Central Asian Studies

Islam in Centraal-Azië

by Matthijs van den Bos

Van den Bos, M. 1997. Islam in Centraal-Azië [Islam in Central Asia]. In In het huis van de islam, (ed.) H. Driessen. Nijmegen: SUN, pp. 78-84.

„Caspian Energy Politics - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

by Indra Overland

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree? : Kazakh-Speaking University Studetnts' Language Ideologies Concerning "Community"

by Erik Aasland

Paper presented at the UCLA Conference on Language and Identity in Central Asia, May 4, 2012.

The question for my project is: In an environment of mandatory proverb instruction for youth, what do youth express as... more The question for my project is: In an environment of mandatory proverb instruction for youth, what do youth express as significant by means of these same proverbs? I will explore how Kazakh-speaking college students use Kazakh proverbs to narrativize “community”. I will do this be evaluating their knowledge and use of Kazakh proverbs addressing such issues as nationalism/patriotism, unity, family, and ethnic identity.

Metropole, Colony, and Imperial Citizenship in the Russian Empire

by Alexander Morrison

Kritika, Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History Vol.13 No.2 (Spring 2012) pp.327 - 364

This article reviews recent literature on legal and civic ideas of citizenship within the Russian empire, arguing that... more This article reviews recent literature on legal and civic ideas of citizenship within the Russian empire, arguing that much of it fails to take into account the many legal and administrative inequalities which existed between European and Asiatic Russia, with Central Asia in particular emerging as a separate, military-ruled 'colony', not just in cultural, but also in institutional terms.

From roses to bullets: the rise and decline of post-Soviet colour revolutions

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

with Abel Polese (2008)

In: Backes, Uwe and Jaskulowski, Tytus and Polese, Abel, (eds.) 2008. Totalitarianism and Transformation: Central and Eastern Europe between Socialist Legacy and Democratic Transformation (Totalitarismus und Transformation Defizite der Demokratiekonsolidierung in Mittel- und Osteuropa). Schriften des Hannah-Arendt-Instituts für Totalitarismusforschung, Band 37 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, pp. 63-100.

ISBN 978-3525369111

Ethnic Divide or Human Security: An Investigation into the Cause of Violent Conflict in the Ferghana Valley Region of Southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010

by Michael Caster

Faking It: Neo-Soviet Electoral Politics in Central Asia

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

Voting for Hitler and Stalin: Elections Under 20th Century Dictatorships, edited by Ralph Jessen and Hedwig Richter (Campus/Chicago University Press, 2012) pp. 204-227

This chapter focuses on the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia and, given the 20th century time frame of the... more This chapter focuses on the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia and, given the 20th century time frame of the book, analyzes primarily, but not exclusively, the practices of the 1990s. The reader is provided with a brief overview of the origins of Central Asian states before being furnished with an appreciation of how elections were conducted during the Soviet era. The ‘menu of manipulation’ at the disposal of the incumbent presidents is discussed and the obstacles facing potential opposition movements identified. Integral to the argument presented here is the assertion that Central Asian political regimes are as much neo-Soviet as post-Soviet. To illuminate this thesis, the chapter examines election campaigns in all five Central Asian states. As the manipulation generally takes place behind closed doors and potential whistle-blowers are rarely given a microphone in the national media, it is difficult to quantify. However, after almost two decades of systemic falsification, an attempt can be made to assess how electoral politics has been conducted in post-Soviet Central Asia.

Social and political perceptions of the Borat phenomenon in Kazakhstan: evidence from a case study of university students

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

Studies of Transition States and Societies, Volume 3, No. 3 (November 2011) pp. 51-63

This article begins by chronicling and evaluating the reaction of the government of Kazakhstan to Sacha Baron Cohen’s... more This article begins by chronicling and evaluating the reaction of the government of Kazakhstan to Sacha Baron Cohen’s film Borat—Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. It then compares and contrasts the official government reaction with the expressed attitudes of local members of Kazakhstan’s young English-speaking elites. This study is based on the results of a survey of almost five hundred young university students conducted in March 2007 at the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research (KIMEP), the most prestigious university in the country. The sample gives a snapshot of those most likely to have been aware of Borat – the young, internet-savvy, educated urban elite – and inter alia provides insights into how respondents in Kazakhstan thought the movie impacted their country and would influence how they were treated abroad. The survey results suggest that while responses to Borat were heterogeneous, most students accepted that the choice of Kazakhstan as a target for satire was coincidental rather than conspiratorial. Despite official efforts to ban the movie, a majority of the respondents had seen the film and believed that the ban was a mistake. Also, while recognising that Borat would raise Kazakhstan’s profile in the world, respondents doubted it would increase knowledge, and some feared a change in their treatment when travelling abroad.

