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Ethnic profiling as negotiating: Traffic law enforcement in the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Leisan Khalioullina
Leisan Khalioullina*
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, Political and Social Sciences, Institute of Economics, Management and Law, 42 Moskovskaia str., 420100 Kazan, Russian Federation
*
∗ Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Complex and ambiguous relations between state officials and civilians in Russia in general, and in Tatarstan in particular, are best reflected by daily communications between traffic police officers and motorists and pedestrians. These short interactions bring up issues of violence and minority discrimination, bribing, and dominant political values. In this paper based on my field research, I explore the practice of ethnic profiling employed by police officers and analyze its effects. I focus on identity construction and its “quality measurement.” Unlike a standardized system of weights or “brute facts,” law enforcement involves the creation of identities, including selective and sanctioned usage of, and manipulation by, ethnic traits. I conclude that ethnic profiling exists in Tatarstan, but stems not from nationalist inspirations of the controlling agents, but rather as an effect of rational economic decision-making. I also argue that despite its haphazard nature, ethnic minorities in Tatarstan are able to interact with controlling agencies more effectively than the majority, partially due to their alleged ability to employ collective action and partially because of the specific ethnic policy of the Republic.

Keywords

Tatarstanethnic profilingtraffic policesocial factlaw enforcement
Type
Special Section: Tatarstan: adjusting to life in Putin's Russia
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2016 , pp. 55 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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