See Also:
• CESS 2005 Conference Program
Contents of This Page:
Author Index of CESS Conference Abstracts
Note: The abstracts below are listed under the first author -- for information on co-authors when there is more than one author, see the Conference Program.
Institute of Foreign Languages/NGO Crisis Center "Sabr"; mehribon1980@yahoo.com
The NGO Crisis Centre "Sabr" works to improve the socio-economic position of women, providing support and protection to the most vulnerable members of society, to strengthen their social position, to develop their abilities and to lead independent lives in safe environments. This paper focuses on women's NGOs' development in Uzbekistan's Samarkand region. Non-governmental organizations are rather a new phenomenon in Uzbekistan. "Sabr" was the first crisis centre for women to start its work in the republic. It was only eight years ago, but now, 150 NGOs act in the Samarkand region alone. In 1999, women's NGOs decided to unite their efforts and founded the Union of Women's NGOs of Samarkand region; in 2005, it consists of 25 women's organizations, specializing in a number of different problems. NGOs are an important instrument in developing civil society. By means of distribution of information and through training activity, NGOs are capable of solving many social problems. Since beginning, "Sabr" has rendered assistance to 13,000 women and children through the telephone and 5,000 through face-to-face consultations. More than 25,000 women took part in seminars and trainings in rural areas by Sabr's specialists. Since 2002 "Sabr" began its activity on micro-financial programs, the main aim of which is improvement of poor families' lives in rural regions of Samarkand oblast through development of skills in agricultural technology and entrepreneurship and provision of fair access to agricultural resources for the improvement of families' well-being. Thanks to Sabr's activity, a paragraph on preventing violence against women and girls has been entered in the National Action Plan of the Committee of Women of the Republic of Uzbekistan. "Sabr" was the only NGO from Uzbekistan accredited to the Beijing +10 UN Platform in 2005. This paper will discuss present activities and publications, and the results of the Crisis Center's survey.
Kazakh National Agrarian University; abzhalieva@ok.kz
The problem of the poverty is one of those that make it possible to better understand the trends of what has been going on in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. This paper focused on the most important aspect of poverty problem in Kazakhstani cities. This research paper is dealing with the social and cultural particularities of the poverty in Kazakhstan and investigating of the main reasons of the poverty. I argue that the poverty transformed many of the social institutions and the republic's social structure. The social structure changes, in turn, have influenced to a great extent (and are influencing) human behavior, people's lives and resources. This paper is based on published materials, statistical datas and the results of the sociological survey conducted in 5 Kazakhstani cities -- Almaty, Astana, Oskemen, Aktobe and Shymkent and the results of the case-study of some poor families.
Miami University; akersds@muohio.edu
This paper relates the life history of a Uyghur woman, Aysha Turkistani, whose family moved to Mekkah 50 years ago. The data presented were collected through a series of ethnographic interviews conducted with key informants in Jeddah and Mekkah in 2002. This oral history is not only significant because of what we can learn from it about the lives of Muslims in Central Asia half a century ago, but also because it reveals the trials and tribulations of Central Asians who migrated to Saudi Arabia. The account illustrates further how Islam has historically operated as a transnational belief system bringing together Muslims of all nationalities together in common identify. Finally, the narrative reveals how the institution of hajj has historically facilitated linkages with Islamic communities outside the Middle East, such as Xinjiang in China, and continues to do so today. As such Aysha's story sheds light on the ideological and intellectual flows linking Muslim communities together, contributing to a better understanding of an inadequately documented cultural dynamic.
Institute of Ismaili Studies; saksakolov@iis.ac.uk
This paper will discuss how minorities understand, negotiate and construct their religious identity while living among different religious and ethnic groups in the time of radical cultural, religious, socio-economic and political changes in post-Soviet Tajikistan. The arguments of this paper are based upon a case study conducted among the Pamiri/Ismaili population in Qumsangir district of Tajikistan. Examples for the arguments are drawn from semi-structured interviews with the Pamiri/Ismailis and observation of their daily life. References are made to secondary sources such as documents and reports prepared by both governmental and non-governmental organizations about the socio-economic, cultural and political conditions of the district as well as the literature about global, national and local changes in the context of study The global changes include increase in relationship between the Pamiri/Ismailis living in Tajikistan and the Ismaili community and institutions around the world. At national level the policy of government that promotes secularism, single party ruling and clan domination affects the way minorities identify themselves. In the local context the Pamiri/Ismailis often try to negotiate their religious identity by considering the practices that are common among the majority of population, followers of Sunni form of Islam. Yet despite all these changes it will be argued that individual perception, belief and affiliation with religion often undermines the construction, definition and understanding of religious identity propounded by large forces of society such as globalization, formation of religious community, revival of religious traditions and influences of other religious groups. The finding of this paper will suggest new and useful insights for the academic studies on religious identity, minority issues and civil society in post-Soviet Central Asian societies
University of Cambridge; aa347@cam.ac.uk
This paper focuses on contemporary youth in Turkey. To explore how young people reflect on their limits and opportunities, on social change and on social inequality, I conducted approximately fifty in-depth interviews in Ankara with non-student youth between twenty and thirty years old. This paper puts forward two arguments. 1) The conventional wisdom stating that youth are politically apathetic is misleading. Building on the political anthropology literature, the paper suggests that young people's political attitudes should be studied not only in terms of their political party affiliations, but also in terms of how they understand political power, social inequality, cultural differences, and one's own place within society. 2) In contrast to the growing literature emphasizing the increasing individualization of young people in Turkey, this paper asserts that the majority of young people remain both economically and culturally bound to their families. Furthermore, this paper elucidates the ways in which individualization occurs or fails to occur in Turkey. Studying youth in Turkey, where over fifty percent of the population is under thirty years old, is integral to understanding the current state of the society and its prospects of social change.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania; allard@iup.edu
Initiated in 2001 in collaboration with the Institute of History of Mongolia, the 'Khanuy Valley Project on Early Nomadic Pastoralism in Mongolia' has conducted its many field activities within a 330 square kilometer research area centered on Khanuy valley. The talk reviews the results of investigations focusing on two periods of Mongolia's prehistory: 1) The mapping and excavation of a large number of Bronze Age (ca. 1500-500 BCE) stone built sites and structures of various sizes have revealed a rich ritual landscape characterized by spatial and behavioral consistency, as well as a significant role played by animals and celestial bodies in religious practice. These features are witnessed in the consistent spatial organization and orientation of large ritual sites, as well as in the regular east-southeast orientation of horse heads placed under small mounds at these sites. Analysis of the teeth suggests that most horses died during the late autumn -- early winter, suggesting the possibility of an association with the rising sun at this time of the year. Interestingly, our ethnographic studies in the valley have determined that herders kill horses at this time of the year, and that they consider the head to be of special importance. 2) The talk also discusses the excavation of 28 small circular burials arranged in an arc alongside a large Xiongnu period (3rd century BCE-2nd century CE) ramp-and-platform tomb found at Golmod-2, a cemetery first located by our project in 2001. The talk reviews the dating and contents of the burials, their possible association with the Chinese texts which discuss the Xiongnu, some of the patterns detected among these burials (such as the increasing size of the tombs and age of the interred as one moves up the arc), and compares them to Xiongnu tombs at other sites.
Rice University; oallison@alumni.rice.edu
This paper analyzes why Central Asian media find themselves trapped in the current system of problematic and unfairly enforced laws. I argue that this increasingly paralyzing media situation is the fault of actions of both the Central Asian governments and the media outlets themselves: Controls on and enforcement of media laws in Central Asia have been engineered for the personal benefit of the leadership in each country, specifically for the president and his family. Most media outlets, state-controlled and "independent" alike, regularly disobey the existing laws because of journalists' legal illiteracy and negligence, as well as the highly corrupt business/political environment, which necessitates often-illegal practices. That there has been no regime change in any Central Asian country (as the Tajikistan president was chosen as a result of the war), has magnified the results of such a system, worsening the media situation each year. In this paper, I briefly summarize the written laws and then analyze how they are followed, broken and enforced, pointing out both governments' and media outlets' faults. From this analysis, I demonstrate Central Asian regimes' systematic selective enforcement of laws, as they target those media outlets not under their control. At the same time, these "targeted" non-state media outlets have contributed to their own oppression by acting irresponsibly. I argue in the conclusion how regime change in the current and upcoming elections could either worsen or ameliorate the regional media situation. This study is the result of a year of consultations with lawyers and interviews with journalists, press-freedom groups, human-rights advocates, editors and government officials. It also incorporates organizational and monitoring reports on the media situation, as well as Monroe Price's "enabling environment" theories.
Kutaisi Akaki Tsereteli State University; vamaglobeli@hotmail.com
This paper focuses on John Dos Passos' travel writing, describing his journeys to Georgia. He traveled in our country twice during the first half of the past century, but this fact is not known even to the Georgian literary critics, presumably due to the anti-soviet spirit of his publicistics. During his first journey in 1921 Dos Passos shipped from Turkey to Batumi and later traveled to Tbilisi by train, where he stayed for three weeks. In September, 1928 Dos Passos visited Georgia for the second time. A year earlier together with other American writers he was invited to the 10th anniversary of October Revolution by the Soviet government, but he could not arrive. During his second trip he crossed the Georgian border from Azerbaijan and arrived in Tbilisi, then went to Vladikavkaz, where the American doctor Horsley Gantt was waiting for him. Crossing the Mamisony pass they both reached Oni and stayed there for some days. Their next stop was Kutaisi, where they spent a night at"Hotel de France". I argue that, today when Georgia is on its way of building free and democratic society investigation of Dos Passos' travel writing is very essential, because the observations and opinion of the well-known American writer would be very important in revaluation of the political and cultural processes going on in the '20s of the past century in Georgia. This paper is based on the works published by John Dos Passos: "The Caucasus under the Soviets" (The Liberator, August 22, 1922) and book of travel essays: Orient Express (1927) and In All Countries (1934).
Harvard University; aminova@muohio.edu
This paper focuses on the sixteenth century female saint, Agha-i Buzurg, and her mode of religious expression. The key mode Agha-i Buzurg employed was fairytales to initiate a neophyte to her path, to convey a spiritual message, and explain certain Sufi concepts. Employing modern theories and methodology in the study of religion and social anthropology in this paper, I interpret one of Agha-i Buzurg's fairytales from mystical-religious, social, feminist, and psychological viewpoints. Additionally, I draw parallels between Agha-i Buzurg's tradition and those practiced by contemporary women in Central Asia and parts of Iran (Khorasan). Contemporary women use similar fairy tales in their ceremonies. By thorough examination of these tales and cross-cultural study I argue that the tales can be traced back to an ancient Iranian sacral myth, the myth of creation and rebirth. These tales provide the element that has been devalued by the explicitly male dominated tradition, the female part of the divinity. My paper accounts for the implicit and explicit feminist messages in these tales. I argue that whether it is in the male dominated society of the sixteenth century Bukhara where the Naqshbandiya Sufi order established its authority or in traditional patriarchal societies of contemporary Central Asia and Iran, women have employed distinct ways in observing Islam and practicing Sufism. This paper is based on materials excerpted from Agha-i Buzurg's hagiography and oral narratives of the contemporary Muslim women from Central Asia.
