Borders and Orders in Central Asia

Borders and Orders in Central Asia

Author: Bernd Kuzmits

Publisher: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783848701537

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Central Asia is characterised by state fragility and associated with drug traffic and instability. Social Orders and the defining borders have often changed in this region. What are the functions of borders today in the light of parallel state and nation building processes? How do borders impact the attitudes of the borderland population? And most notably: What are the drivers of and the constraints for transborder interactions? The author analyses these questions along the rather new state border between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and at border strips between these states and Afghanistan -- once separating two geopolitical regions. The authoritarian regimes in Tajikistan and, even more so, in Uzbekistan contain their state building projects against allegedly destabilising influences from abroad. However, in border regions far from state influence interdependencies may also be the basis for legal interactions.


Book Synopsis Borders and Orders in Central Asia by : Bernd Kuzmits

Download or read book Borders and Orders in Central Asia written by Bernd Kuzmits and published by Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Central Asia is characterised by state fragility and associated with drug traffic and instability. Social Orders and the defining borders have often changed in this region. What are the functions of borders today in the light of parallel state and nation building processes? How do borders impact the attitudes of the borderland population? And most notably: What are the drivers of and the constraints for transborder interactions? The author analyses these questions along the rather new state border between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and at border strips between these states and Afghanistan -- once separating two geopolitical regions. The authoritarian regimes in Tajikistan and, even more so, in Uzbekistan contain their state building projects against allegedly destabilising influences from abroad. However, in border regions far from state influence interdependencies may also be the basis for legal interactions.


Border Work

Border Work

Author: Madeleine Reeves

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2014-03-04

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 0801470897

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In Central Asia’s Ferghana Valley, where Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan meet, state territoriality has taken on new significance in these states’ second decade of independence, reshaping landscapes and transforming livelihoods in a densely populated, irrigation-dependent region. Through an innovative ethnography of social and spatial practice at the limits of the state, Border Work explores the contested work of producing and policing “territorial integrity” when significant stretches of new international borders remain to be conclusively demarcated or effectively policed. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, Madeleine Reeves follows traders, farmers, water engineers, conflict analysts, and border guards as they negotiate the practical responsibilities and social consequences of producing, policing, and deriving a livelihood across new international borders that are often encountered locally as “chessboards” rather than lines. She shows how the negotiation of state spatiality is bound up with concerns about legitimate rule and legitimate movement, and explores how new attempts to secure the border, materially and militarily, serve to generate new sources of lived insecurity in a context of enduring social and economic inter-dependence. A significant contribution to Central Asian studies, border studies, and the contemporary anthropology of the state, Border Work moves beyond traditional ethnographies of the borderland community to foreground the effortful and intensely political work of producing state space.


Book Synopsis Border Work by : Madeleine Reeves

Download or read book Border Work written by Madeleine Reeves and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2014-03-04 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Central Asia’s Ferghana Valley, where Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan meet, state territoriality has taken on new significance in these states’ second decade of independence, reshaping landscapes and transforming livelihoods in a densely populated, irrigation-dependent region. Through an innovative ethnography of social and spatial practice at the limits of the state, Border Work explores the contested work of producing and policing “territorial integrity” when significant stretches of new international borders remain to be conclusively demarcated or effectively policed. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, Madeleine Reeves follows traders, farmers, water engineers, conflict analysts, and border guards as they negotiate the practical responsibilities and social consequences of producing, policing, and deriving a livelihood across new international borders that are often encountered locally as “chessboards” rather than lines. She shows how the negotiation of state spatiality is bound up with concerns about legitimate rule and legitimate movement, and explores how new attempts to secure the border, materially and militarily, serve to generate new sources of lived insecurity in a context of enduring social and economic inter-dependence. A significant contribution to Central Asian studies, border studies, and the contemporary anthropology of the state, Border Work moves beyond traditional ethnographies of the borderland community to foreground the effortful and intensely political work of producing state space.


Dictators Without Borders

Dictators Without Borders

Author: Alexander A. Cooley

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2017-02-07

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 0300222092

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A penetrating look into the unrecognized and unregulated links between autocratic regimes in Central Asia and centers of power and wealth throughout the West Weak, corrupt, and politically unstable, the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are dismissed as isolated and irrelevant to the outside world. But are they? This hard-hitting book argues that Central Asia is in reality a globalization leader with extensive involvement in economics, politics and security dynamics beyond its borders. Yet Central Asia’s international activities are mostly hidden from view, with disturbing implications for world security. Based on years of research and involvement in the region, Alexander Cooley and John Heathershaw reveal how business networks, elite bank accounts, overseas courts, third-party brokers, and Western lawyers connect Central Asia’s supposedly isolated leaders with global power centers. The authors also uncover widespread Western participation in money laundering, bribery, foreign lobbying by autocratic governments, and the exploiting of legal loopholes within Central Asia. Riveting and important, this book exposes the global connections of a troubled region that must no longer be ignored.


