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Johan Rasanayagam, Islam in Post-‐‐Soviet Uzbekistan: The Morality of Experience. 296 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. ISBN 9781107000292. Reviewed by Reuel R. Hanks What does it mean to be a “Muslim” in post-‐‐Soviet... more
Johan Rasanayagam, Islam in Post-‐‐Soviet Uzbekistan: The Morality of Experience. 296 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. ISBN 9781107000292. Reviewed by Reuel R. Hanks What does it mean to be a “Muslim” in post-‐‐Soviet Central Asia? Nearly all scholars of the region are in agreement that Uzbekistan, along with its neigh-‐‐ bors in post-‐‐Soviet Central Asia, is experiencing a process of “re-‐‐Islamiza-‐‐ tion” in the ideological vacuum wrought by Communism’s demise. Yet “in-‐‐ formal” structures of the faith were not completely eradicated by Soviet pol-‐‐ icy, and it was frequently these communal organizations and traditions that afforded a parallel moral code to that proffered by Soviet strictures, serving as both “moral mentor and moral sensor.”1 Identity and morality are folded into Musulmonchilik or “Muslimness” in Uzbekistan, but the concept remains fluid within a cultural milieu simultaneously shaped by historical circum-‐‐ stance and political repression. Although he rarely employs the term “identity” (the word is not even listed in the index), Johan Rasanayagam’s recent book is a philosophical venture into the dynamics of Islamic identity formation in Central Asia’s most populous, and according to some, most influential post-‐‐Soviet state— Uzbekistan. Rasanayagam’s conceptual frame of “morality of experience” employs a nomenclature that purports to avoid more established, but prob-‐‐ lematic, social science terminology. An example is his use of “sociality,” a notion offered by some social anthropologists in the 1990s who argued that “the concept of society is theoretically obsolete.”2 As an innovative concept, “sociality” fails to deliver, for if it represents the idea that “the mutually-‐‐ shared norms and expectations, the ideals of moral personhood and commu-‐‐ nity, the production and reproduction of person—takes place through the flow of daily interaction” (35), then “sociality” translates to nothing more than “socialization.” It is a distinction without a difference. This is not a tri-‐‐ fling matter, as it is symptomatic of a broader, disjointed, and at points inco-‐‐ herent approach that plagues the theoretical premise of the book. The argument attempts to draw clear boundaries between the conceptu-‐‐ alization of religion’s place in moral reasoning, as defined by Durkheim and
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ABSTRACT Under the late Islom Karimov, the authoritarian regimes in Uzbekistan created dual myths of Islam. On the one hand, Islam was encompassed in the larger context of manaviyat (spirituality), and on the other, a myth of an Islamic... more
ABSTRACT Under the late Islom Karimov, the authoritarian regimes in Uzbekistan created dual myths of Islam. On the one hand, Islam was encompassed in the larger context of manaviyat (spirituality), and on the other, a myth of an Islamic ‘extremism’ that challenges security and stability on a regional scale was cultivated. This ‘threat’ is so pervasive and pernicious that it commands the authoritarian nature of governance that characterizes the Karimov era, leading to a Janus-state syndrome in which Islam is simultaneously cast as a sine qua non of national myth and an existential threat to state security. This article examines the mythology of political Islam in Uzbekistan and the Janus-state syndrome resulting from the duality of Islamic myth. It argues that a civil society cannot flourish in Central Asia unless moderate Islamic groups are allowed to build the very social structures that provide the foundation for interaction, peaceful coexistence, toleration and pluralism.