Kazakh Humanitarian Law University, Astana, Kazakhstan; marzhan_aren@mail.ru
This paper examines possible perspectives and outcomes of adoption of the Bologna Declaration for universities of Kazakhstan and Gumilyov Eurasian National University, in particular. This study also provides a new approach to the processes when they are undertaken concurrently in Kazakhstan. The University has adopted an across-the-board amendment to its University Standard and Curricula in order to prepare the system to implement the provisions of the Declaration. The paper will evaluate plans for encouraging the universities to further improve itself while maintaining its own uniqueness, its special features and cultural diversity. It also suggests that the adoption of the Bologna Process will allow to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of universities and to provide it with the opportunity to take advantage of modernization to more effectively make efforts to improve and reform itself. The paper will also outline the ways in which authorities could contribute to addressing this phenomenon. It then argues that the Ministry of Education should take into consideration the uniqueness and special features of Kazakhstan universities located in the heart of Eurasia. The paper is based on the published materials and personal work experience.
Teachers School of Mongolian State University of Education; oyuntungalaga@yahoo.com
The paper considers the immigration of some Russian Buryats to Mongolia between the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the attitude of the Mongols and their Government towards the immigrant Buryats and the present-day situation of Mongolian Buryats. By 1989, there were over 450,000 Buryats living in Russia, Mongolia and China. One of over twenty ethnic groups in Mongolia, Buryats have a unique history, culture and tradition. Currently, 40,600 Buryats live in Mongolia. Buryats have the same ethnic origin as the Mongols but they began to appear under the name Buryats as early as 12-13th century. This Russian Buryat immigration southward to Mongolia had several causes, primarily, the National Independence Movement of the Mongols in 1911 and the National Democratic Revolution in 1921 which helped to develop the nationalistic views of Mongolians and the Buryats who, inspired by the movement, immigrated away to join the Mongolian majority. Military and political pressure caused by the Russian-Japanese War and the Russian Revolution in 1905 may also have influenced the Buryat migration. Also, some Buryats living along the Mongolian border had developed a long trading tradition with the Mongols and also frequently had short-term seasonal movements to Mongolia. All these factors could explain the immigration, but the main reason was, probably, that the Buryats considered themselves, ethnically, part of the whole Mongolian nation. The Mongolian Government took measures to help the immigration by granting the Buryats Mongolian citizenship and giving them land to live on of their own choice. But, although the Russian Government initially disapproved of the immigration, the two Governments finally reached mutual agreement, which resulted in some favorable steps towards the Buryat immigrants. There are many Russian and Mongolian archives relating to the measures taken towards the immigrated Buryats and those who were not granted Mongolian citizenship were sent back to Russia.
Industrial College of the Armed Forces; babuss@ndu.edu
The Bush Administration has produced a comprehensive reconceptualization of the national security rationale for foreign assistance. The scale of the commitment to development aid, and the high priority for democracy promotion as important to US security interests have raised expectations that US foreign policy may now link its interests in democracy and security more closely, and that this could mean more resources and a stronger commitment for US efforts to promote democracy in places like Central Asia. Meanwhile, the breakthroughs for democracy in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan have raised excitement about new opportunities for change. I will argue that while the rationale for closer links between democracy and security is indeed a powerful theme in the Bush II agenda, and that these links make sense from the standpoint of social change theory, there are many factors that will inhibit practical implementation of the dual priorities. This paper will take a close look at the public documents that outline current US approaches to the promotion of economic and political development in Central Asia in order to better understand their underlying assumptions and paradigms about social change, and to assess the prospects for coherence in the new US non-military development policies. The paper will identify areas where democracy promotion may be conducted so as to advance security, given the larger policy context that frames US relations with the Central Asian states, and will offer some recommendations for improving the alignment of assistance programs with security concerns. The paper will also utilize interviews with assistance providers working in the region.
University of Kentucky; vbadaker@hotmail.com
Performance of the energy sector is crucial to improve and sustain economic development, to foster the conditions for stability and economic growth. But definitely the big question is how multinational energy companies are willing to support sustainable development. Present situation in energy sector. The primary money-maker for Kazakhstan is its proven reserves of 35 billion barrels of oil, which has attracted investments from most of America's major oil companies, such as ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil and others. The base for electricity generation is coal -- 80% of power plants use coal. U.S. companies (Access Industries, Inc. and AES, Corp.) are responsible for about 40% of national coal production and 30% of power generating. Present environmental situation. A significant information gap exists in Kazakhstan on issues related to sustainable human development in general, including environmental management. Although some environmental monitoring has been carried out, there is little available environmental data related to particular company performance. An unfavorable ecological situation in energy production regions causes great damage to social as well as economic spheres. U.S. companies operating here have encountered not only the appalling environmental situation and polluting technologies but also pressure from the local public opinion created mainly by various political players. We intend to investigate if privatization of the energy sector in Kazakhstan has provided opportunities for not only economic but also environmental benefits. The population at large is the main target beneficiary of such investigation as the companies' responsibility for emissions of harmful substances will be commensurate with potential risks posed by the waste material.
University of Toronto; sbahry@oise.utoronto.ca
This paper focuses on the special educational problems faced by Tajik, Kyrgyz and Tibetan children in the mountainous western regions of the People's Republic of China. Funding, resources and teaching standards are much lower in the underdeveloped regions of China than in the urbanized, modernized eastern region. These problems exist in their most extreme form in the mountainous western areas of the People's Republic of China inhabited by the Kyrgyz, Tajik and Tibetan nationalities. In addition, education for children in mountainous areas presents extraordinary challenges due to special cultural, ecological, economic, linguistic, social and spiritual conditions. I will argue that standard models of mother-tongue and bilingual schooling are inadequate to provide content relevant enough to justify the expense to families, or to develop sufficient literacy curriculum at higher levels. I will further argue that sending children to boarding schools in central and eastern China, where Mandarin is the medium of instruction is also inadequate. While this approach improves achievement and Mandarin literacy and increases individual educational attainment, it has little effect on the educational levels of the community as a whole and alienates students from their language and culture, preparing them more to leave their community than to contribute to its development. Schooling in these areas needs rethinking. I will propose possible approaches to school organization, languages of instruction, curriculum and teacher development to better fit the mountainous context. This paper is based on published literature on education in China, on education of linguistic and cultural minorities, and on successful innovative programs in rural developing contexts, and on comparisons of educational levels of Kyrgyz, Tajik and Tibetan populations of the western regions with means for all-China and minority population calculated from recent national censuses and provincial
University of Hawaii, Manoa; scottbai@hawaii.edu
This paper will discuss the Russian geographer Petr Semonov and Kazakh ethnographer Chokan Valikhanov and their travels to Semirech'e, the Tian Shan mountains, and the Lake Issyk-kul regions in 1856-1857. Their travelogues represent early attempts by Russian scientists/geographers/ethnographers to cross into under-explored territories in Central Asia to benefit the state's future efforts at colonization. Semonov's and Valikhanov's expeditions were done under the auspices of the Russian Geographical Society, a group dedicated to increasing scientific "understanding" of under-explored lands. Both men painstakingly collected scientific specimens and made notes of the landscape and of the plant and animal life in the region. Both also provided interesting and rare glimpses into the cultures of the Kazakh ("Kirghiz"), Cossack ("Kazak"), and Kyrgyz ("Kara-kirghiz") peoples that they encountered. My findings will be situated in the context of my dissertation project: to illuminate the close connection that science had to the Russian imperialist project in the nineteenth century, and the importance of travel in that process. The further goal of this paper is to place this research into the growing body of theory on travel writing and its relationship to imperialism, including the work of Mary Louise Pratt and others. It can also be looked at through the lens of Edward Said's seminal work on orientalism, though Russian orientalism was quite different than that described by Said in Britain and France. My study employs a similar theoretical approach to the work of Laura Hostetler, who studied Qing China's use of ethnography and geography as tools of imperialism in southwestern China. The source material for this paper includes primary sources written by Semonov and Valikhanov; secondary works on them; studies on Russian science; travel literature theoretical works; sources on the connections between science and imperialism; and important secondary studies on Russian and Central Asian history.
University of Southern California; baimyrza@usc.edu
This paper develops and tests a new theoretical framework for analyzing corruption. In contrast to the existing corruption studies based on rational choice models, this framework is based on the assumption that corrupt behavior is not only an expression of individuals' nature, but is the function of complex factors, that include characteristics of individuals, environment, and interactions between them. The theory further distinguishes between formal and informal institutions and environmental factors. This paper draws upon findings from organizational behavior literature and psychological experiments to develop a theory of interaction to explain how governance environment where authority is exercised impacts corruption. It argues that the environment more conducive to open and two-way interaction between individuals at different governance levels is less favorable for corruption, whereas closed governance systems where interaction goes only from top to down breeds self-centered and dysfunctional behavior. This framework has important implications in the context of globalizing world where governments' capacities to provide public good and legitimacy of formal institutions are increasingly being challenged.
Coudert Brothers LLP; mikepbarry@aol.com
Uzbekistan's probable natural gas reserves are approximately 5.1-6.25 trillion cubic meters, with commercial reserves of about 1.62 trillion cubic meters, making Uzbekistan the world's 10th largest natural gas producer. Commercial gas reserves in Uzbekistan are double those located in Britain, which is Europe's largest gas producer, and the Uzbek national holding company Uzbekneftegaz claims the country has developed less than 23% of its gas resources. Given these natural advantages, Uzbek authorities have been working hard to attract foreign investors into exploration and production in Uzbekistan. Efforts include a much publicized April 2000 "Oil And Gas Investments Decree" intended to promote Uzbek oil and gas, and the December 2001 introduction of a production sharing agreement (PSA) law. This article will put these efforts into context by examining the Uzbek hydrocarbon industry. Using Uzbek statutes and available data, this will then be followed by a detailed analysis of the development of a PSA regime in Uzbekistan, provisions of the law, problems with the law, and the limited-to-modest success it has had in attracting foreign investment into Uzbekistan. Such analysis will add to our understanding of how to increase investment into Central Asia.
