female activities among various ethnic groups, taking the case of the Kalderash Roma which helps to understand better the collective character and the street character of these practices. The most widespread form of them is a common palm-reading. It is a set of stable verbal formulas that may be employed differently, depending on this or that client. These fortune-telling practices were thought of as illegal, which is why it was important for the Kalderash Roma to rationalize them as permitted by God. This was achieved by appealing to Christian legends that conveyed the sense of Roma’s distinctiveness among other ethnic groups. Fortune-telling as an occupation developed a system of particular habits, ideas and narratives. The article analyzes the condition of this occupation today, traces the changes it has undergone, and discusses the present-day Roma lifestyle in general, including the ways in which modernization has influenced it. I argue that the “past” in Roma’s communities is still a life ideal and plays a significant part in the maintenance of their cultural identity.



Northern Russian fishing and hunting hut: modern rules and transgressions
Аннотация
The field study, based on the interviews recorded in the village of Vozhgora, Leshukonsky District, Arkhangelsk Region, in 2021–2024, analyzes the role and place of the Northern Russian fishing and hunting huts in the life of the local community. The hut, which usually has several owners, is considered an object of the customary law: most often, a son inherits it from his father with all the adjacent lands. Joint ownership and maintenance of huts are regulated by the rules established by the community. Violation of these rules entails the closure of the huts and, as a result, conflicts both within the community and between the community and the strangers. I describe the social relationships (adult and children) that are built around the huts, analyze the established rules, their violations, as well as the actions of the community in response to transgressions. Consistently showing that the hut is a place of identity, relationships and history for the local hunters and fishers, I call it an “anthropological place” (Marc Augé’s term).



Discussion
Masao Miura’s autobiographical narrative: un-Soviet practices in Soviet Kazakhstan
Аннотация
The article analyzes the memoirs of Masao Miura about his life in the USSR. The aim of the publication is to introduce Miura’s recollections into academic discourse and to highlight the significance of his autobiographical narrative. The author examines Miura’s behavioral patterns and his strategies of adaptation within a new social context. Particular attention is given to narrative techniques in his stories about rural Kazakhstan in the 1940s and 1950s – an environment inhabited by many repressed individuals and marked by pockets of archaism within a rapidly modernizing region. Having escaped ideological indoctrination, Miura lived with greater personal freedom than ordinary Soviet citizens, which allowed him to build a successful career. Nevertheless, he eventually returned to the occupations he had observed as a child in Sakhalin – fishing and hunting. What began as a life path shaped by coercion ultimately transformed into one guided by personal choice rooted in childhood experience.



Masao Miura’s memoirs from a historian’s and anthropologist’s points of view
Аннотация
This publication presents a discussion of arguments raised in the article on “Masao Miura’s Autobiographical Narrative: Un-Soviet Practices in Soviet Kazakhstan [Avtobiograficheskii narrativ Masao Miury: nesovetskie praktiki v sovetskom Kazakhstane]”, by Elza-Bair Guchinova who examines the memoirs of Masao Miura about life in the USSR and thinks over Miura’s behavioral patterns and his strategies of adaptation within a new social context. Miura’s biography was unique: at the age of 13, he was convicted and, after serving time in a labor camp, deported to Kazakhstan where he lived for 54 years before returning to Japan. The article’s author pays particular attention to narrative techniques in Miura’s stories about rural Kazakhstan in the 1940s and 1950s – an environment inhabited by many repressed individuals and marked by pockets of archaism within a rapidly modernizing region. Sergey Kim responds to the issue of critical interpretation of sources related to the epoch under consideration in his comment entitled “Masao Miura’s Memoirs as a Historical Source”.



Historical anthropology
The “tributary” relationships among the Yucatan Maya on the eve of the Spanish conquest (16th century): an ethnocultural analysis
Аннотация
The article is devoted to the relatively unexplored question of the pre-Columbian tributary relationships in the late Yucatec Mayan Society on the Eve of the Spanish conquest in an anthropological perspective. The author insists that our sources do reflect some ritual and “prestige” aspects of the so-called pre-Columbian “tributary” system. In fact, the cultural analysis of the reports on the pre-Hispanic “tribute” reveals the features of the more “primitive” redistribution system and ideology of the “prestige economy” system in the terms of modern anthropology. The “prestige economy” was studied for the Mayan area on the basis of the relatively late ethnological data (XVII–XX cc.) related to communities reformed by the Spanish (cabildo government, cofradia brotherhoods for the catholic cult). It is impossible to apply it to the earliest times before the conquest. Still, this data exists for the conquest period, but it is largely neglected by “mesoamerican” ethnologists. We can try to examine it through information on the pre-colonial tribute among the Maya.



