THE PHENOMENON OF POLITICIZATION OF ETHNICITY IN THE CONTEXT OF ETHNOPOLITICAL PROCESSES OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR (ON THE EXAMPLE OF SOUTH OSSETIA)

Abstract

The author analyzes the phenomenon of politicization of ethnicity in the conditions of the collapse of the USSR on the example of South Ossetia. The study of this phenomenon is carried out by the author in the aspect of ana- lyzing the mass public sentiment in South Ossetia on the eve of the Georgian- Ossetian conflict, which became a kind of socio-political background and also the aggravation of the internal political struggle in the republic.