University of Oxford; kenneth.bauer@linacre.ox.ac.uk
This paper describes the types of development policies and projects that have been introduced in pastoral areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) since the 1980s. It analyses why certain kinds of development interventions -- particularly fencing -- have been widely introduced and disseminated. The rhetoric and reality of pastoral development in Tibet since the reform period are also considered. The case is made that the local-state relationship in this era is understood by both pastoralists and state agents as one of dependence and underdevelopment. This paper observes important continuities in pasture boundaries, livestock movements, and conflict resolution mechanisms since Tibet's 'peaceful liberation' by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the 1950s. Throughout the tumultuous shifts in Tibet's political economy during and after Mao's rule, central features of pastoral production have remained consistent. Persistence in patterns of land management may be interpreted as a form of resistance to the state (c.f. Scott 1990). However, this paper argues through the lens of historical ecology, and sees these social behaviors as means of optimizing production within the constraints of the Tibetan environment, regardless of what state structure was in place. The paper closes with a discussion of plausible scenarios for pastoral development in the TAR, especially in the context of China's "Great Leap Westward" and accelerated economic immigration by non-Tibetans with the completion (anticipated in 2007) of a railroad connecting Tibet to Qinghai Province, and from there to the rest of mainland China.
Boston University; abaykal@bu.edu
This paper focuses on the pressures on Uzbek society after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and argues that the increasing socio-economic stratification undermines the influence of social norms that emphasize cooperation and reciprocity between community members, and intensifies social mistrust. Seventy years of Soviet rule had ingrained socialist ideals, like economic equality and social justice, as societal norms. These were reinforced by Central Asian and Islamic traditions that held the community responsible for assisting less fortunate members. These values have been contradicted by the daily realities of making a living in a cash economy in which people jockey for status within new hierarchies. Uzbek households have always depended on social networks and have manipulated them for various economic and political purposes. But in the post-Soviet context, social networks, rituals of sharing, and the informal economy now promote the accumulation of wealth among the elite, rather than redistributing wealth to the poor. High-level bureaucrats and a new class of wealthy entrepreneurs have the largest social networks and benefit the most as goods, food and authority flow upward in new social and ritual channels, but rarely flow back down. Although Uzbek people under socialism were used to inequality of status, now suddenly poverty, particularly with the loss of benefits they enjoyed under state socialism, came alongside inexplicable wealth. Rather than explain this in political or economic terms, ordinary Uzbeks try to deal with uncertainty and anxiety by connecting the magical and the mundane: conspicuous consumption and display for status is followed by fear of others' envy and mutual accusations of magic and witchcraft. This paper is based on fourteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in Samarkand, Uzbekistan during 2002 and 2003.
Harvard University; beshimov@muohio.edu
Articles such as Thomas Carothers' The End of the Transition Paradigm have correctly questioned the putative transition to democracy in post-communist states. As part of this the project of understanding de-democratization obtained great urgency. De-democratization implies direction and signifies the process by which a country once moving toward democracy begins to move in the opposite direction toward authoritarianism. The experience of and the literature on post-communist countries suggest that there is little uniformity in the reasons for de-democratization across time and space. To shed further light on this issue this paper is guided by a specific puzzle. Why certain post-Soviet countries, like Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, heavily dependent on Western financial support and the concomitant political conditionalities, initially showing strong commitment to democracy and the free market, embodying a vibrant civil society sector, and experiencing no government turnover that could account for political change, have began to reverse toward some forms of authoritarianism in the latter part of the 1990s? This paper will argue that de-democratization is the result of (a) state weakness, (b) authoritarianism-conducive institutions that were erected in the early 1990s to push through radical economic reform, and (c) corruption. First this paper will demonstrate that de-democratization is a very real phenomenon and that certain countries, such as Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, became less free in the 2000s than they were in the early 1990s. Also, this paper will argue that in understanding the reasons for de-democratization, it is important to understand subtly the types of authoritarian or semi-authoritarian that replace initially democratizing polities. Because this paper will analyze countries that depend significant on sources of foreign (mostly Western) support, this paper will end with reflections on the methods for measuring the extent of international influence on post-Soviet polities.
Des Moines Area Community College; gkbeynen@dmacc.edu
The paper is a continuation of a paper read at the 2003 CESS Annual Meeting in Boston, which discussed the riddle of King Saridan's abdication. This abdication would be incomprehensible were it not for a second abdication the poem: King Parsadan's. Saridan's abdication fits in with the overall characteristic of events happening in India: impulsive with disastrous consequences. Parsadan's abdication fits with Arabian events: well planned with positive results. Still, the question remains why an otherwise uninteresting event such as an abdication figures so prominently in the poem. The answer is inspired by the Mexican hospitality formula: "My house is your house," and stresses the dangers of hospitality. Like any human transaction, hospitality is based on reciprocity and making oneself vulnerable. To put it bluntly: the host could spend himself poor by following the laws of hospitality, were it not that he can count on someone, his guest or someone else, to extend hospitality to him. Still, there is a risk involved in hospitality. King Saridan's impulsive gift spells disaster for his son. The same problem is treated in 'Guest and Host,' where the host has to pay for his hospitality with his life. The paper concludes that we find in Georgian literature, and perhaps in Georgian society as well, a deep anxiety caused by the splendid tradition of hospitality. Each hospitality act is a gamble or an investment when people make themselves vulnerable to keep a social network functioning.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; biranm@mscc.huji.ac.il
The Chaghadaid Khanate is often left out of the discussion of cross-cultural contacts inside and outside the Mongol empire, yet given its location as the Mongol "middle kingdom" the vigorous contacts between the empire's edges (especially between Yuan China and Ilkhanid Iran) must have left their mark in the Chaghadaid realm as well. Based on a wide variety of Muslim, Chinese and archaeological sources, this paper aims to bring into the limelight the religious and cultural developments in the poorly-documented Chagahadaid realm. Being among the first regions conquered by the Mongols, Turkestan and Transoxania provided Mongol imperial venture with great quantities of artisans, soldiers, and experts who were transferred into the empire's edges. To partly compensate for this brain (and hands) drain, the Mongols brought Chinese, Tanguts and Khitans into Central Asia, thereby creating a stimulus for creating a more cosmopolitan society. After 1260, even though the Chaghadaids were plagued by internal and external quarrels more than the other khanates, both Qaidu and several Chaghadaids khans took active interest in promoting scholarship and trade. The paper concentrates on two aspects of Chaghadaid culture: Muslim religious learning, in its both ulama and sufi facets, following its coping with the Mongol invasion and the Chaghadaids' infidel- and later Muslim- rule, and its continued connections with the greater Islamic world. The second is Central Asia's commercial links inside and outside the Mongol empire, mainly with China, India, Iran, the Golden Horde, Egypt and Europe. Comparing the religious and commercial activity in the Chaghadaid realm with the situation in pre-Mongol Central Asia, the paper highlights aspects of continuity and change deriving from Mongol rule, and argues that the cosmopolitanism of Tamerlane's empire was built not only on Ilkhanid models but also on the developments in the Chaghadaid realm.
Harvard University; dbrophy@muohio.edu
Up till now, the problem of Uyghur identity construction has been studied from an almost exclusively anthropological perspective. Little western research has been done on the history of the Uyghur community in the Soviet Union during the period of national delimitation, and the process by which a re-invented 'Uyghur' identity was fostered among settled Turkic-speakers of East Turkestani origin. In this paper I have set out to trace some of the key events and debates which formed part of that process. In doing so I provide evidence which challenges certain aspects of the standard account of this period, in particular the role of the 1921 Tashkent conference. In 1921 the term 'Uyghur' was not used an ethnic designation, but as an umbrella term for various peoples with family roots in Eastern Turkestan. It was not until several years later that the term took its place beside other ethnonyms in the Soviet Union, provoking debate and opposition in the Soviet Uyghur press. This paper is largely based on the recently published writings of leading Uyghur activists and journalists from the 1920s, and focuses on the role of the Uyghur Communist Abdullah Rozibaqiev. My paper attempts to demonstrate the importance of basing the study of Uyghur history on Uyghur language sources, rather than Russian or Chinese materials alone.
Kazakh Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research; lchampeny@kimep.kz
The American cultural prototype of the library is an institution of freedom: users enter the library without restraint, browse open stacks without restriction, and borrow items without fee. America and like-minded allies aspire to extend the model of open library access to former Soviet republics, assuming that open access to information leads to open, democratic societies. This paper discusses two recent efforts to implement open information access in Central Asian university libraries. Literature on the cultural construction of social institutions is consulted to examine the pre-existing Islamic and Soviet library traditions, with attention to both the library's functional role within educational institutions and its ideological role in education to change the larger society. Local doubts about and resistance to open information access are considered within the context of literature on the management of institutional change. The paper concludes with an assessment of the economic and political costs of providing freely accessible information to the case study libraries, their encompassing institutions and societies, and to all evolving democracies, and reports steps that can be taken to minimize and meet these costs in educational development projects.
George Mason University; jchriste@gmu.edu
Jessica Woodworth is an American filmmaker (Princeton '93, Stanford MA in Documentary '99), currently residing in Belgium, has been working on films out in Mongolia since '97. Her first documentary there was Urga Song (1999). She is married to Belgian filmmaker, Peter Brosens, who has been making films in Mongolia since 1993. I will present their work and their thoughts on the Mongolian film industry -- both past and present.
Harvard University; christia@muohio.edu
This paper attempts to ascertain the rationale behind alliance formation among the main ethnic groups in Afghanistan (Pasthuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras) during the Afghan Civil Wars. (1978-1989; 1991-1998). More specifically, this paper is interested in establishing the role ethnic hierarchy and ethnic distance (defined as proximity of groups based on shared history, culture, traditions, religion, language etc) played in the formation of these alliances. Is there a broadly shared understanding of ethnic distance within and across groups in Afghanistan? Does it vary based on locale and tribal affiliation? Did it change during the war? The paper tries to establish whether the understanding of ethnic distance was exogenous or endogenous to the conflict, i.e. whether the groups decided who to ally with based on ethnic proximity or whether power considerations relating to the conflict defined the alliances that were later recast in ethnic terms. A secondary review of the literature on the Afghan civil wars seems to point to an instrumental understanding and use of ethnicity that fluctuated and changed during the course of the wars. The author expects to research and test this finding through interviews and fieldwork, which will be conducted in Afghanistan over the summer months of 2005.
London School of Economics and Political Science; s.closson@lse.ac.uk
My paper will address the theoretical and empirical questions relating to corruption as a factor in the lack of economic reform and business development in Georgia. In particular, the paper intends to answer what accounted for such a high degree of corruption in 1990s, examining the role of regional stakeholder's networks in controlling energy resources in several regions of Georgia. The paper will examine Soviet political, economic and social structures and practices that transcended the transition period and contributed to corruption. It should provide some insight into the key stakeholders, their resources, and the network of activity responsible for fostering a climate of corruption in the post-Soviet space, particularly the South Caucasus. Research obtained for this paper comes from over 70 interviews in Georgia conducted over a two-year period in 3 regions (e.g. Adjaria, Samskhte-Javakheti, and Samegrelo) as well as the collection of statistical data and other economic information from various Georgia governmental agencies.