Book Synopsis Dictators Without Borders by : Alexander A. Cooley

Download or read book Dictators Without Borders written by Alexander A. Cooley and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A penetrating look into the unrecognized and unregulated links between autocratic regimes in Central Asia and centers of power and wealth throughout the West Weak, corrupt, and politically unstable, the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are dismissed as isolated and irrelevant to the outside world. But are they? This hard-hitting book argues that Central Asia is in reality a globalization leader with extensive involvement in economics, politics and security dynamics beyond its borders. Yet Central Asia’s international activities are mostly hidden from view, with disturbing implications for world security. Based on years of research and involvement in the region, Alexander Cooley and John Heathershaw reveal how business networks, elite bank accounts, overseas courts, third-party brokers, and Western lawyers connect Central Asia’s supposedly isolated leaders with global power centers. The authors also uncover widespread Western participation in money laundering, bribery, foreign lobbying by autocratic governments, and the exploiting of legal loopholes within Central Asia. Riveting and important, this book exposes the global connections of a troubled region that must no longer be ignored.


The Regional Security Puzzle around Afghanistan

The Regional Security Puzzle around Afghanistan

Author: Helena Rytövuori-Apunen

Publisher: Barbara Budrich

Published: 2016-05-23

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 3847407899

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Western military presence wanes in Afghanistan and a transformed security environment challenges borders and stability in Central Asia. This book examines how the tensions relating to the reorganization of external military presence interact with regional states’ ambitions and challenge the borders already contested by numerous dividing lines. It studies a complex political landscape across which radical Islam connected with international terrorism is feared to spread as the international mission initiated in the wake of the 9/11 attacks winds down.


Book Synopsis The Regional Security Puzzle around Afghanistan by : Helena Rytövuori-Apunen

Download or read book The Regional Security Puzzle around Afghanistan written by Helena Rytövuori-Apunen and published by Barbara Budrich. This book was released on 2016-05-23 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western military presence wanes in Afghanistan and a transformed security environment challenges borders and stability in Central Asia. This book examines how the tensions relating to the reorganization of external military presence interact with regional states’ ambitions and challenge the borders already contested by numerous dividing lines. It studies a complex political landscape across which radical Islam connected with international terrorism is feared to spread as the international mission initiated in the wake of the 9/11 attacks winds down.


Ethnic Challenges Beyond Borders

Ethnic Challenges Beyond Borders

Author: Yongjin Zhang

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780312210373

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This book gathers a rare collection of essays by leading Chinese and Russian Central Asian specialists. The contributors address the problems and challenges posed by the resurgence of Central Asia to China and Russia. Both countries are in search of a post-communist and post-Cold War order. The editors explore uncertain transformations in Central Asia and their implications for Chinese and Russian foreign policies and speculate on the possible outcome of the current search for a regional order.


Book Synopsis Ethnic Challenges Beyond Borders by : Yongjin Zhang

Download or read book Ethnic Challenges Beyond Borders written by Yongjin Zhang and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 1998 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book gathers a rare collection of essays by leading Chinese and Russian Central Asian specialists. The contributors address the problems and challenges posed by the resurgence of Central Asia to China and Russia. Both countries are in search of a post-communist and post-Cold War order. The editors explore uncertain transformations in Central Asia and their implications for Chinese and Russian foreign policies and speculate on the possible outcome of the current search for a regional order.


Nationalism in Central Asia

Nationalism in Central Asia

Author: Nick Megoran

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2017-10-04

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 0822982390

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Nick Megoran explores the process of building independent nation-states in post-Soviet Central Asia through the lens of the disputed border territory between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. In his rich "biography" of the boundary, he employs a combination of political, cultural, historical, ethnographic, and geographic frames to shed new light on nation-building process in this volatile and geopolitically significant region. Megoran draws on twenty years of extensive research in the borderlands via interviews, observations, participation, and newspaper analysis. He considers the problems of nationalist discourse versus local vernacular, elite struggles versus borderland solidarities, boundary delimitation versus everyday experience, border control versus resistance, and mass violence in 2010, all of which have exacerbated territorial anxieties. Megoran also revisits theories of causation, such as the loss of Soviet control, poorly defined boundaries, natural resource disputes, and historic ethnic clashes, to show that while these all contribute to heightened tensions, political actors and their agendas have clearly driven territorial aspirations and are the overriding source of conflict. As this compelling case study shows, the boundaries of the The Ferghana Valley put in succinct focus larger global and moral questions of what defines a good border.


