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The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence
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Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.0958
EAN: 9780801488429
ISBN: 0801488427
Label: Cornell University Press
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: 2003-12
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Studio: Cornell University Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, former Communist Party leaders in Central Asia were faced with the daunting task of building states where they previously had not existed -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Their task was complicated by the institutional and ideological legacy of the Soviet system as well as by a more actively engaged international community. These nascent states inherited a set of institutions that included bloated bureaucracies, centralized economic planning, and patronage networks. Some of these institutions survived, others have mutated, and new institutions have been created. Experts on Central Asia here examine the emerging relationship between state actors and social forces in the region. Through the prism of local institutions, the authors reassess both our understanding of Central Asia and of the state-building process more broadly. They scrutinize a wide array of institutional actors, ranging from regional governments and neighborhood committees to transnational and non-governmental organizations. With original empirical research and theoretical insight, the volume's contributors illuminate an obscure but resource-rich and strategically significant region.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting topics, no overview or logic
Comment: This book combines a number of interesting topics. Especially important is the topic of bride-kidnapping, but like everything else in modern academia this has to be white washed, therefore kidnapping and forced marriage and rape is called "non-consenual" which is a nice civilized term, but it implies the typical view of elite westerners, that no one is ever allowed to judge the 'other'. Therefore bride kidnapping is explained, which is better than not analyzing it, but there is no context, there is no voice of the woman and there is no analysis of why such a practice is inherently wrong.
Secondly there is an interesting discussion of language policy in Kazakhstan, but again there is little context of this. The Soviets transformed central Asia, they built states out of gatherings of tribes, they deported millions of Germans, Poles, Russians and Koreans to these lands, millions of Russians immigrated and most all the Soviet union gave written languages where only dialect had been, they also gave women equal rights and a say in the state. But they had their shortcomings, they maintained local elites by transforming local chiefs into soviet commisars.
But there is no context for this in these essays, there is no history, nothing that ties these countries to together. There is not one word about Islamism and the rise of terrorism, there is not one word on the fate of minorities, especially in Tajikistan. So in the end this book is mostly a failure, either that or it is mis-packaged, it should have just been called 'insights' into central Asia.
Seth J. Frantzman
Customer Rating:
Summary: Misleading title
Comment: I was assigned this book as part of the reading for a class I took at Princeton on Central Asia. I have very mixed feelings about it.
Each section is written by a different author. Some are almost unreadable. Most chapters focus on very small (and often, seemingly unimportant) issues in state and society. At times it seems the authors are more concerned with citing each other (as indeed, every one of them does) than with teaching the reader about Central Asia
But worse, reading this book will give you no insight into the actual transformation of the region. If I had to single out the biggest problem with the book, it is the misleading title. Nowhere in this book will you find the history of Central Asia dealt with in a comprehensive--much less, thorough--way. I did not come away from it with a sense of the "transformation" of Central Asia.
What this book is good for, is learning about the contradictions and problems faced by the societies of the Central Asian Republics. All the same, I would counsel you against spending your money on this book.
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