This Is Not Allowed in the Mountains: The Multiplicity of Normative Systems in North Ossetia

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify the elements and characteristics of the interaction of Brian Tamanaha’s normative systems for a more detailed analysis of the intersection of social orders. The research uses interviews collected during two expeditions to North Ossetia. Based on the results of coding interviews collected by the authors in August 2023 and October 2024, the authors identified elements and patterns of interaction between normative systems. These systems include elements such as the declared norms, their sources, institutions for the implementation of norms, attitudes towards them, and the procedure for their implementation in practice. Many elements occur in several systems at the same time, intersect with each other, creating a complex network of regulatory systems. The boundaries between regulatory systems can be strict and lax. In the first case, there is a clear understanding that a specific normative system is applied in a certain situation and no other. If the boundaries are not strict, it is possible to refer to two or more regulatory systems. Even strict boundaries between regulatory systems are dynamic and can change over time and depending on the subject of their application. In places where regulatory systems intersect or have strict boundaries, various forms of their interaction are possible. The institution of implementing the norms of one system can comply with the norms of another, even if these norms are in conflict. Or, on the contrary, institutions of different regulatory systems may compete for the right to implement their own norms.