Occidental College; richmond@oxy.edu
This paper analyzes the flaws in Russian constructs of Islamism in the North Caucasus and the effects these misinterpretations have upon political and military policies in the region. First, the Russian concept of Islamism in the North Caucasus as a strictly political ideology fails to take into consideration the nature of the Islamic revival there, where ignorance of conventional Islamic theology has allowed Salafi (Wahhabi) missionaries to represent their unorthodox version of Islam as the canonical religion. Thus, any assault upon the political dimensions of Salafism is perceived as an assault upon Islam. Second, the Russian view of Salafism is monolithic and fails to recognize that not all branches of the Salafi movement aim at the establishment of Islamic rule. Third, this monolithic construct is applied to other movements in Islam which do not engage in anti-governmental activity; as with the growing Nur Movement, which would actually assist the Federal government's attempts to stabilize the region and undermine radical Salafi influence. The results of this "one policy fits all" treatment of Islamism have been escalation of violence in Daghestan, and the initial stages of anti-governmental activities in the formerly quiescent region of the Northwest Caucasus. I argue that the necessary measures should be acknowledgement by local enforcement agencies of the multiple forms of Islamic forms currently active in the North Caucasus, non-uniform treatment of them, and support of imams versed in canonical Islam. If these changes are not made, the North Caucasus will undergo increasing destabilization, impacting upon both the Russian Federation and the Republic of Georgia. This paper is based upon extensive research into Islamic movements and published materials on the North Caucasus, interviews with scholars and political figures in the region, as well as with members of the Nur movement in Turkey and Russia.
Faculty of Humanities, Eotvos Lorand University of Sciences (ELTE), Budapest, Hungary; fpcsirkes@freemail.hu
The fame of Mir Ali Shir Nava'i (1441-1501), a key figure of Timurid literature in particular and Turkic literature in general, well exceeded the Timurid realm. Popular in the Ottoman Empire as well, he became the subject of imitation, found his way into collections of biographies of poets (tezkeres), and glossaries were compiled for the vocabulary of his works. The Ottoman reception of his oeuvre has hitherto been largely interpreted in scholarship as the natural enchantment felt by Ottoman Turks toward a fellow-Turk's literary achievements. I endeavor to put this view in a different light, suggesting that in the beginning, beside the fact that Nava'i wrote in Turkic, there were at least two additional motifs for his popularity amongst the Ottomans. On the one hand, thanks partly to its cultural propaganda, Timurid culture enjoyed tremendous prestige throughout the Turko-Iranian world; while on the other, Nava'i followed the same Persian models as the Ottomans. In other words, I argue that his works, though composed in Turkic, were Persian-like enough to be appreciated in Constantinople as well, representing an ideal the Ottomans wanted their own poetry to match. The proposed paper is both a reevaluation of relevant data already known to scholarship, like tezkeres, official correspondence, poetic works, and also a presentation of sources hitherto unknown or neglected. It is hoped that the paper is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the emergence of Ottoman and Eastern Turkic (Chagatay) literary identity.
Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard; nildalkesen@yahoo.com
Until Ghazan Kahn's conversion to Islam, yasa of Chinggis Khan had been the only rule according to which they conducted social, political and economical matters. But after conversion, they also applied to sharia in political and social affairs. So uniqueness of yasa lasted. From this time onwards, tension between yasa and sharia took place especially in the matters of gender relations. Baghdad Khatun's case is very important example for this duality. Baghdad Khatun who was daughter of Amir Chupan of Ilkhans and also wife of Shaikh Hasan-i Buzurg (Jalayirid). Chupan became senior amir in 1307 and he always became loyal to Ilkhans and followed yasa in the state affairs. For example his son Timurtash Pasha who was governor of Anatolia, revolted against the Ilkhans. Amir Chupan acted according to yasa and went Anatolia with his army, seized his son and brought him in presence of Abu-Said for his punishment. But when Abu Said wanted him to give his daughter Baghdad Khatun, he refused in other words he first time in his long career, disobeyed yasa. Amir Chupan as a pious Muslim, refused this offer and acted according to sharia which forbid marriage of a married woman. Of course, Amir Chupan's piousness could not be only reason for his refusal, there were other political reasons. But this event became turning point both for the Ilkhanid dynasty and Chubanids whose members were influential amirs and governors and became very powerful politically, militarily and economically in the Khanate. This rivalry firstly broke out with this event seriously. In this paper, tension between sharia and yasa will be examined during Ilkhanid period from political and social perspectives by using first hand Persian sources and academic studies of scholars, related to Ilkhanids.
Indiana University; sdaneshg@indiana.edu
This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the father of modern classical music of Azerbaijan and the East. Among Uzeyir Hajibeyov's numerous full length operas, we encounter the historical figure and the folk hero, Koroğlu (premiered in 1937), who, like Robin Hood, rebels against the tyranny of the khans and pashas and gets his support from ordinary peasants. After explaining the historical settings of the hero Koroğlu, I will discuss Uzeyir Hajibeyov's opera and how he transforms a folk hero into a national hero. This was a dangerous undertaking which could have cost him his carrier and possibly his head during the Stalin era. In Uzeyir Hajibeyov's Opera Koroğlu, the hero of the folk tradition is elevated to a national hero. Of particular interest in my research is the role of Uzeyir Hajibeyov in the aggrandizement of Koroğlu into a hero, which could have cost him his Life. Yet like the characters of Wagnerian Operas, our hero, Uzeyir Hajibeyov, gains enormous popularity and he received the highest state order of the Soviet Union from Stalin himself.
Université de Montréal; roxane.de.la.sablonniere@umontreal.ca
Debates surrounding different philosophies of education have been at the center of intellectual inquiry for centuries (e.g. Socrates). The question of maximizing teacher effectiveness and student learning has been paramount in many societies. This question has become especially salient in the context of drastic social and political changes that have taken place in many parts of the world, such as Central Asia and Mongolia. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, teachers and students are confronted with new ways of thinking, which are challenging their understanding of how to promote efficient learning. The educational vestiges of Soviet education encourage a teaching approach in which the students are considered passive receivers of the information that is provided to them by the expert teacher. Currently, in Central Asia and Mongolia, this approach is being challenged by a learning approach in which learners are at the center of their own learning. Students are thus expected to be active and responsible for their education. The teacher acts mostly as a mentor or as a guide. In this paper, the challenges of applying and developing this different learning approach in Central Asia and Mongolia will be discussed within the framework of a Normative Theory of Social Change (Taylor & de la Sablonnière, 2005). Specifically, the difficulty of implementing a learning approach in higher learning institutions is explained by the lack of normative support from the majority of teachers and students who continue to adhere to the traditional Soviet teaching approach. If institutions want to promote a learning approach, the minority supporting it must become more vocal, self-assured and consistent. Only then will effective changes in the educational system become a reality, producing students who are active thinkers.
Baskent University; demirag@baskent.edu.tr
This study is an attempt to analyze EU policies towards Southern Caucasus and their impacts on Turkey. The EU's interest in the region in the wake of independence remained basically in the economic sphere, limited especially to economic aid, since economic aid was thought to be sufficient for the solution of the region's problems. With the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement concluded in 1999 in Luxembourg, the EU interest in the region has changed, as the EU has decided to enhance its political profile in the region in addition to its economic interests. This study deals basically with the changes in EU's policies from 1999 to date. The EU policy towards the region can be analyzed in two periods. First, the study will discuss the EU support during the 1990-1999 period in relation with the economic and technical aid offered to the region. This part focuses on the EU's choice to be on the backside in the issues relating to the solution of the regional problems and to the establishment of stability in the region. Second, the study attempts to analyze the EU's active policies since 1999 in terms of changes in EU policies as well as the causes of this change and the importance of the region for the EU. In this context, the impacts of the EU policies over South Caucasia and on Turkey are also within the borders of this discussion. The study will conclude by discussing that political and economic stability cannot be reached without solving the problems in the region, and instability will eventually threaten European security and stability in the long run. In this context, the importance of the EU in the establishment of peace and stability in the region and the role which can be played by Turkey in this framework are also to be discussed.
University of Kentucky; adeyoung@hotmail.kg
The collapse of the Soviet Union meant the collapse of the economies and communities that surrounded and nurtured most of the mountain schools of Kyrgyzstan. This paper will attempt to describe the several complete and incomplete secondary schools of At-Bashi, using qualitative descriptive methods and interviews with key school teachers, directors and parents of the schools. The work is part of a larger ethnographic study of the coping strategies used in rural schools of Kyrgyzstan today to survive the "transition" to a post-Soviet society. The particular characteristics and issues of mountain schools will be discussed for this presentation.
Pepperdine University; alexander.diener@pepperdine.edu
At present there remain over one hundred different ethnic groups on Kazakhstani territory. Most members of these groups descend from families and often-small communities that have lived on "Kazakhstan's" soil for multiple generations. For many, the prospect of living in another place, even if that place were to be their ethno-national kin-state, would be akin to moving into "diaspora." This is because they, like their parents and often grandparents, have become acculturated to the lifestyle, language, climate, and customs of their local-scale homelands within Kazakhstan. Few, however, have been able to reconcile their sense of local territorialization with the changes occurring at the state scale of place. The notion of a Kazakhstani (civic national) identity has yet to penetrate very deeply among the majority of peoples of the state. They continue to regard their ethnic identities as primary, with the abstract notion of Kazakhstani citizenship taking a distant second or perhaps third. This essay reviews survey and interview data derived from fieldwork conducted in 2001-2002 pertaining to the perception of Kazakhstani nationalization among non-titular peoples. The goal of this essay is to enhance understanding of the challenges faced by Kazakhstan's government in constructing a homeland for an ethnically diverse population. Components of this population are currently negotiating their homeland conceptions, between a variety of kin-states, a host-state (Kazakhstan), and the local places that have, at least in part, sustained their ethnic identities for decades.
Aga Khan Humanities Project for Central Asia; doolbekova@akhp.org
Recent events in Kyrgyzstan on March 24-25, 2005 have been described by some political analysts as revolutionary, an attempt to overthrow a corrupt regime, taking control and responsibility for a creating a new order. I am afraid that is not what happened, as I perceived it. I doubt that the young people who were involved in the mayhem were politically or morally motivated. They were looting shops, using the political slogans as a cover. I would say that it also results from the transition process in the education system, because society has youth with low understanding of civic responsibility and patriotic spirit. I believe that studying the humanities gives people a deeper understanding of these things and develops critical and analytical skills, to be able to examine the social processes taking place today in Central Asian region. What, how and who should teach are vitally important questions for the future development of education in Central Asia. For the answers, I will share Faculty Development Programs' experience with the implementation of an innovative interdisciplinary cross-cultural undergraduate humanities curriculum and modern teaching methods developed by AKHP, an NGO operating in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. I will describe AKHP's effort to promote professional development among teachers as well as emphasize how AKHP gives instructors an opportunity to be creative in the teaching process, learn how to choose their own content and materials, prepare their own lesson plans, develop new teaching methods, and react to changing situations. AKHP is overcoming the obstacles involved in implementing a non-state curriculum at state universities and carrying out faculty training to teach instructors new methods, and thereby assisting the reformation of education systems in Central Asia. As a result, we are better able to prepare our young people to address the great challenges facing this rapidly changing region.