The Color Revolution Virus and Authoritarian Antidotes

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

(with Abel Polese) Demokratizatsiya; Spring2011, Vol. 19 Issue 2, pp. 111-132

This paper addresses the post-Communist color revolution phenomenon, utilizing aspects of all the major approaches... more This paper addresses the post-Communist color revolution phenomenon, utilizing aspects of all the major approaches (structure, agency, diffusion). It surveys the varying degrees of success enjoyed by color revolutionary movements and demonstrates that the color revolutions involved a learning process not only for insurgent forces but for the state that such forces aimed to dislodge. Furthermore, it illuminates the factors that facilitated opposition movements to exploit popular disenchantment, framed in the context of contentious elections, and to transform these protests into a force capable of dislodging the regime. We argue that the ability of potentially vulnerable regimes to observe and digest the reasons for initial color revolution successes assisted them in resisting the further spread of the phenomenon. Accordingly, we maintain there is a strong correlation between the attitudes of a regime-in particular its capacity to produce a backlash-and the failure of a color revolution.

Uigur scribble on a Tangut Buddhist fragment from Dunhuang

by Dai MATSUI

Jinbun shakai ronsō 27, Faculty of Humanities Hirosaki University, 2012.2, pp. 59-64.
Jap: 松井太，敦煌出土西夏語佛典に挿入されたウイグル文雜記，人文社會論叢(人文科學篇)27, 弘前大學人文學部, 2012.2, pp. 59-64.

This Japanese short paper deals with a small Uigur scribble on a Tangut Buddhist fragment (now housed in Princeton... more This Japanese short paper deals with a small Uigur scribble on a Tangut Buddhist fragment (now housed in Princeton University), to elucidate that the Uigur text is a translation from the heading part of the Tangut text.
(2012 May 24) Replaced with an editable pdf.

Rocking the vote': new forms of youth organisations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

with Abel Polese (2010): ‘Rocking the vote’: new forms of youth organisations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Journal of Youth Studies, 13:5, pp. 615-630

This paper explores the social change and political engagement witnessed in several former socialist countries,... more This paper explores the social change and political engagement witnessed in several former socialist countries, devoting special attention to youth (or student) movements in Georgia and Ukraine. In particular, it explores the relationship between those youth movements and the so-called colour revolutions, suggesting that these revolutions boosted political opportunities for youth movements. By seizing those political opportunities, informally organised groups have been able to become formalised and more active in their respective societies. This explains
why such youth movements have sometimes been perceived as being created overnight while, this article argues, they were only hidden and ready to emerge when opportunities emerged

Parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, September and October 2004

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

Electoral Studies (December 2005)

Roses and Tulips: Dynamics of Regime Change in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, Volume 25, Issue 2-3, 2009, PP. 199-226

The regime changes in Georgia (2003) and Kyrgyzstan (2005) that resulted in the overthrow of Presidents Shevardnadze... more The regime changes in Georgia (2003) and Kyrgyzstan (2005) that resulted in the overthrow of Presidents Shevardnadze and Akaev are widely considered to be part of a common phenomenon of ‘coloured revolution’ in the post-Soviet space. A key factor was the rise of successful opposition movements that dislodged the ruling regimes.
However, in contrast with the widespread notion that opposition unity was a prerequisite for the overthrow of the presidents, opposition parties found it too difficult to coordinate their actions and their leaders could not agree how best to challenge the election results. Neither was it the case that the Rose and Tulip revolutions were orchestrated by Western agencies seeking to induce a change of government so as to further US interests
in the region. Such analyses exaggerate the influence of foreign actors in the Rose and Tulip revolutions, and over-estimate the unity of purpose among the main opposition parties.

