Homeland Lost? Crimean Tatar Civil Society Responses to the Russian Occupation of Crimea

Abstract:

This thesis explores how mobilized Crimean Tatar civil society actors responded, and continue to respond, to Russia’s occupation of the Crimean Peninsula after 2014. I situate my topic in civil society and social movement literature in democratic and authoritarian contexts, using two community advocacy organizations—Crimea SOS and Crimean Solidarity—as comparative case studies. I use primary source interviews, ethnographic data, and secondary source analyses to investigate how Crimean Tatars, in different contexts, have mobilized effective community responses to internal displacement, political and religious repression, and other effects of the occupation. I also examine historical Crimean Tatar political mobilization in the Soviet Union, particularly the nation’s mass self-repatriation to Crimea from exile in Central Asia, and demonstrate how their historical experience of self-organization in authoritarian contexts influences contemporary action.