Georgetown University; lizadoo@msn.com
Many countries in Eastern Europe and Eurasia depend on nuclear power generation, and the use of research reactors and radioactive sources for energy, public health, education and scientific research. For this reason, there is currently a high level of international attention to nuclear safety and security issues in the region. Since September 11, 2001 increased concern about nuclear terrorism has prompted efforts to promote physical security of nuclear facilities, and upgrade radiation protection and radioactive waste management, and help prevent and respond to illicit trafficking of nuclear material and other radiation sources. This paper presents an overview of nuclear programs in Central Asia, including political and scientific aspects of their development over the past decade, and obstacles and opportunities in the decade ahead. Problems associated with creating regulatory systems for control of radiation sources and practices will be discussed. Current multilateral programs and bilateral cooperation directed toward this goal will be outlined, with particular attention paid to their influences on intra regional cooperation. Prospects for increased intra regional cooperation within South Caucasus, Transcaspian, and involving Kazakhstan will be suggested.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; ldruke@mit.edu
The objective of this paper is to center the discussion around the development of regimes focused on refugee issues. In several countries, especially in the CIS, the authorities dealing with refugees are often involved with a number of other areas such as voluntary- and forced migration, demography, displaced persons, immigration and illegal immigration. In fact, the number of individual asylum applications submitted in these 12 countries is relatively small, being a total of 16 265 in 1999, of whom 71 % from Afghanistan . Governmental human rights institutions are only slowly developing inthis region and are not considered in detail. As elsewhere, they have a role to play to help uphold fair and efficient refugee regimes for individual and group refugee protection, and problems of detention and refoulement. Without intending to provide an exhaustive account of all the facets, it is hoped that this study will contribute to a better understanding of challenges and difficulties concerning these issues as well as indicating present and future opportunities in this geographical area. Ten years after the break up of the Soviet Union, stake-holders at the governmental and non-governmental level in post-Communist countries in transition are yet to gain the necessary experience to deal with refugees more fully in line with interntional standards. Nevertheless, compared to the extensive experience of Western countries in developing their refugee framework over 50 years, this paper intends to show a substantial progress made in the Central Eurasia in the field of asylum in a relatively short time since 1990, the beginning of the transition.
Corporative Fund Energy Efficiency and Cleaner Production Center; natdruz@mail.ru
There is a significant potential for increased energy efficiency in buildings in many cities of the NIS and also in Almaty, the biggest city of Kazakhstan. This fact has been confirmed through the Energy Auditing and Energy Monitoring programmes implemented by the Energy Efficiency and Cleaner Production Centre within the long-term Norwegian Capacity Building Programme sponsored by the MFA of Norway. The energy costs constitute a substantial part of the Municipal (Akimat) budget of Almaty. To reduce the energy consumption and costs, it is necessary to renovate and implement energy efficiency measures in the buildings. Through previous programmes, and through discussions with the city authorities, it has been confirmed that there are several barriers preventing implementation of energy efficiency programmers in Municipal buildings. Examples are the subsidised energy tariff structure and lack of mechanisms allowing savings from energy efficiency investments to be used to repay loans. These barriers normally are connected to the current legislation and energy policy in Kazakhstan. For reduction of these barriers and develop local capacities, it would be beneficial to develop a long-term strategy for energy efficiency in the Municipal buildings, a strategy based on the existing Municipal energy policy. This Municipal Energy Efficiency Planning should include all energy consuming sectors owned, operated or subsidised by the Municipality (utilities, buildings, street lighting, etc.). The first session of this Programme for the Almaty city Municipality was successfully implemented in March 2005. About 18 employers (the Heads, Senior Specialists of several Departments) of the Municipality took part in the first session. The next stage will be creation of a database of Almaty Municipal Buildings. The database will be important tool for the implementation of profitable energy consumption management and energy saving projects for the municipal buildings of Almaty.
University of Michigan; edubuiss@umich.edu
In post-Soviet Kazakhstan, which groups have a real say in how their country will be governed or what state priorities should be? How do conflicting interests constrain one another? In this paper, I argue that though rural Kazakhs are the single most disenfranchised group in Kazakhstan, they are a group with what is potentially an incredibly effective voice. That voice is AITUS, a wildly popular improvisational poetry contest, televised live on national television. Poets representing different regions and clans of the country use cultural history and metaphor to provide critical commentary on current socio-political events. Poets decry corruption, censorship, and lack of attention to environment and social conditions in their country, as well as predominant use of Russian language and continued dependence on Russia in the post-Soviet era. Contemporary aitus sponsors are members of the president's political party. They wish to be associated with and support popular cultural projects in the grander scheme of ethno-national state building. However, because their private and state business interests are heavily Russia-dependent, and because media/speech/press in Kazakhstan is state-controlled and is required to present Kazakhstan's government in a positive light, aitus sponsors wish to limit outspoken criticism and place pressure on poets to watch what they say. Learning about aitus and the dilemma faced by its sponsors provides valuable insight for anthropologists and regional specialists theorizing change in the post-Soviet world. My work shows that poetry is a central source of community and empowerment for Kazakhs, and that freedom of expression is threatened not by direct censorship, but by a complex intermeshing of culture and elite political and economic self-interest in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. Material for this paper comes from ongoing linguistic and ethnographic fieldwork in the region.
University of Kansas; anthlinguist@ku.edu
Discourse data reveals that interrogative marking in Inner Asian Turkic (Salar, and also Sarigh Yoghur and Uyghur) is far more complex than the simple use of one enclitic particles (usually =mV). The Inner Asian Turkic language have a range of interrogative enclitic particles which also function as non-interrogative modal particles in some utterances. According to published descriptions of the Salar, for example, the particles mu and u~o occur in ye-no questions (sen varghur o~mu? 'Will you go?') However, discourse data indicates that the choice is determined by the interlocutors' assumptions about the newness and certainty of the information. Confirmation of information, requires mi (~u): sen varghur mi~u? 'Will you go?' Yet another particle, i, is used for emphatic or ironic utterances: ani daner i? "Do you (really) know him (or not)?" This pragmatic conditioning of particles is likely copied from local languages, such as Tibetan, with strong evidentiality/inferentiality systems. We hypothesize that this combined interrogative-evidentiality system observable in Sarigh Yoghur and Salar may best be considered a contact-induced change deviating from the Turkic norm. We briefly survey the interrogative and evidential particles of neighboring languages to strengthen this hypothesis.
Bethel College, Newton, KS; sharoneicher@hotmail.com
This is material from a book chapter for a project that outlines aspects of transitional development in Kazakhstan. This chapter explores the cultural components of corruption, from defining corrupt acts to establishing the limitations of such definitions in a former Soviet Republic. Corruption is omni-present in the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. This chapter explores how that came to be, how this impacts citizens' lives, and what is needed to rein in corruption. The book goes into print later this year.
Charles University; vera.exnerova@volny.cz
This paper focuses on the local authorities in Soviet Uzbekistan and their loyalties and perceptions of own Muslim identity after decades of harsh Soviet atheistic policies in the 1970s and 1980s. Islam has always played a major and specific role in Central Asia. The Sovietization policies applied from the 1920s onwards had tried to change the local traditional society by outwardly eradicating Islam from public life. However, in deeper context, only small changes had been achieved and their scale and effect are questionable and must be subjected to further historical research. I argue that contrary to both Soviet theory of eradication of Islam and Western approach of nearly untouched Muslim society the local communities had underwent serious changes regarding forms and functions of the social institutions. This can be especially observed among local authorities, which were both representatives of the Soviet regime and members of local communities. I argue that the standard interpretations of the processes which are looked upon through the dichotomy of traditional/modern are not applicable in this case and propose alternative methodology and social model to the current discourse while taking into account the specifics of Islam not only as one of world religions but also as a social system as it is. I believe that a sound analysis of the local authorities' behavior will lead to better understanding of the Muslim society changes in the Soviet Central Asia and will contribute to deeper analysis of the current processes taking place in the region. This paper is based on archival materials from the National Archive of the Russian Federation, ethnological data of Russian academicians working in the field in the 1970s-1990s and field research (both from Ferghana Valley), and other Russian, Uzbek and Western published materials.
American University of Beirut; mf20@aub.edu.lb
This paper examines the architectural patronage of the shrine of Ali al-Rida in Mashhad by the Timurid Sultan Shahrukh, his wife Gawhar Shad and their successors, under whose patronage Mashhad evolved into a major pilgrimage center at the heart of the Timurid Empire. It questions the pertinence of a "Shi'i" label for Mashhad within the religious context of the fifteenth century, and argues that under the Timurids, Mashhad was fashioned into a quintessential Islamic shrine with a universal appeal, that drew from Muslims' deeply felt love for the Prophet and his family. The Shahrukhids actively patronized the shrine, establishing an alliance with the shrine's caretakers, the Razavi sayyids, investing in its architectural fabric, and expanding its landholdings through extensive endowments. Rather than a means for political appeasement of Shi'i elements in the region, I argue that Timurid patronage reflects the dynasty's will to inscribe itself into the venerable and sacred fabric of the shrine, and reinforces its dynastic claims with Islamic legitimacy.
Michigan State University; freedma5@msu.edu
Studies have found that U.S. news media now devote less newspaper space, airtime, and financial and staff resources than in the past to foreign news, particularly in what are deemed "peripheral" geographic regions such as Central Asia. That creates more competition among "foreign" stories to get into print or onto the air, with editors and news directors exercising professional judgment in selecting among the competitors. Novelty ranks among the widely accepted standard Western news values, and it is no surprise that stories about a quirky ruler, law or governmental policy may edge out more "serious" stories in that competition. This study examines the extent to which mainstream Western news organizations devote space and time to ridiculing President Saparmural Niyazov, his so-called "cult of personality" and his arguably bizarre policies and practices and thus distort their portrayal of the county. The study also discusses the implications of such media coverage for Western understanding of Turkmenistan and its issues because one consequence is that audiences lose the opportunity to become informed about serious public policy issues that may directly or indirectly affect them and their own country in such matters as economics, security, politics, human rights, public health, energy, the environment, development, and religious and cultural movements.
