The Construction of Masculinity in Dagestani Male Youth Communities

Abstract

Drawing on 60 in-depth interviews with adolescents and young men in Dagestan, I examine the construction of masculinity in the context of a postcolonial and peripheral society undergoing a transformation associated with deindustrialisation, urbanisation and globalisation. I focus on three male communities: freestyle wrestlers, street workout athletes and devout Muslim youth. Members of these communities develop their variants of male identity, differing in their attitudes towards violence, their view of the power of elders and their form of moral sovereignty. These versions of masculinity are supported and stabilised both by configurations of power relations and mechanisms of intragroup homosociality.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 According to Connell (2005), this term indicates emotional attraction (both positive and negative) to the subject.

2 Respondent 1, Abdula, 23 years old, wrestling, Makhachkala, 20 May 2020. All citations illustrate opinions and interpretations about which there is consensus in that community. For respondents who illustrate external views, only their age is given.

3 Specialised sports school for training gifted children in Russia.

4 This estimate also does not consider the ‘overflow’ of athletes who start their careers in freestyle wrestling and then move on to other types of wrestling (for example, grappling, judo, jiu-jitsu, sambo), as well as to mixed martial arts (MMA), which has recently become very popular in the North Caucasus.

5 ‘Fizicheskaya kul'tura i sport (Dannye Ministerstva po fizicheskoi kul'ture i sportu Respubliki Dagestan)’, May 2020, available at: https://dagstat.gks.ru/storage/mediabank/Z7PGoQwU/Физическая%20культура%20и%20спорт.docx.htm, accessed 29 July 2022.

6 Respondent 2, Khabib, 25 years old, ordinary youth, Makhachkala, 17 June 2016.

7 Respondent 18, Mamuka, 21, no community, Makhachkala, 10 June 2017.

8 Respondent 3, Mustapha, 19 years old, street workout, Makhachkala, 10 September 2016.

9 Respondent 4, Ali, 23 years old, street workout, Makhachkala, 1 September 2016.

10 Respondent 5, Rasul, 20 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 15 May 2019.

11 Respondent 6, Said, 26 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 3 June 2017.

12 Respondent 7, Mokhammad, 17 years old, freestyle wrestling, Makhachkala, 23 March 2020.

13 Respondent 17, Akhmet, 34 years old, wrestling, Makhachkala, 10 June 2018.

14 Respondent 12, Ibragim, 20 years old, street workout, Makhachkala, 20 March 2017.

15 Respondent 8, Abu, 17 years old, street workout, Makhachkala, 14 March 2017.

16 Respondent 6, Said, 26 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 3 June 2017.

17 Respondent 9, Seif, 42 years old, wrestling, Makhachkala, 23 March 2020.

18 Respondent 10, Artur, 30 years old, wrestling, Makhachkala, 11 March 2020.

19 Respondent 11, Arsen, 28 years old, wrestling, Makhachkala, 10 March 2020.

20 Respondent 12, Ibragim, 20 years old, street workout, Makhachkala, 20 March 2017.

21 Respondent 13, Hussein, 14 years old, street workout, Makhachkala, 1 April 2017.

22 Respondent 6, Said, 26 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 3 June 2017.

23 Respondent 14, Adam, 28 years old, devout youth, Khasavyurt /St Petersburg, 5 April 2018.

24 An ethnic group in Dagestan.

25 Respondent 15, Hassan, 27 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 1 May 2020.

26 Respondent 6, Said, 26 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 3 June 2017.

27 A social event inspired by the traditional Hindu Holi festival. Participants get together, dance and sprinkle powder paint on each other.

28 Respondent 6, Said, 26 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 3 June 2017.

29 Respondent 15, Hassan, 27 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 1 May 2020.

30 Respondent 4, Ali, 23 years old, street workout, Makhachkala, 1 September 2016.

31 Respondent 16, Shamil, 20 years old, devout youth, Makhachkala, 10 June 2019.

Additional information

Funding

This article is based on data collected through the following projects: ‘Masculinity of young people in Dagestan' (hereafter ‘Masculinity’), funded by RFBR, project number 19-311-90056; ‘Creative fields of interethnic interaction and youth cultural scenes of Russian cities’, implemented in 2015–2017 by the Center for Youth Research of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (grant number 15-18-00078); and the DARE [Dialogue about Radicalisation and Equality] project in 2018–2019.

Notes on contributors

Sviatoslav Poliakov

Sviatoslav Poliakov, PhD Student, Researcher at the Centre for Youth Studies, National Research University—Higher School of Economics, St Petersburg, Russian Federation. Email: [email protected]