| Review of: | Central Asia: aspects of transition edited by Tom Everett-Heath |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Matteo Fumagalli |
| Reviewed in: | International Affairs |
| Date accepted online: | 27/07/2004 |
| Published in print: | Volume 80, Issue 2, Pages 367-414 |
Russia and the former Soviet republics
This edited volume originates from a cycle of seminars held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Two are the core themes of the collection: first, the emphasis on the 'political importance of the Soviet legacy in Central Asia' (among which the consequences of the redefinition of frontiers), and second the attention for the 'complex methods by which identity is re-negotiated' (p. 1). The interplay between borders and identity is in fact a crucial issue characterizing Central Asia's socio-political and cultural transformation, not merely in the post-Soviet period, but from the very early stages of the encounter between the Central Asian peoples and the Russian Empire first, and the Soviet order later.
Following a brief introduction by the editor, the volume is divided into 13 chapters. Chapters one and two discuss how Soviet attempts to establish hegemony in Central Asia were met by local resistance. The former looks at the Basmachi insurgency in the early Soviet period and the critical role of the Bolshevik military commander Frunze in dooming the rebellion to failure, whereas the latter looks at the short-lived autonomous government of Kokand (in present Uzbekistan) in 1917-18. Chapter three addresses a specific aspect of the national delimitation process: the territorial disputes between the Uzbekistan SSR and the Kyrgyz ASSR in the early 1920s and the land swaps that took place along the border. National delimitation is arguably a defining moment of the Soviet restructuring of the region. Unfortunately, the reader is left disappointed by the lack of any reference on which the author can ground the claims made. Chapter four emphasizes the centrality of land reform to the process of territorial change. Land reform, it is argued, paved the way for the subsequent collectivization and the destruction of the existing agricultural base of the region (p. 74).
Chapters five and six discuss identity formation in Uzbekistan (drawing a parallel with the formation of national identity in Kemalist Turkey in the early twentieth century) and Kyrgyzstan (looking at the implications of 'nationalizing policies' for the country's multi-ethnic balance). Chapter seven concentrates on the manipulative use of history throughout the Soviet era, especially with regard to the assessment of Russia's policies towards the region. A case in point is the rebellion of Khan Kenesary Kasimov (1837-47). Soviet accounts described the event as either a 'progressive act of national liberation' (Kazakh) or as a 'reactionary feudal movement' (p. 132) depending on the particular historical moment.
Chapters ten and twelve introduce two sets of challenges to the states in question: sub-national (regional and clan-based) loyalties and power networks, and the threat posed by the radicalization of Islam to the current regimes. The use of the Uzbek neighbourhood community (
Structural constraints and the role of human agency are equally underscored in the volume. However, the contributors suggest that it is the choices the elites make (Soviet and post-Soviet) that appear crucial to explain why one path or another of the transition was followed. Also, credit should be given to the contributors as a teleological use of the term 'transition' is avoided. There is no sign of a predetermined final stage (western-style democracy) and the transformation of the five Central Asian republics is not assessed against it. Rather transition is seen as an open-ended process.
Qualitatively and methodologically the volume appears heterogeneous. This is natural given the different background of the contributors, some of whom are academics and others journalists. The contributions span across topics and time and the lack of a common framework is a major drawback of this book (alongside some avoidable errors, namely misspellings). The ordering of chapters appears questionable: for example, chapters nine and 13 appear complementary in their discussion of environmental problems and the reader would have benefited from having a thematic structure rather than proceeding back and forth from one topic to the other. These limitations notwithstanding, the volume offers a good introduction to the wide range of challenges-and their causes-that the Central Asian countries have had to face in the post-independence era.