Book Synopsis Nationalism in Central Asia by : Nick Megoran

Download or read book Nationalism in Central Asia written by Nick Megoran and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2017-10-04 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nick Megoran explores the process of building independent nation-states in post-Soviet Central Asia through the lens of the disputed border territory between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. In his rich "biography" of the boundary, he employs a combination of political, cultural, historical, ethnographic, and geographic frames to shed new light on nation-building process in this volatile and geopolitically significant region. Megoran draws on twenty years of extensive research in the borderlands via interviews, observations, participation, and newspaper analysis. He considers the problems of nationalist discourse versus local vernacular, elite struggles versus borderland solidarities, boundary delimitation versus everyday experience, border control versus resistance, and mass violence in 2010, all of which have exacerbated territorial anxieties. Megoran also revisits theories of causation, such as the loss of Soviet control, poorly defined boundaries, natural resource disputes, and historic ethnic clashes, to show that while these all contribute to heightened tensions, political actors and their agendas have clearly driven territorial aspirations and are the overriding source of conflict. As this compelling case study shows, the boundaries of the The Ferghana Valley put in succinct focus larger global and moral questions of what defines a good border.


Mobilities, Boundaries, and Travelling Ideas

Mobilities, Boundaries, and Travelling Ideas

Author: Manja Stephan-Emmrich

Publisher: Saint Philip Street Press

Published: 2020-10-09

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781013290497

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This collection brings together a variety of anthropological, historical and sociological case studies from Central Asia and the Caucasus to examine the concept of translocality. The chapters scrutinize the capacity of translocality to describe, in new ways, the multiple mobilities, exchange practices and globalizing processes that link places, people and institutions in Central Asia and the Caucasus with others in Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates.Illuminating translocality as a productive concept for studying cross‐regional connectivities and networks, this volume is an important contribution to a lively field of academic discourse. Following new directions in Area Studies, the chapters aim to overcome 'territorial containers' such as the nation‐state or local community, and instead emphasize the significance of processes of translation and negotiation for understanding how meaningful localities emerge beyond conventional boundaries.Structured by the four themes 'crossing boundaries', 'travelling ideas', 'social and economic movements' and 'pious endeavours', this volume proposes three conceptual approaches to translocality: firstly, to trace how it is embodied, narrated, virtualized or institutionalized within or in reference to physical or imagined localities; secondly, to understand locality as a relational concept rather than a geographically bounded unit; and thirdly, to consider cross‐border traders, travelling students, business people and refugees as examples of non-elite mobilities that provide alternative ways to think about what 'global' means today.Mobilities, Boundaries, and Travelling Ideas will be of interest to students and scholars of the anthropology, history and sociology of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as for those interested in new approaches to Area Studies. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.


Book Synopsis Mobilities, Boundaries, and Travelling Ideas by : Manja Stephan-Emmrich

Download or read book Mobilities, Boundaries, and Travelling Ideas written by Manja Stephan-Emmrich and published by Saint Philip Street Press. This book was released on 2020-10-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection brings together a variety of anthropological, historical and sociological case studies from Central Asia and the Caucasus to examine the concept of translocality. The chapters scrutinize the capacity of translocality to describe, in new ways, the multiple mobilities, exchange practices and globalizing processes that link places, people and institutions in Central Asia and the Caucasus with others in Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates.Illuminating translocality as a productive concept for studying cross‐regional connectivities and networks, this volume is an important contribution to a lively field of academic discourse. Following new directions in Area Studies, the chapters aim to overcome 'territorial containers' such as the nation‐state or local community, and instead emphasize the significance of processes of translation and negotiation for understanding how meaningful localities emerge beyond conventional boundaries.Structured by the four themes 'crossing boundaries', 'travelling ideas', 'social and economic movements' and 'pious endeavours', this volume proposes three conceptual approaches to translocality: firstly, to trace how it is embodied, narrated, virtualized or institutionalized within or in reference to physical or imagined localities; secondly, to understand locality as a relational concept rather than a geographically bounded unit; and thirdly, to consider cross‐border traders, travelling students, business people and refugees as examples of non-elite mobilities that provide alternative ways to think about what 'global' means today.Mobilities, Boundaries, and Travelling Ideas will be of interest to students and scholars of the anthropology, history and sociology of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as for those interested in new approaches to Area Studies. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.


Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia

Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia

Author: Rico Isaacs

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-09-14

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 0429603592

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The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia offers the first comprehensive, cross-disciplinary overview of key issues in Central Asian studies. The 30 chapters by leading and emerging scholars summarise major findings in the field and highlight long-term trends, recent observations and future developments in the region. The handbook features case studies of all five Central Asian republics and is organised thematically in seven sections: History Politics Geography International Relations Political Economy Society and Culture Religion An essential cross-disciplinary reference work, the handbook offers an accessible and easyto- understand guide to the core issues permeating the region to enable readers to grasp the fundamental challenges, transformations and themes in contemporary Central Asia. It will be of interest to researchers, academics and students of the region and those working in the field of Area Studies, History, Anthropology, Politics and International Relations. Chapter 23 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.