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The article proposes the Hirschman’s model of studying the changes in the Russian Diaspora’s perception of Kazakhstan as their new host-state. After the demise of the Soviet Union, their responses to decline of their political, social and... more
The article proposes the Hirschman’s model of studying the changes in the Russian Diaspora’s perception of Kazakhstan as their new host-state. After the demise of the Soviet Union, their responses to decline of their political, social and cultural status varied from voicing discontent to exiting and loyalty throughout the non- Russian former Soviet republics, where they found themselves living in a new political reality. Not surprisingly their observable public sentiment went through a variety of negative expressions, such as confusion, desperation and even feelings of betrayal resulting from the need to learn new national languages and adapt to emerging nationalizing policies and practices of their new host-states. Many Russian people perceived the unexpected collapse of their common Soviet homeland as a personal drama, and some of these continue to identify more as countrymen of Russia rather than their homeland. This has become and will remain the main source of emigration aspirations among Russian Diasporas living in the former Soviet republics. The article draws upon the case of the Russian Diaspora living in Kazakhstan, where, even after three decades of national independence, many Russians still remain confused and too aloof to actively participate in the political and social life of the country.
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... east-em Slavs began their conversion to Christian-ity (Blunt 1973; Grousett 1970; Ibrahim 1993). ... played a key role in preserv-ing Muslim religious traditions under Soviet rule (Fathi 1997,32 ... The majority of Soviet Muslims were... more
... east-em Slavs began their conversion to Christian-ity (Blunt 1973; Grousett 1970; Ibrahim 1993). ... played a key role in preserv-ing Muslim religious traditions under Soviet rule (Fathi 1997,32 ... The majority of Soviet Muslims were also prevented from making the hajj, and zakat, or ...
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During the second week of June 2010, history repeated itself in Central Asia in a most gruesome and tragic fashion. The city of Osh, a fabled Silk Road city in southern Kyrgyzstan, was torn by bloody ethnic violence that claimed, by... more
During the second week of June 2010, history repeated itself in Central Asia in a most gruesome and tragic fashion. The city of Osh, a fabled Silk Road city in southern Kyrgyzstan, was torn by bloody ethnic violence that claimed, by official count, almost 400 lives, with several thousand injured, and thousands of homes and businesses burned. This conflagration echoed a previous episode of vicious destruction, almost 20 years ago to the day, when in June 1990 Kyrgyz and Uzbek mobs in Osh had sought to annihilate each other for several days, with close to 200 people killed. In that instance, Soviet military and Interior Ministry troops eventually quelled the rioting, but the façade of ‘socialist brotherhood’ between Central Asia’s ethnic groups had crumbled, just as the Soviet government itself would after only another year and a half. The most recent round of ethnic rioting highlights the challenges that the Kyrgyz government and its citizens, in the wake of 20 years of independence, face in securing institutions of civil society, a broadly accepted notion of national identity, and the integrity of the state itself. This paper analyses the causes and consequences of the cycles of violence that have plagued interethnic relations in southern Kyrgyzstan for the past two decades, and seeks to identify and contextualize the factors that underlie such destructive behaviour, in a country that only a few years ago was promoting itself as the ‘Switzerland of Central Asia’. To some external observers, the periodic explosions of ethnic hatred in southern Kyrgyzstan are inexplicable, given the apparent cultural affinity of the Kyrgyz and the Uzbeks. Both are Sunni Muslims, speak distinct but closely related Turkic languages and have coexisted in the region for centuries. Others, following the thread of a crude, tendentious environmental determinism, suggest that Central Asia is ‘an environment conducive to tyranny and megalomania’, with the concomitant implication that representative democracy and civil society are beyond the reach of such peoples, due to the basic disadvantages of their local geography. Such
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Page 1. Global Security Watch fFNTRAI ASIA Reuel R. Hanks Page 2. GLOBAL SECURITY WATCH CENTRAL ASIA Page 3. Recent Titles in Global Security Watch Global Security WatchKorea William E. Berry, Jr. Global Security ...
