1st Edition

Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia

Edited By Rico Isaacs, Erica Marat Copyright 2022
    496 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    496 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia offers the first comprehensive, cross-disciplinary overview of key issues in Central Asian studies. The 30 chapters by leading and emerging scholars summarise major findings in the field and highlight long-term trends, recent observations and future developments in the region. The handbook features case studies of all five Central Asian republics and is organised thematically in seven sections:

    • History
    • Politics
    • Geography
    • International Relations
    • Political Economy
    • Society and Culture
    • Religion

    An essential cross-disciplinary reference work, the handbook offers an accessible and easyto- understand guide to the core issues permeating the region to enable readers to grasp the fundamental challenges, transformations and themes in contemporary Central Asia. It will be of interest to researchers, academics and students of the region and those working in the field of Area Studies, History, Anthropology, Politics and International Relations.

    Chapter 23 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

    Introduction: Introducing Central Asian Studies

    Rico Isaacs and Erica Marat

    PART I HISTORY

    1. Central Asia before the advent of Russian Dominion

    Michael Hancock

    2. Russian rule in Central Asia

    Ian Campbell

    3. Collectivisation, Sedentarism and Famine in Central Asia

    Niccolo Pianciola and Marianne Kamp

    4. Development in Post-war Central Asia

    Artemy M. Kalinovsky

    PART II POLITICS

    5. Varieties of Authoritarianism in Central Asia

    David Lewis

    6. Informal Governance, ‘Clan’ politics and Corruption

    Aksana Ismailbekova

    7. Nation-Building in Central Asia: Policy and Discourse

    Aziz Burkhanov and Dina Sharipova

    8. Unsettled Space: Unfinished Histories of Border Delimitation in the Ferghana Valley

    Madeleine Reeves

    PART III GEOGRAPHY

    9. Boundaries, Borders and Identities

    Alexander Diener and Vincent Atman

    10. The history of water politics in Central Asia

    Christine Bichsel

    11. Rethinking Spectacular Cities: Beyond Authoritarianism and Mastermind Schemes

    Mateusz Laszczkowski and Natalie Koch

    12. Politics of Green Development: Trees vs. Roads

    Emil Nasritdinov

    PART IV INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

    13. Russia and Central Asia: Evolving Mutual Perceptions and the Rise of Postcolonial Perspectives

    Marlene Laruelle

    14. China-Central Asia Relations: Re-learning to Live Next to the Giant

    Nargis Kassenova

    15. U.S. Policy and Central Asia

    Charles Ziegler

    16 Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy in Central Asia 

    Shairbek Juraev

    17. Military Power and Capacity

    Erica Marat

    18. Globalisation and Migration in Central Asia

    Caress Schenk

    PART V POLITICAL ECONOMY

    19. Economic Reform and Development in Central Asia

    Richard Pomfret

    20. Oil, Capital, and Labour Around the Caspian

    Maurizo Totaro and Paolo Sorbello

    21. Corruption

    Johan Engvall

    22. Modernisation and development in Central Asia

    Liga Rudzite and Karolina Kluczewska

    PART VI SOCIETY AND CULTURE

    23. The Nationalization of Traditions

    Svetlana Jacquesson

    24. Thinking with Gender About Central Asia

    Svetlana Peshkova

    25. Contemporary Art in Central Asia

    Alexandra Tsay

    26. Language Policy and Language in Central Asia

    William Fierman

    PART VII RELIGON

    27. Islam Renewal in Central Asia

    Bayram Balci

    28. Securitisation of Religion in Central Asia

    Edward Lemon

    29. Liberalism and Islam in Central Asia

    Galym Zhussipbek

    30. Tengrism

    Rico Isaacs

    Biography

    Rico Isaacs is Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Lincoln, UK, and the editor of Central Asian Survey. His recent books include, among others, Party System Formation in Kazakhstan (2011), Nation-Building and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space (with A. Polese, 2016) and Politics: An Introduction, 3rd edition (with B. Axford, V. Browne and R. Huggins, 2018), also published by Routledge.

    Erica Marat is Associate Professor at the College of International Security Affairs at the National Defence University, Washington, D.C. Her research focuses on violence, mobilisation and security institutions in Eurasia, India and Mexico. She is also the author of The Politics of Police Reform: Society against the State in Post-Soviet Countries (2018).