Book Synopsis Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia by : Rico Isaacs

Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia written by Rico Isaacs and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia offers the first comprehensive, cross-disciplinary overview of key issues in Central Asian studies. The 30 chapters by leading and emerging scholars summarise major findings in the field and highlight long-term trends, recent observations and future developments in the region. The handbook features case studies of all five Central Asian republics and is organised thematically in seven sections: History Politics Geography International Relations Political Economy Society and Culture Religion An essential cross-disciplinary reference work, the handbook offers an accessible and easyto- understand guide to the core issues permeating the region to enable readers to grasp the fundamental challenges, transformations and themes in contemporary Central Asia. It will be of interest to researchers, academics and students of the region and those working in the field of Area Studies, History, Anthropology, Politics and International Relations. Chapter 23 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.


Order at the Bazaar

Order at the Bazaar

Author: Regine A. Spector

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1501712381

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Order at the Bazaar delves into the role of bazaars in the political economy and development of Central Asia. Bazaars are the economic bedrock for many throughout the region—they are the entrepreneurial hubs of Central Asia. However, they are often regarded as mafia-governed environments that are largely populated by the dispossessed. By immersing herself in the bazaars of Kyrgyzstan, Regine A. Spector learned that some are rather best characterized as islands of order in a chaotic national context. Spector draws on interviews, archival sources, and participant observation to show how traders, landowners, and municipal officials create order in the absence of a coherent government apparatus and bureaucratic state. Merchants have adapted Soviet institutions, including trade unions, and pre-Soviet practices, such as using village elders as the arbiters of disputes, to the urban bazaar by building and asserting their own authority. Spector’s findings have relevance beyond the bazaars and borders of one small country; they teach us how economic development operates when the rule of law is weak.


Book Synopsis Order at the Bazaar by : Regine A. Spector

Download or read book Order at the Bazaar written by Regine A. Spector and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Order at the Bazaar delves into the role of bazaars in the political economy and development of Central Asia. Bazaars are the economic bedrock for many throughout the region—they are the entrepreneurial hubs of Central Asia. However, they are often regarded as mafia-governed environments that are largely populated by the dispossessed. By immersing herself in the bazaars of Kyrgyzstan, Regine A. Spector learned that some are rather best characterized as islands of order in a chaotic national context. Spector draws on interviews, archival sources, and participant observation to show how traders, landowners, and municipal officials create order in the absence of a coherent government apparatus and bureaucratic state. Merchants have adapted Soviet institutions, including trade unions, and pre-Soviet practices, such as using village elders as the arbiters of disputes, to the urban bazaar by building and asserting their own authority. Spector’s findings have relevance beyond the bazaars and borders of one small country; they teach us how economic development operates when the rule of law is weak.


The "Chinese Question" in Central Asia

The

Author: Marlène Laruelle

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780231703048

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Since the early 2000s, the People's Republic of China has become an increasingly key player in the fortunes of Central Asia, both diplomatically and strategically, particularly through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Economically, China has become one of the largest traders andinvestors in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, drastically diminishing Russia's long-time dominance and the influence of the United States and Europe.Treating China as an external factor in the domestic ordering of Central Asia, this volume uniquely analyzes the changes that have revolutionized the systems and societies of Central Asia. It reveals how China has become a subject of public debate and academic and expert research, and it follows thenew cultural mediators, petty traders, lobbyists, migrants, and diasporas that have emerged in conjunction with the country's rise. China's ascendance has also triggered a number of anxieties and phobias across Central Asia, and the authors show how its dominance has brought Sinophobia andSinophilia into closer relation.


Book Synopsis The "Chinese Question" in Central Asia by : Marlène Laruelle

Download or read book The "Chinese Question" in Central Asia written by Marlène Laruelle and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the early 2000s, the People's Republic of China has become an increasingly key player in the fortunes of Central Asia, both diplomatically and strategically, particularly through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Economically, China has become one of the largest traders andinvestors in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, drastically diminishing Russia's long-time dominance and the influence of the United States and Europe.Treating China as an external factor in the domestic ordering of Central Asia, this volume uniquely analyzes the changes that have revolutionized the systems and societies of Central Asia. It reveals how China has become a subject of public debate and academic and expert research, and it follows thenew cultural mediators, petty traders, lobbyists, migrants, and diasporas that have emerged in conjunction with the country's rise. China's ascendance has also triggered a number of anxieties and phobias across Central Asia, and the authors show how its dominance has brought Sinophobia andSinophilia into closer relation.