Ching-Yun University; jkfu@cyu.edu.tw
The Uyghur, literally meaning "allied" or "united," are a Turkic people. Their origins can be traced back to Turkish nomads who lived in Siberia region. They became the independent race of the Turks and created an Uyghur kingdom in 744 AD, but were forced to leave their homeland in 840 AD. It was then that most of them immigrated to western China , now called The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The XUAR represents almost 17% of the territory of the Republic of China (PRC) in which is located at the roadways of China and Central Asia, and has common borders with Mongolia, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The region or parts of it have in the past been referred to by various names, including Uyghuristan and Eastern Turkestan. It was given the Chinese name "Xinjiang" -- which literally means "new frontier" -- in 1884 AD when it was incorporated into the Chinese Manchu Empire. For centuries, the Uyghur were an important link between China and the Central Asia. They not only occupy roughly more 46 per cent of total XUAR fifteen million population., but also about one million Uyghur have being resided in Central Asia region. They lived along the silk road and worked as caravan drivers transporting the east and west goods. The strategic location of their homes allowed them to be the "middlemen" between the Orient and Europe, and its status, highly emphasized by the international communities. Although various political, religious, and ethnic conflicts have characterized the history of the Uyghur. Nevertheless, they are still described as being a "proud, happy, and independent people." They possess a unique blend of cultural elegance all their own. Such a rare mixture of simplicity and sophistication has given the Uyghur a unique charm, much worth discussing.
China Institue of Technology; sinny.fu@gmail.com
Kazakhstan is one of the most important countries for investors because of its rich oil resources and unlimited business potentials. Ever since the former Soviet Union's dissolution in 1990, Kazakhstan needed to create a sovereign legal system in place of the one used under the former Soviet Union. Problems for foreign investors began to appear, due in part to the difficulties in adapting to the language, but more importantly, by not being able to keep up with the government's frequent ramifications of the law. The results were heavy financial losses. This paper will focus on the investment law for foreigners in Kazakhstan, through the analysis of personal experiences, as well as comparisons to the native laws, and bringing them together to help better understand the foreign investors' difficulties and legal privileges. By comparing the investment law for foreigners from 1994 to 2003, tremendous changes in policies are evident; the Kazakh government now treats foreign investors the same as it treats its citizens, and endows the foreigners with the same rights and obligations as the citizens. Finding the right way to survive in the changing legal systems has become a very important issue. This paper is based on Kazakhstan's legal documents, articles from newspapers, such as "Panorama" and Kazakhstan's "Pravda", and numerous magazine articles, such as the "Kontinent".
University of Edinburgh; matteo.fumagalli@ed.ac.uk
The paper examines the leadership and strategy of Uzbek co-ethnics in Kyrgyzstan and looks at the implications of Uzbek political behaviour in terms of group elite, regime and state legitimacy. Among the most unexpected examples of dogs [of nationalism] that did not bark in post-Soviet Central Asia are Uzbek co-ethnics located in the republics bordering Uzbekistan. Case in point is the Uzbek population in Kyrgyzstan where, despite cultural and political grievances, this has consistently supported the incumbent (Akaev) administration for large part of the post-independence era. The question of legitimacy has been rarely investigated with regard to the study of ethno-nationalism. The paper seeks to fill this gap by paying attention to the implications that contestation or questioning of group leadership and strategy thereof have for the legitimacy of the regime and possibly the state. Drawing on small-scale surveys and elite interviews conducted in 2003 and forthcoming in the Summer of 2005, the paper argues that the Kyrgyzstani Uzbek leaders' strategic choices for an amicable form of mobilization and openness to regime co-optation were fundamental in shaping state-group relations in a non confrontational role, eventually contributing to preserve ethnic stability. While both state and group leaderships deserve credit for this, the latter has been recently subject to criticism from within the community. The Uzbek rank and file increasingly see community elites as un-representative, un-accountable, and self-referential. In short, an un-coupling of elite and rank-and-file is apparent. This carries significant consequences because of the close association that Uzbek leaders enjoyed with the recently ousted administration. The paper will also offer some final considerations on the future development of state-group relations in light of recent events in Kyrgyzstan.
Literary Institute, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences; rahilya_g@hotmail.com
One of the special forms of identity among its various forms (geography, government, religion, profession, gender, national language etc.) is a literary text. Literary texts give different models through depicting chains of events, reflecting changing history and culture. In proposed paper we would touch upon some aspects of identity in literature, arguing that symbols, mythical views and some literary means became a carrier of cultural-historical layers of a literary text. We are going to stress four of them throughout the novel "Day of Execution" by Y. Semed-oglu. This novel, being one of the significant works in 80-90 years in Azerbaijani literature, is distinguished by its original creative worldview and has "out literary" factors, which are expressed in four moments such as: historical parallels (Aga Mohammed Gadjar and one of the circles of the Soviet period), sociocultural (period repressions in the middle of the XX century; weaves of contradictions of socialist realism); philosophical (refrain phrase "Today is the Day of Execution" in all three parallel sujet-plot lines; elements of the theory Nukteviye known in Azerbaijan); religion-ethical aspect (a place of a woman in the society in sujet lines which personify different periods of history); mythical images and symbols (the Wolf, which observes peoples behavior in post-war situation; the Rat, which has the some literary function in present; Grand Cave, which represents as invariant of the Earth as the symbol of beginning the life in all of the lines and brings to the Day of Execution when exploded by people). For this analysis related researches on myths, symbols, mentioned in the novel, Nukteviye theory .
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; rgluhih@bgu.ac.il
Almost all former socialist countries are introducing private farming as part of land reform. In countries where such farming existed one or two generations ago, land might be restituted to former owners. In Turkmenistan, where there had been little private agriculture and no small landowners, land was distributed to new beneficiaries. This paper shows that the previous position of the new farm "owners" strongly affected what resources they had (land, capital, water) and how effectively they used them. The study is based on a survey conducted in 2000 on a sample of 143 farmers from Turkmenistan's five administrative regions. The farmers were divided for analysis into five categories, according to previous positions (managers, intermediate specialists, skilled and unskilled workers, and administrative staff). On the average all categories of farmers turned a profit. However, the most successful were the intermediate specialists (agronomists, engineers), in state or collective farms. They had the largest plots, the best land, and the best-equipped farms. Like the managers and the administrative staff, they had savings, some of which they used as startup capital. They diversified production more than others, and were better able to obtain credit. Former unskilled workers were the least successful, lacking capital, unable to afford risks, and thus growing only wheat and cotton at the expense of other crops and of livestock. Earlier studies have shown that former position affected the share of resources received by categories of individuals in the ex Soviet Union. Besides confirming the finding, we have shown that former position affected the use of those resources, and the overall economic performance of the users. Unfortunately, the sample size was small, and our conclusions remain tentative.
Harvard University; goktas@muohio.edu
This paper is about Muhammad Sultan al-Ma'sumi al-Khujandi (1880-1960), an almost forgotten scholar and intellectual from the tumultuous times of early 20th-century Central Asia. I have not thus far seen any reference to him in the modern scholarly literature on the period though he seems to have a lot to say about the intellectual life of Central Asia in his works. Ma'sumi started his traditional religious education in his native land and later traveled across the Middle East to complete it. This journey changed him and he gradually grew a tendency toward salafism. When he returned to his homeland, he strived for a change in the region alongside the reformist scholars and intellectuals although his agenda did not conform to theirs fully. He severely criticized innovations firmly established in every aspect of Central Asian life. After the revolution, Ma'sumi continued his struggle, this time, against Bolsheviks for almost ten years and finally had to leave the country for Eastern Turkistan to save his life. Later he settled in Mecca where he taught hadith until he died in 1960. A very prolific author, Ma'sumi wrote about 80 books mostly in Arabic but also in Persian, and Turki. In this paper I give a tentative biography of Ma'sumi primarily based on his autobiography written in Arabic and on autobiographical remarks scattered in his other works. Placing special emphasis on his activities in Central Asia before and during the revolution, I want to draw attentions of the scholars of Central Asian history to this little known yet apparently very important figure. Finally, I argue that closer studies of less-known figures such as Ma'sumi show that the intellectual and scholarly world of Central Asia in early 20th century was richer and more diverse than is commonly perceived in modern scholarly literature.
Independent Scholar; piera.graffer@libero.it
This is an old local legend about Immanuel Nobel, the father of the dynamite and Nobel Prize inventor Bernard Alfred. It tells of how he went to the Caucasus in search of fortune in the oil business and one day arrived in the tiny khanate of Maku in the outskirts of Azerbaijan; how its lord Feth Khan invited him with all honors to his court: how, after some months of rambling, he persuaded the witless Shah to sign him an oil concession and eloped with his most beloved daughter; and how the Shah took revenge against the double-crosser and traitor of the sacred laws of Hospitality.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; bgrodsky@umich.edu
In this paper I analyze the role of human rights organizations as agents of political change in repressive states. I argue that politicized and non-politicized (as defined by personal political goals of organization members) human rights organizations have disparate preferences and end goals that lead them to function in very different ways. I compare the highly politicized human rights organizations in current day Uzbekistan with a relatively non-politicized human rights movement in communist-era Poland. As predicted, I find that non-politicized organizations are more likely to press for grassroots activity while politicized organizations are more wary of admitting new members who could drain resources from the organization and turn into political competition. As a result, non-politicized organizations focus on expansion whereas politicized organizations strive for elitism, making the former a more appropriate engine for popular change. The data for this paper are primarily made up of elite interviews conducted in 2003-2004. The macro-political similarities between Poland and Uzbekistan, as well as the position of human rights organizations as the focal point of anti-regime political discourse, make these two states surprisingly comparable. One of the goals of this paper is to apply lessons of the broader (post-)communist world to current Central Asia. By reconsidering Uzbekistan's political dilemma in relation to communist-era Poland, I also seek to address some of the major weaknesses in Uzbekistan -- Ukraine/Georgia comparisons so popular today.
Istanbul University Institute of Turkish Studies; tiryakizade@yahoo.com
Mawlana Jalaladdin al-Rumi (d. 1273) is well known as a great representative of Islamic mystic poetry as well as the founder of Mawlavi Dervishes order. Through centuries his thoughts have had enormous influence upon not only whole Islamic world, but western world as well. Besides his magnum opus Mathnawiand Divan-ı Shems (odes and quatrains) there are a lot of works compiled by Mawlana. One of that works includes a story about a Jewish king who has killed all people in his country that belong to Jesus' faith. One of the main characters of the story is a king's visier. The identity of the king's visier is still causes to long disputes among Mawlana's works commentators. Some commentators believe that behind the king's visier stands for St. Paul, when the others are completely disagree with such identification. This paper focuses on identity of the vizier of the Mawlana's story. The author has gathered all ideas put forward on this question and examine each of them and proposes his own point of view benefiting from various sources.
NATO Manfred Wörner Fellow; burcu.gultekin@tabdc.org
Turkey, an EU candidate country and a NATO member, has a 600 km long border with the South Caucasian states. This paper will highlight the Turkish factor in the development of the European Neighborhood policy and the Individual Partnership Actions Plans negotiated between NATO and the states of the South Caucasus. An in depth analysis of Georgia's and Armenia's expectations from the Euro-Atlantic integration will be provided, the perception of the Turkish factor will be an important dimension of the analysis.