The global performance state: a reconsideration of the Central Asian ‘weak state’

by John Heathershaw

A pre-publication paper, forthcoming in the Beyer, Rasanayagam and Reeves volume, 'Performing Politics in Central Asia', under review

Extract: 'We are faced with a contradictory picture regarding the sovereign state which was brought forth unexpectedly... more Extract: 'We are faced with a contradictory picture regarding the sovereign state which was brought forth unexpectedly after the unraveling of the Soviet Union in 1991. The state seems at once omnipresent and perennially absent, omniscient and powerless, omnific and wholly lacking in productive capacity. What is the significance of these gigantic flag-poles and the proliferation of images of statehood across the capitals and countrysides of Central Asian states? Are they merely a symbolic gloss deployed to conceal institutional failure and the lack of the basic materials of statehood (armed forces, balanced budgets and so forth)? Or do they point to a deeper reality of the conditions of statehood in an era of ‘reputation management’ and increasing global connectedness of new media and vastly increased rates of overseas development assistance? This paper seeks to address, conceptually and empirically, this tension found in Political Science studies of Central Asian and other post-colonial states.'

New Great Game or same old ideas? Neo-Sovietism and the international politics of imagining “Central Asia”

by John Heathershaw

John Heathershaw, ‘New Great Game or Same Old Ideas? Neo-sovietism and the International Politics of Imagining “Central Asia”’, in David Dusseault (ed.), The CIS: Form or Substance?, (Helsinki: Kikimora, 2007)

The Tulip Fades:" Revolution" and repercussions in Kyrgyzstan

by John Heathershaw

Perspective
Volume XVII Number 2 (March-April 2007)

Western governments, media outlets and not a small number of academics seized upon the idea of “democratic revolution”... more Western governments, media outlets and not a small number of academics seized upon the idea of “democratic revolution” to explain the March 2005 ousting of the government in Kyrgyzstan. More detailed analyses illustrate the oversights of this account, particularly the role of patronage relations, in providing the means of mobilization. However, this in itself should not lead analysts to deny the role played by the manner in which the revolution has been portrayed. Rather, one must investigate how the Tulip Revolution has been variously interpreted - locally and internationally, radically and conservatively. Together, these multiple explanations challenge the notion of a singular cause of the uprising and the prescience of those who claim to have predicted it. Moreover, as portrayals of events, they are not merely retrospectives, but actually reconstruct the wider political scene. Kyrgyzstan after the revolution departs from ideal-type models not just in its concrete factional patterns of politics and exchange, but in elite and popular political imaginations of what the future might hold. Its political development continues on a post-Soviet—at times neo-Soviet—trajectory, albeit one that offers hope for openness and reconstruction in some limited areas. This essay charts three representations of the Tulip Revolution and their attending repercussions: revolution as a threat to Central Asia and the wider region; a revolution of elites; and revolution as disorder.

Introduction: Discourses of Danger in Central Asia

by John Heathershaw

Chad D. Thompson & John Heathershaw, Introduction, Central Asian Survey, Volume 24, Issue 1, 2005

This is the introduction to the special issue. 'Discourses of Danger in Central Asia' This is the introduction to the special issue. 'Discourses of Danger in Central Asia'

The Practical Representation of Peacebuilding: An (Auto)ethnography of Programme Evaluation in Tajikistan

by John Heathershaw

John Heathershaw, 'The Practical Representation of Peacebuilding: An (Auto)ethnography of Programme Evaluation in Tajikistan', In: Hybrid Forms of Peace: From Everyday Agency to Post-Liberalism, Edited by Oliver P. Richmond and Audra Mitchell, pp.162-187

This essay explores international peacebuilding in post-conflict Tajikistan in terms of its representational practices... more This essay explores international peacebuilding in post-conflict Tajikistan in terms of its representational practices of quantifying, visualizing and narrating ‘success’.  It does so from a position of immersion in the environment of the professional evaluation of aid programmes. From this position, I came to appreciate that peacebuilding in Tajikistan was a hybrid process, with aspects of formal reconciliation and underlying tension, of democratization and domination, of economic growth and exploitation.  International resources for peacebuilding were co-opted and redeployed by local elites, who served as gatekeepers of interventions.  The practice of peacebuilding was the product of this kind of contestation between international interveners, local and national elites and the recipients of programmes. Academic researchers have diagnosed this as ‘hybridity’

"Imomi Azam is the Father of the Tajiks": Religious Identity and the State in Tajikistan

by Daniel Beben

Paper presentation for the 12th Annual Central Eurasian Studies Society Conference, Ohio State University, September 2011.  Co-authored and presented with Zohra Ismail Beben.

The Ismāʿīlīs in the Great Game: Āghā Khān I, the British, and the Ismāʿīlīs of Central Asia in the Nineteenth Century

by Daniel Beben

M. A. Thesis, Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University, 2010