SUMMARY:

The article by Xavier Le Torivellec is devoted to an exploration of the entangled history of the Bashkir and Tatar nation-building projects in the larger context of historically evolving political space of the Russian empire, Soviet Union, and contemporary Russian Federation. The central question of the article is how to interpret the contemporary situation in the titular republic of Bashkortostan. Linked to this question is the problem of whether it is possible to make sense of the present reality without references to the entangled past of the region and comparison with the historical genealogy of the present day Tatarstan. The situation in Bashkortostan is characterized by nationalizing intentions of the political elite of the republic of Bashkortostan, the dissimilating and protectionist project of the Tatar minority in the republic of Bashkortostan, and the current revision of the Soviet legacy of ethno-territorial constitution by the federal government. The article employs a long-term historical perspective, from the seventh century until the present, for contextualization of contemporary dilemmas of nation-building, ethnic conflict, and federalism as they unravel in the republic of Bashkortostan. The author combines the historical and ethnographic exploration of the Bashkir identity with a critical analysis of the twentieth century invention of the Bashkir tradition in the context of Soviet ethnic essentialism and nationalizing policy. He demonstrates how the production of knowledge about territory, culture, and history was part of politics of institutionalization and legitimation of Bashkir national autonomy. This analysis extends to the history of intellectual competition, telling the story of how nationalizing interpretation of the past from Kazan were perceived and sometimes countered with a different nationalizing interpretation coming out from Ufa. Focusing on the history of the twentieth century, the author observes that the policy of ethno-territorial federalism did no put an end to the historic conflicts and the diversity of social and political loyalties. It is this conflict-ridden and diverse nature of political process in Bashkortostan that provides the opportunity for the success of overall building of civic nationalism in contemporary Russia.