University of California, Berkeley; olya@berkeley.edu
We describe a case of loss of morphological complexity in Georgian, a highly inflectional language. Some varieties of Georgian now make use of analytical structures instead of traditional synthetic formations. In particular, the lexical verb moxdena, "happen," has become an auxiliary. We examine contemporary uses of moxdena and its spread into various areas of language use. As a lexical verb, moxdena can be used in all three Tense-Aspect-Mood (TAM) Series, with the main argument expressed by a non-predicative nominal or a masdar (deverbal noun). The uses of the lexical verb moxdena with masdars are probably the analogical source for analytical constructions where the inflected moxdena is an auxiliary accompanying masdar forms of lexical verbs. The possible trigger for such constructions is the Russian use of the verb proizojti as an auxiliary. Prescriptivists describe these analytical structures as ignorant or "bad Georgian." However, they are becoming increasingly widespread in some areas of contemporary Georgian, encompassing lexical verb classes one by one. We investigate the spread of this construction in a large corpus of written and spoken Georgian and demonstrate the systematic nature of the change.
University of Washington; kgygi@u.washington.edu
This paper reports results from the first year of a longitudinal study of secondary teachers in Uzbekistan and their perceptions and uses of computers and the Internet. This study contextualizes how computers and the Internet are transforming pedagogical practices in Uzbekistan. Semi-structured interviews with twenty teachers were conducted during summer 2004 in Karshi and Termez. Teachers from schools with Internet connectivity and computer labs were interviewed as well as teachers from unconnected schools. A number of themes surfaced regarding the effect of the Internet on teachers' professional practice, ranging from classroom techniques to professional status. Analysis of teacher and school Web sites and popular Internet chats and online forums will be used to further investigate possible changes in teachers' identity and roles as educators. This work is part of a larger regional study of the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Central Asia. Uzbekistan is a digitally emergent state; it has existing but not fully digital or pervasive telecommunication systems. In addition, the social infrastructure and human capital are not in place to take full advantage of ICT applications. This work informs understanding of how technology is used in digitally emergent societies. In its effort to become a market economy, the government of Uzbekistan has invested in building a digital telecommunications backbone and programs to train information technology workers, targeting education. Secondary schools are being outfitted as public access points and as incubators for skilled knowledge workers. Teachers and students are being trained as champions for new technologies. Also, educational reforms intended to promote active and student-centered learning instead of rote learning are being instituted and supported by technology. This moment provides the opportunity to triangulate how culture and available infrastructure influence actual use and adaptation of technologies such as the Internet by specific populations such as teachers.
DePauw University; thall@depauw.edu
Many scholars have argued that globalization is undermining the state, and obviating the need for nation-states, even as many groups are engaged in nation-building and using their nationhood to legitimate claims to their own states. Two sets of peoples are most caught up in this: indigenous peoples globally, and peoples freed from the yoke of colonialism who may now re-sort themselves along ethnic lines. Central Asia is a particularly fascinating -- if at time frustrating -- place to examine these processes because of its long history of groups who have had to struggle with states seeking to redefine them, and because of the globalizing-like effects of conflicts between pastoral nomads and large states. In this paper I argue that there is much to be learned from that history that is relevant to today's and tomorrow's struggles. However, those lessons cannot be applied mechanically, but must take into account changing processes originating in globalization and the geopolitics of Central Asia.
Swarthmore College; dharris2@swarthmore.edu
Endangered Turkic language of Siberia and Mongolia have significant insights to offer in the areas of language description, theoretical grammar, and language typology. For example, in the study of vowel harmony systems, which are ubiquitous across the Altaic and Uralic language families, it is fair to say that the majority of such systems have not been scientifically documented. As new systems come to light, they allow us to test theoretical models and expand typological samples. These small languages also offer a rich source of data in Anthropological Linguistics, including technologies such as ethnobotany, ethnobiology, and grammatical systems for encoding space/time relations. This talk will present new field data from Siberian Turkic and situate it within a theoretical and typological framework.
Hampshire College; shayashi@hampshire.edu
This paper examines the obstacles Mongolian print journalists perceive in their workplaces -- in the culture of producing the news -- since 1990, when the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) relinquished their one-party rule. I argue that the current problems, from the residue of "top-down journalism" to current production quotas to "ordered news," are products of a combination of a communist legacy and the particular trouble with democratization efforts. In the mid-1990's donor agencies began funding media assistance efforts, such as the Danish Development Agency (DANIDA)'s Free Press Project, highlighting the importance of media reform, and prominent researchers have attributed major credit to journalists in establishing Mongolia's current form of democracy. This paper intends to critically investigate this claim, doing preliminary mapping of the limitations of the journalistic position and the potential spaces for contestation (of former expectations, of current flaws, etc.). Anecdotal evidence suggests that while there exist hopeful individual aspirations within the medley of problems, there are daunting economic, political, and social hurdles facing Mongolian journalists. Overall, this paper aims to contribute to the growing discourse about the Mongolian media, with an emphasis on print journalism, which has not received as much English-language scholarly attention as other news forms (radio and television). The nature of this research is not explicitly comparative, but hopefully this project can be put in interesting conversation with other media reform studies conducted other in post-communist regions. This paper draws from published materials, including extensive documentation of legal reform, World Press Freedom reports, and English-language scholarly analysis, but the paper is largely informed by interviews with print journalists, journalism teachers, international journalism trainers, members of the international donor community, and other related members of the Mongolian media.
South Dakota State University; geoffrey.henebry@sdstate.edu
Institutional change can be a powerful driver of land use land cover change. Consequent to the abrupt institutional changes surrounding the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Central Asia has reportedly undergone extensive land cover/land use change. Were these institutional changes sufficiently profound and widespread to affect the seasonal patterns of the onset of spring and the greening of the planetary surface? We present the results from a set of studies into the biogeophysical consequences of the collapse of the Soviet agricultural sector, focusing on Kazakhstan, but with some attention to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Using a standard datasets from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), we apply to these time series a statistical framework that incorporates robust methods for multiple comparisons, seasonal Mann-Kendall trend tests that include a correction for autocorrelation, and a sequence for fitting and comparing simple models of land surface phenology. After controlling for multiple sources of variability, we have found significant differences in land surface phenology before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union across a range of ecoregions in Central Asia. Socio-economic studies support our interpretation that the apparent advancement in the onset of spring is due largely to increases in fallow lands now dominated by non-crop species and to reductions in grazing pressure in grasslands.
Samarkand State Architectural and Civil Engineering Institute; mmhidirov@yahoo.com
This article discussed the typological classification of trade buildings and complexes of Silk Road in Midlle Ages. Investigation of systematic connections show, that type of trade buildings and complexes demand from their functional means in the trade. In this case we found two main types of trade buildings and complexes: buildings and complexes for domestic trade and buildings and complexes for international trade. This typology allowed us to determine regulation of space composition of buildings and complexes in the process of historical development. In the domestic trade important place occupied market complexes. Markets in Eastern cities were called "bazaars". Usually bazaars were located in cities central streets and squares. In the international trade much activity was gathered in factories, called "caravansarays". In this type of complexes trade caravans were supported by inns and meals for traders, stalls for horses and camels and warehouses for merchandise.
Kazakh Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research; nigmet@kimep.kz
This paper focuses on a subject discussed a lot by opposition and ruling groups in Kazakhstan. It is an influence of oil, transnational oil corporations and oil windfalls into the political development of Kazakhstan. During last Parliamentary elections this issue was debated heavily by oppositional political parties. Pro-government parties were silent about this issue all together. Two oppositional parties on the elections were criticizing ruling group in their mismanagement of oil income, policy toward TNCs and reliance on oil. More than that party of national bourgeoisie Akzhol made it a key message of the campaign that oil money are not coming to the people and these monies should be distributed among people of Kazakhstan. I argue that oil is becoming speculative tool for political actors in Kazakhstan, which reflects the classical boom-bust cycle in resource-dependent economies. I will examine also debates in Kazakhstan's elite about general approaches in managing oil income and toward transnational corporations. I will use interviews with political leaders and experts to demonstrate full picture of the debate in the society. One of the methods will be content analysis of the electoral materials of different political parties during last elections. So this paper will be based upon published materials and political programs of different parties of Kazakhstan. I made a prognosis that this topic of oil and politics will be one of the most central in the coming presidential campaign in Kazakhstan.
Voice of America; navbahor@hotmail.com
This paper is a qualitative analysis of the purpose, performance and outcome of international broadcasters Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) from Prague, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from London, and Voice of America (VOA) from Washington, DC. to the former Soviet Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Despite the emergence of native language broadcasting on BBC and RFE/RL in the early 1990s, Russian has always played a dominant role as a leading programming language. The results of this research affirm that international broadcasting in Russian attracts more audience in Central Asia than in any other language. This paper looks at the historical, cultural and professional factors behind that reality. As the totalitarian governments in Central Asia continue to tighten their hold over the minds of people, international broadcasting outlets are struggling to keep their presence in the region. Whereas Western officials view these broadcasts as an attempt to reach the oppressed audiences to deliver objective information and news, human rights activists and opposition groups call RFE/RL, VOA and BBC a stage to express their view. This research is based on the diverse insights gathered from interviews with members of the international broadcasting community and experts, reviews of the available audience and market research data, and conversations with some of the long-time international radio listeners in the region. While audience surveys have been conducted to provide technical assessment of the effectiveness of the international broadcaster, literature research shows that there is little to no data resulting from the application of academic standards. This paper will serve as a source of scholarly information for evaluating the achievements of international broadcasting to Central Asia and judging the overall impact of this outreach.
Georgetown University; mi39@georgetown.edu
Fellows, when you play chess, make sure to protect yourself, explains the instructor to a classroom full of college students in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. One would imagine the instructor was referring to the ancient, matriarchical game of pawns and square boxes, warning the Uzbek adolescents to avoid getting cornered by the opponent; on the contrary, in this health education classroom, chess (shakhmaty) is a euphemism for a highly stigmatized word: sex. Two years ago, the Uzbek Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Ministry of Education drafted a revised health education curriculum -- one that included sexual education. Soviet and deep-rooted traditional taboos on the discussion of sex, combined with an influx of whorehouses, pornography, and premarital unprotected sex in the post-Soviet era have created a plethora of problems in this demographically young country. This study is less concerned with the more obvious risks associated with the rise of STDs and other health decays, and more concerned with the sociological and psychological consequences of these unspoken, stigmatized problems within a generation drowning in moral anarchy and dispossession. We argue that with non-traditional problems, non-traditional actors such as the state as well as a growing number of NGOs are taking action to alleviate these problems that traditional institutions like the family and mahalla cannot. We chose this topic because we feel the academia has given insufficient attention to this specific topic in question; furthermore, our ages (20, 21), genders, languages, and academic backgrounds ensure more accurate and balanced data collection and collation, and a valuable network to such sensitive and stigmatized data possibly out of reach for others. Interviews with adolescents in Samarkand, NGOs, as well as instructors and architects of health education programs are considered alongside local and international statistics, personal observations, and current research on the topic.