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The “re-Islamization” of society in independent Uzbekistan has proven to be a complex process, generating conflict in the social, cultural and political spheres. Since the early 1990s, the regime of Islam Karimov has sought to undermine... more
The “re-Islamization” of society in independent Uzbekistan has proven to be a complex process, generating conflict in the social, cultural and political spheres. Since the early 1990s, the regime of Islam Karimov has sought to undermine any manifestation of “unofficial” Islam via imprisonment of the leadership, implementation of repressive statutes governing religious activity, and other coercive means. Yet, since 1999 Uzbekistan has experienced more religious violence directed against government power structures by “extremists” than any other former Soviet republic in Central Asia. Important issues that should direct U.S. policy remain unresolved: How significant is the threat from radical Islam in Uzbekistan, that is, what are the chances of politicized, “fundamentalist” Islam emerging as a mass movement there? Has recent U.S. policy reduced or exacerbated the dynamics of conflict between the regime and the “radicals?” In order to effect resolution of this conflict, a new paradigm...
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... Within a few months, its leader-ship had mostly been imprisoned, although two key leaders, Tohir Yuldashev and Juma Namangani (the latter a ... Since the early 1990s, a host of Islamic leaders have been arrested and simply... more
... Within a few months, its leader-ship had mostly been imprisoned, although two key leaders, Tohir Yuldashev and Juma Namangani (the latter a ... Since the early 1990s, a host of Islamic leaders have been arrested and simply dis-appeared, beginning with Abdullah Utaev, the ...
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The collapse of Soviet authority in Central Asia has left these states with an inchoate national identity. In Uzbekistan, an identity is emerging that is closely linked to the reemergence of Islam as a social and cultural substate, in... more
The collapse of Soviet authority in Central Asia has left these states with an inchoate national identity. In Uzbekistan, an identity is emerging that is closely linked to the reemergence of Islam as a social and cultural substate, in spite of a decades-long effort to excise Islam from the region's cultural geography.Since independence, the administration of Islam Karimov has undertaken to incorporate elements of Islam into national identity, albeit only under conditions determined and controlled by the state. At the same time, the religious landscape has been transformed, with thousands of new mosques and medressehs appearing in the years after the dispersal of Marxist-Leninist ideology. The recovery of the Islamic heritage and its connection to national identity is reinforced by recent field research. Surveys of university students taken in several geographically-dispersed cities indicate solid support among youth in Uzbekistan for the precepts of the faith, a clear sign that ...
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This text provides an essential reference handbook for students of geography and related social sciences. How did the Greek geographer Eratosthenes make an accurate calculation of the earth's circumstance more than 1,500 years before... more
This text provides an essential reference handbook for students of geography and related social sciences. How did the Greek geographer Eratosthenes make an accurate calculation of the earth's circumstance more than 1,500 years before the first voyage of Columbus to the New World? What are the "green belts" of England that dominate its rural landscape? And what is regarded as the driest continent on the planet? This handbook offers a broad coverage of terminology and concepts, serving as both an encyclopedic dictionary of geography terms and an approachable overview to the human and physical aspects of world geography. Approximately 150 geographic terms and concepts are defined and discussed, providing an accessible reference for anyone who requires a deeper knowledge of the language and ideas that are important to geography as a discipline. Helpful sidebars are provided to shed light on unusual or controversial theories and concepts. All major geographic concepts and terms are addressed and comprehensively explained using examples. Contains more than 30 illustrations, comprising images, maps, charts and graphs Features sidebars that highlight and explain specific topics or provide biographical sketches of key figures in the history of geographic thought Detailed entries cover the most essential concepts of geography as an academic discipline
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... This disaster severely affects the entire region and illus-trates how ramifications of Soviet policy continue to plague Uzbekistan and its neighbors. ... The oases lie along the streams that snake out of the mountains lying along the... more
... This disaster severely affects the entire region and illus-trates how ramifications of Soviet policy continue to plague Uzbekistan and its neighbors. ... The oases lie along the streams that snake out of the mountains lying along the eastern and southeastern mar-www.abc-clio.com 1 ...
