Chechens: Culture and Society is an ethnography that elaborates the lived experiences of Chechens, focusing primarily on relationships and socio-cultural norms within the context of the current conflict in the Chechen Republic.

Katherine S. Layton's research targets the nexus of politics and culture, the concept of "development", and the paradoxes of culture and rights. A former human rights professional, Layton has nearly twenty years of fieldwork experience with refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the North Caucasus, and Turkey. Currently, she teaches courses in Political Science and Qualitative Methods at Tallahassee Community College, USA.