Ethnic migrations in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands during the period of Russian America
Аннотация
Ethnic migrations, that is the movement of a people or part of it to new territories outside traditional ethnic boundaries, play a significant role in history and can be very diverse. This can be easily verified by analyzing ethnic migrations in Russian America. This name was given to the former colonies of the Russian Empire that emerged in the Aleutian Islands and Alaska in the second half of the 18th century and were then sold to the United States in 1867. Ethnic migrations during this period can be reduced to three main types: 1) migrations of Russians and representatives of other peoples of the Russian Empire to the Aleutian Islands and Alaska; 2) migrations of local dependent natives under the influence of Russians; 3) migrations of independent native groups. The first two types of migrations were characterized by an organized and predominantly forced nature. Numerous historical data indicate that during the period of Russian America, both the scale and intensity of ethnic migrations increased compared to the pre-contact period. At the same time, the result of such migrations was very significant demographic losses for a number of ethnic groups, a change in traditional ethnic boundaries and the formation of new ethnic communities, as well as very important changes in the culture of a number of Alaskan peoples.



Research Articles
On “remembering” the Soviet past: attitudes toward the USSR in social media of post-Soviet countries
Аннотация
This article examines the ways in which the Soviet past is represented in digital spaces across three post-Soviet states: Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The study has a dual objective: to identify the discursive frameworks through which social media users in these countries construct narratives about the Soviet past and to explore how these representations are embedded in visions of a desired future. The empirical basis of the study comprises over 5,000 user comments on social media posts containing the keyword “USSR” across the most visited online platforms in each of the three countries. The analysis reveals two distinct types of narratives. The first type, which can be broadly categorized as Soviet-nostalgic, portrays the USSR as an ideal or a model to be emulated. The most frequently recurring themes within this narrative include social justice, interethnic friendship, victory in the Great Patriotic War, industrialization, and stability/security about the future. The second type of narrative, which may be termed anti-Soviet, consists of comments emphasizing issues such as Soviet-era repressions (collectivization, famine, and politically motivated mass killings), poverty, shortages, an inefficient economy, and corruption.



Tribalism in Kenya: “our time to eat”
Аннотация
The article examines the ethnic history of Kenya during the years of colonialism and on the eve of the country’s independence. I argue that the Kenyan society may be considered as an essentially typical case in research on tribalism, national question, and federalism in Africa, as well as elsewhere in the world, and in the study of a country-specific version of “African socialism”. Having a short-lived experience of federalism on the eve of independence (the era of majimbo) and an experience of unitary state order during the independence period, Kenya in the 2010s turned back to decentralization and regionalism as a system of territorial and political structure. Some researchers believe that Kenya is returning to the practice of majimbo, i.e. devolution, and that a specific version of “ethnic federalism” is being established in the country when its administrative-territorial system is being adjusted to the tribal composition of the population. I attempt to demonstrate the relationship between the choice of regionalism and the prospects for political, economic, and cultural coexistence of different peoples within the confines of the country. Without analyzing the colonial experience, it is impossible to understand what is happening in modern Kenya, including the “ethnic policy” pursued by the Kenyan authorities.



The Grozny oil complex and the transformation of urban population’s ethnic structure in the 1920–40s
Аннотация
The Grozny oil industry complex played a significant role not only in the economic, political and cultural development of Chechen-Ingushetia from the end of the 19th century and during the Soviet period, but also influenced the change in the social structure of mountain societies and the population of Grozny. In the context of the Bolshevik program of radicalization, it was supposed to form layers of workers in the national regions who would become the mainstay of Soviet power in the region. These processes were negatively influenced by the separation of Grozny and Chechnya during the administrative-territorial structure in the North Caucasus after the Civil war, the mistakes of local committees of the CPSU(b) and heads of enterprises in the activities of involving mountaineers in industrial production. Based on the analysis of archival documents and sources, many of which are being newly introduced, the article attempts to identify the specifics of the implementation of the project to overcome the backwardness of Chechen-Ingushetia in the industrial sphere and the creation of a national proletariat. It is noted that the deportation of Chechens and Ingush in 1944 had negative consequences both for the social-economic and cultural development of the autonomy and for the Grozny oil complex due to the fact that overnight fisheries and enterprises lost a significant part of qualified specialists from the indigenous population.



The custom of mutual assistance in the Mordovian village in the second half of the 19th and the 20th century
Аннотация
The article examines the custom of mutual assistance in the economic life of Mordovian peasants. It focuses on the fact that Mordovian villagers used to render help to each other in various kinds of seasonal work that were complex, labor-intensive, and required collective effort. This, for example, was typically the case when houses were constructed, as well as in certain activities in agriculture and farming, in emergency situations, in circumstances related to the organization of celebrations, customs, and so on. The village community acted as a keeper of moral values and ensured that the economic knowledge and experience be maintained and safely passed on from generation to generation. It also played a significant part in the shaping of the communal opinion, often rather strictly controlling villagers’ behavior. Therefore, the custom of mutual support itself was highly regularized and encompassed a number of orderly stages, such as announcement, invitation, working, and providing a treat afterwards. This can be observed up to the present days. Still, the study of this custom in the historical perspective attests to the fact that it has undergone substantial changes during the closing decades of the last century, undervaluing the necessity of mutual support in many scenarios.



Book Reviews and Critiques
Nogais: an encyclopedic set of ethnocultural heritage: a review of Nogaitsy [Nogais], edited by Z.Z. Zineeva, R.Kh. Kereitov, and V.V. Trepavlov



On corporeality and technologies: a review of Bodies and Technoscience: Practices, Imaginaries and Materiality, edited by S. Arnaldi, S. Crabu, and A. Viteritti