Karagandy State University; anzhela_i2002@mail.ru
Recently, the idea of mass media social responsibility is the subject of wide speculation. It is connected with the fact that in the west was organized the zone of free mass media, which exist according to the market laws and under the condition of free speech. Importance of this problematic began to rise with the advent of the Internet. In 2003-2004 an international group of researchers from Karaganda State University (Kazakhstan) and European University in St. Petersburg (Russia) studied extremist websites in Internet and possible forms of control of them. After identifying hate sites targeted for research country by country, participants were able to examine each site closely, noting characteristics of each of the sites within the common template. Participants gathered a random sample of 10 hate sites specific to country origin and assessed the content of each of the sites. The same template was used for each country grouping as a means to provide consistency in the collection and correlation of data in all three countries and provided specific categories for examination. These categories provided a framework for examining the sites' graphics, including photos, colors, logos, pointed hate phrases or words, terms of art, referenced material, font choices, and other miscellaneous material. After collecting the data, to determine similarities among hate sites within the same country, participants examined the completed templates assembled with country-specific affiliations and compared the similarities among these sites. Where information in one site is the same as that on another, this was noted. The discovery of these similarities can be used as a basis for determining influence or possible sharing between the developers of one site and another. This form of assessment was applied to each separate collection of country-specific sites, then applied again in an overall comparison among sites of all three countries.
Independent Scholar; i_rick85@yahoo.com
The year 2005 was announced by the UN to be "The Year of Microfinance". This paper focuses at the impact of microfinance services and programs upon the life of poor layers of population. It identifies the process of developing microfinance programs in Uzbekistan; it also analyses the development of microfinance organizations. Specifically the research describes the impact of microfinance programs on the life and living conditions of clients and reveals aspects and some characteristic features of microfinance programs in Uzbekistan. It indicates how microfinance programs are developing the business skills of poor populations, to reduce the poverty level and expands the economy. Several methods were combined in the research: they included face-to-face structured interviews, discussions of focus groups, financial analyses, and internet interviews. It is also based on the published and web page materials of Microfinance Center and CGAP, journals and magazines published by economic overview, and economic research center of Uzbekistan. Web pages (www.cgap.org , www.woccu.org) The research results' qualitative and quantitative indexes led to a conclusion of the positive influence of support programs like CAMFA and WOCCU on the development of microfinance services in Uzbekistan. It also underlines that insufficient legislation and incomplete laws in the field of microfinance have a negative impact upon its development. Recently microfinance organizations have been united into associations with the aim of improving the process of development. Successful microfinance has a beneficial effect on the mode of life of poor population by developing business skills and understanding of market economy by poor layers of population. As it was clarified by the research the development of microfinance programs in Uzbekistan is influenced by the economic situation, demographic process, and local mentality in the country.
Mongolian State University of Education; gerelbadrakhj@yahoo.com
The majority of scholars working on the history of medieval Mongolia claim that the king of Qamuq Mongol was conferred upon Temujin, who assumed the title of Chinggis khaan during the Khukhnuur meeting, in 1189. I argue that the event was not officially recognized. I argue this by doing a comparative research on 'The Secret history of the Mongols' and other historical sources and action development observation: Only five Mongol aristocrats participated in this meeting. Nevertheless the majority of aristocrats participated in meetings for electing previous kings or kings from Qabul to Qutula; Temujin pledged high authority and position to the five aristocrats for getting recognized his status. Soon five aristocrats separated from Temujin and antagonized him, because sitting on the throne, Temujin didn't fulfill his pledge and had them killed. Therefore, from jurisdictional point of view his reign was void: By 1189, the overwhelming majority of the Mongols obeyed Jamukha, chief of Jadaran aimag, except small number of the Mongols submitted by Temujin. Meanwhile some aimags existed independently. By 1189, Temujin assumed the title of Chinggis khaan, notwithstanding the fact that he had officially assumed the same title during Onon river meeting for establishment of the United Mongolia, in 1206. It confirms that the former title was not official. Concluding from the facts, I consider that Temujin was not recognized by the majority, in 1189, therefore Mongol aristocrats and people had frequently been rebelling against him. If this is so when then Temujin-Chinggis properly reign in Mongolia? In 1201, by repressing prevailing force of his main adversary, Jamukha-Gur-Khaan, he reached victory and subjected the majority of the Mongols. By 1204, Temujin-Chinggis captured Jamukha and killed him. Eventually, by 1206, the title of king of United Mongolia was re-conferred upon him and he reassumed the title of Chinggis khaan.
Indiana University; kate@bendcable.com
Loving the Enemy: Fear and Longing in the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi Much of the criticism written on the Shahnameh has been regarding the dynamics and the play of power in the mythical and historical past of Iran. Dick Davis believes that "Such themes could not be worked out other than in a context of epic values and concerns, but their presence as context should not blind us to the very real questioning of such values which is incorporated into the epic structure." (Davis, Epic and Sedition, xviii). The audience reading Ferdowsi's work reacts to the humanity of the characters because this humanity is shared with the reader, bringing the questioning of the values and concerns to a deeper level. I choose to focus on a direct aspect of that play of power, the marriages between Iranians and outsiders. However, in the Shahnameh, besides the obvious dynamic of that of man and wife, there is also the dynamic of taking the enemy into the home. In a culture that is heavily defined in terms of hospitality, sleeping with and feeding the enemy means a welcoming of that enemy's culture, is a promise not to harm the enemy, and is an acceptance of the enemy's family. To do this I will use research on the struggle for power in the Shahnameh, primarily works by Dick Davis, focusing on Epic and Sedition. An understanding of The Shahnameh is critical for a scholar of Iranian history, particularly those in Medieval Studies, because this work has been historically used as the shining example of Persian nationalism by the Iranians. I will bring a modern viewpoint to it by focusing on the women who, while they were used as tools in the struggle for power, were also fully developed characters in their own right.
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations AKU-ISMC; Aga Khan Project for Central Asia; sunatullo.jonboboev@aku.edu
This paper presents finding from the research on higher education [funded by Institute for the Study of Muslim civilization AKU-ISMC (International) in UK] that examines Jadidism as forerunners of modern educational reforms. Analyzing Jadid's approaches to the cultivation of humanity, reasons of their failure inspired the author for comparative studies of education's initiatives in region in twentieth century. Jadid's activities on humanity as a part of reforms trough curriculum, theatre, literature, moral, public media was never the object of special philosophical, but mostly as a issue of political or narrow vocational investigations. The situation has not changed in spite of new publications Kurzman, 2002;Khalid, 1999) on Jadidism. This paper shows that started the battle by Central Asian Jadids for rationality, propagation of power of human knowledge (reason)as a opposite to the traditional or religious orthodoxy has some analogy or continuation in AKHP activities in more innovative forms. Responding to the educational challenges of the region, nevertheless, the AKHP experience shows that in spite of successes cultivating of independent thinking and pluralism is still faced with opposition in form of dogmatism, national-traditionalism (holding educational standards unchangeable as indigenous "sacred" element). Based on Jadid's sources, interviews and assessment reports from the sites (9 CA universities), AKHP archives, involving theoretical and classical discussion on liberal education (Nussbaum,2000), this paper shows historical parallels and analyses differences of approaches of these two mentioned projects to the humanities. Filling the gaps author argues that the young man, who was eager for the new learning from Aristophanes' comedy "The Clouds" is continuing his journey and untill now is the bone of contention between "Old Education" and modern liberal "Think Academy" in Central Asia.
Center for Black Sea and Central Asia (KORA), Middle East Technical University; hkahveci@metu.edu.tr
This paper focuses on the impact of hydrocarbon revenues on post-Soviet state formation in Kazakhstan. It is argued that dissolution of the Soviet Union left independent Kazakhstan with several structural problems, including corruption, damaged Soviet era links with other newly independent republics (especially centralized economic links) and the legacy of the Soviet administrative and institutional system, which is a disadvantage to the formation of free markets and democratic governance. These post-Soviet conditions left newly-independent Kazakhstan with two main objectives: 1) rapid and massive development of the hydrocarbon industry as the engine of economic development and 2) state-building, with its institutions necessary for governance, markets and stable and consolidated political life. The assumption of the paper is that the revenues accrued to the state treasury through hydrocarbon resources lead to development of Kazakhstan into a distributive state. It is argued in the paper that contrary to initial expectations of scholars studying the Central Asia region, as the literature on other hydrocarbon producing states suggests in Kazakhstan, hydrocarbon revenues turned out to be an attractive element for the competition of the domestic political, economic and social forces for increasing their influence on the state. This very bargain has a direct influence on the regime type and can also be regarded as a set back to the democratization of the country. This paper is based on the published materials and online resources.
University of Pennsylvania; mkaragiannis@yahoo.com
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) is among the most feared Islamic groups in the Central Asian region, but it is also, seemingly, the least understood. HT has received less international scrutiny, in part, because it has advocated a non-violent approach toward its goals. HT is not a religious organization, but rather a political party whose ideology is based on Islam. The group has sought to advance its cause by widespread dissemination of propaganda. But unlike the Taliban and Wahhabi movements, which likewise advocate a strict interpretation of Islam, HT does not oppose modern technology and uses the Internet to spread its message. The Chimkent region of southern Kazakhstan is regarded by many as the main breeding-ground for religious extremism in the country. The first emissaries of HT appeared in the region in 1998. HT members regularly distribute leaflets there calling for the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia. Although authorities estimate membership in the low hundreds, HT has grown quickly in southern Kazakhstan. The group presents a particularly difficult challenge to the Kazakh government, since it holds extremist views, but openly advocates only peaceful change. This paper is an attempt to incorporate the study of Kazakhstan's political Islam, particularly Hizb ut-Tahrir, into social movement theory. Drawing on fieldwork, I will show how social movement theory can be utilized to address a wide range of questions about the rise of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Kazakhstan. It will also examine Kazakhstan's policy on political Islam and on Hizb ut-Tahrir in particular. The paper aims to initiate a debate about the phenomenon of political Islam in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.
ITREB Canada; mirbaizkhan@yahoo.ca
With return of peace in the country and strong support of international community, massive efforts are underway to reconstruct Afghanistan's education system. The Ministry of Higher Education document indicates that in the next ten years, higher education will be rebuilt through completion of 21 projects with the financial and technical assistance of the donor countries, multilaterals and NGOs. These projects range from construction of classrooms to administration offices to libraries and laboratories to staff accommodation and student dormitories. Textbook writing, introduction of information and communication technology, English language training and development of standards to ensure quality, equity and efficiency as well as checks and balances in terms of authority and power sharing are part of the undertaking. These measures to rebuild and expand Afghanistan's higher education will enhance the chance for an increasing number of students to access higher education, necessitating hiring and training a large number of educators to meet the growing demand.