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The article proposes the Hirschman’s model of studying the changes in the Russian Diaspora’s perception of Kazakhstan as their new host-state. After the demise of the Soviet Union, their responses to decline of their political, social and... more
The article proposes the Hirschman’s model of studying the changes in the Russian Diaspora’s perception of Kazakhstan as their new host-state. After the demise of the Soviet Union, their responses to decline of their political, social and cultural status varied from voicing discontent to exiting and loyalty throughout the non- Russian former Soviet republics, where they found themselves living in a new political reality. Not surprisingly their observable public sentiment went through a variety of negative expressions, such as confusion, desperation and even feelings of betrayal resulting from the need to learn new national languages and adapt to emerging nationalizing policies and practices of their new host-states. Many Russian people perceived the unexpected collapse of their common Soviet homeland as a personal drama, and some of these continue to identify more as countrymen of Russia rather than their homeland. This has become and will remain the main source of emigration aspirations among Russian Diasporas living in the former Soviet republics. The article draws upon the case of the Russian Diaspora living in Kazakhstan, where, even after three decades of national independence, many Russians still remain confused and too aloof to actively participate in the political and social life of the country.
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... 12 Cutler, op. cit.. View all notes. Some observers of Kazakhstani politics claim that in 2001 the policy shifted to a 'contiguous multi-vector' approach,13 13 Sally Cummings, Kazakhstan: Power and the Elite, IB Tauris,... more
... 12 Cutler, op. cit.. View all notes. Some observers of Kazakhstani politics claim that in 2001 the policy shifted to a 'contiguous multi-vector' approach,13 13 Sally Cummings, Kazakhstan: Power and the Elite, IB Tauris, London, 2005, p. 121. ...
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Nationalism became the bane of the Soviet empire. The disintegration of the USSR due to nationalistic forces has occurred with a swiftness that few, if any, Western Sovietologists anticipated. The four Central Asian states, with high... more
Nationalism became the bane of the Soviet empire. The disintegration of the USSR due to nationalistic forces has occurred with a swiftness that few, if any, Western Sovietologists anticipated. The four Central Asian states, with high rates of population growth and a strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and South Asia, now acquire a new significance. Of these Uzbekistan, with a population of twenty million, seventy percent of whom belong to the titular national group, looms largest in terms of demographic and economic potential. The population of Uzbekistan is almost twice as large as the other nascent Central Asian nations combined, and despite severe ecological damage, produces almost two thirds of the cotton in the region, along with natural gas, gold and other minerals.
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... 12 Cutler, op. cit.. View all notes. Some observers of Kazakhstani politics claim that in 2001 the policy shifted to a 'contiguous multi-vector' approach,13 13 Sally Cummings, Kazakhstan: Power and the Elite, IB Tauris,... more
... 12 Cutler, op. cit.. View all notes. Some observers of Kazakhstani politics claim that in 2001 the policy shifted to a 'contiguous multi-vector' approach,13 13 Sally Cummings, Kazakhstan: Power and the Elite, IB Tauris, London, 2005, p. 121. ...
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The reconstruction of Afghanistan is in part dependent upon the reintegration of Afghanistan into the international community. Reintegration, in turn, is dependent upon Afghanistan's trans-border infrastructure of communication, trade,... more
The reconstruction of Afghanistan is in part dependent upon the reintegration of Afghanistan into the international community. Reintegration, in turn, is dependent upon Afghanistan's trans-border infrastructure of communication, trade, transport, water, power and investment. Accordingly, increased regional economic cooperation is a key element of Afghanistan's reconstruction. This article analyses regional economic cooperation in the South and Central Asian region in terms of logic, institutions, actors, and expectations.
This chapter is a part of "The Nazarbayev Generation: Youth in Kazakhstan" edited by Marlene Laruelle and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. in September 2019. The chapter considers youth consumption of social media,... more
This chapter is a part of "The Nazarbayev Generation: Youth in Kazakhstan" edited by Marlene Laruelle and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. in September 2019. The chapter considers youth consumption of social media, television and popular culture on global (Western and Asian), regional (Russian) and local (Kazakh) levels from 2011 to 2018.