Social Alchemy on the Black Sea Coast, 1860-65.

The article presents an exploration into the Russian social policy actions which led to the large-scale demographic shifts of the Caucasus-Black Sea region in the 1860s. An overview of previous mainstream theories regarding Russian cultural repression is given and criticized. An alternative theory is presented, asserting that the Russian social policy in fact a failed two-step system to integrate Muslims into Russian culture through social acculturation and "refinement" followed by the fostering of ethnically pluralistic communities in the region.