1st Edition

Social and Economic Change in the Pamirs (Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan) Translated from German by Nicola Pacult and Sonia Guss with support of Tim Sharp

By Frank Bliss Copyright 2006
    396 Pages
    by Routledge

    396 Pages 98 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Since Olufsen and Schulz published their monographs on the Pamirs in 1904 and 1914, respectively, this is the first book to deal with the history, anthropology and recent social and economic development of the Pamiri people in Gorno-Badakhshan, Eastern Tajikistan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, such high mountain areas were more or less forgotten and people would have suffered severely from their isolation if an Aga Khan Foundation project in 1993 to 1994 had not afforded broader support. The reader will be confronted by an almost surrealistic world: Pamiri income and living conditions after 1991 dropped to the level of a poor Sahelian country. Former scientists, university professors and engineers found themselves using ox-ploughs to plant potatoes and wheat for survival. On the other hand, 100% literacy and excellent skills proved to be an enormous human capital resource for economic recovery. The first sign of this was an increase in agricultural production, something that had never occurred during Soviet times.

    1. Introduction  2. General Features of Gorno-Badakhshan  3. History of the Pamirs  4. Ethnology of the Pamiris  5. The Kyrgyzes of the Murgab  6. Ismailis and Sunnis  7. Economy and Society in the Soviet System  8. At the Bottom - The Economic Collapse  9. International Development Aid  10. Development Constraints and Prospects  Conclusions

    Biography

    Frank Bliss is Profesor for Development Anthropology at Hamburg University and partner of Bliss & Gaesing - Associated Consultants, planning and evaluating participatory development programs.