Revisiting “Sovereign” Tatarstan
Revisiting “Sovereign” Tatarstan

Summary/Abstract: With the recent independence claims in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it is increasingly important to reconsider “parade of sovereignties” that threatened the territorial integrity of Russia in the final decade of the twentieth century. This article critically reevaluates Tatarstan’s sovereignty campaign that took place in the 1990s. The justification discourses employed by Tatarstan in its drive for sovereignty in the late perestroika and early post-Soviet eras are analyzed. The republic’s campaign is placed within a broader discussion on sovereignty, with the concept being addressed at the sub-state, state, and international scales. It is argued that, although Tatarstan indeed achieved elements of de jure and de facto sovereignty, the republic never really attained sovereignty as it is generally understood. However, although Tatarstan was never sovereign, it did achieve a high degree of territorial autonomy, which permitted the republic an unprecedented amount of independence in political, economic, and cultural spheres.

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