ABSTRACT
The sudden crescendo of the flames exhaling a mighty whoosh emphatically confirmed the answer as the man laughed gregariously before inviting me to share a drink and hear his border crossing story. Joining in communion around a table of mismatched plates and drinks in recycled soda bottles, the man explained that he had been detained by the Russian Federal Security Service border guards for “illegally” crossing the South Ossetian Administrative Boundary Line. Interviews with villagers from conflict-affected communities adjacent to the ABL yielded similar insight into the denial of dignity to local people as they pursue important livelihood strategies, relationships, and cultural traditions. The August 2008 Russo-Georgian war increased the size of South Ossetia's territorial holdings and became the first time the Ossetian and Abkhazian administrative boundaries were experienced as international borders. Since the 2008 war, arbitrary detentions have progressively intensified.
