The Central Asian World by Féaux de la Croix, Jeanne; Reeves, Madeleine;

Short description:

This landmark book provides a comprehensive anthropological introduction to contemporary Central Asia. Established and emerging scholars of the region critically interrogate the idea of a ‘Central Asian World’ at the intersection of post-Soviet, Persianate, East and South Asian worlds.

Long description:

This landmark book provides a comprehensive anthropological introduction to contemporary Central Asia. Established and emerging scholars of the region critically interrogate the idea of a ‘Central Asian World’ at the intersection of post-Soviet, Persianate, East and South Asian worlds. Encompassing chapters on life between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Xinjiang, this volume situates the social, political, economic, ecological and ritual diversity of Central Asia in historical context. The book ethnographically explores key areas such as the growth of Islamic finance, the remaking of urban and sacred spaces, as well as decolonising and queering approaches to Central Asia. The volume’s discussion of More-than-Human Worlds, Everyday Economies, Material Culture, Migration and Statehood engages core analytical concerns such as globalisation, inequality and postcolonialism. Far more than a survey of a ‘world region’, the volume illuminates how people in Central Asia make a life at the intersection of diverse cross-cutting currents and flows of knowledge. In so doing, it stakes out the contribution of an anthropology of and from Central Asia to broader debates within contemporary anthropology.

This is an essential reference for anthropologists as well as for scholars from other disciplines with a focus on Central Asia.

"Discover the 'Central Asian World' through the lenses of leading anthropologists. Drawing from empirical data and giving voice to local communities, the authors help us to explore the complex life and experiences of contemporary Central Asians. These original contributions were possible due to the generosity and hospitality of Central Asians who welcomed ‘outsiders’ into their homes and generously shared their food, time, and knowledge with them. If a decade ago, Central Asians had served foreign anthropologists as research assistants, translators and/or informants, today, they have become established and emergent scholars contributing to the international discourse on the region."

Elmira Köchümkulova, Co-ordinator of the Cultural Heritage and Humanities Unit, University of Central Asia

"This collection of deeply informed essays puts the 'Central' back into 'Central Asia' -- a region too long treated as a cultural and intellectual backwater but in historical and ethnological reality an arena of socio-cultural ferment and reciprocal permeation on a global scale. The authors transform the charge of marginality into an object of critical reflection across an impressive array of disciplines, topics, and venues."

Michael Herzfeld, Ernest E. Monrad Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University, USA

 "Central Asia has long been unaccountably marginalized in disciplinary and political worldings. This superb collection of essays triumphantly demonstrates the huge importance of this vast region for anyone interested in understanding the contemporary world. Offering a comprehensive, polyphonic introduction to the area's diverse and fluid pasts and presents, the volume advances cutting-edge anthropological approaches in explorations of how more-than-human reverberations of previous regimes affect and shape material culture, ecologies, cosmologies, kinship, economies and state encounters. With contributors from both within and beyond Central Asia, this looks set to be a foundational work for the region and social sciences alike."

Catherine Alexander, Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Durham University, UK

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Situating Central Asian Worlds (Jeanne Feaux de la Croix and Madeleine Reeves)
FRAMEWORKS OF ANALYSIS
1. Vernacular Modes of History-Making (Svetlana Jacquesson)
2. Post-colonial Theory and the Study of Central Asia (Alima Bissenova)
3. Attempting Change: Development and Faith (Noor O’Neill Borbieva)
4. Gender and Queer Studies in Central Asia (Mohira Suyarkulova)
REVERBERATING LEGACIES
5. Pre-Soviet Oasis Legacies (Jeanine Dağyeli)
6. Legacies of Soviet Nationalities Policy (Madeleine Reeves)
7. The Soviet Ethnographic Legacy (Sergey Abashin)
8. Afterlives of Perestroika (Isaac Scarborough)
9. Soviet Collapse and the Anthropology of Central Asia (John Schoeberlein)
LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION
10. Language, Performance and Nationhood (Eva-Marie Dubuisson)
11. Uyghur Muqams and the Performance of Traditional Literature (Nathan Light)
12. The Notion of Diaspora and Marking Dungan-ness (Soledad Jimenez Tovar)
13. Central Asians on Screen and in Front of Screens (Cloe Drieu)
POLITICS AND BELONGING
14. Local Political Organization in Afghanistan (Jennifer Murtazashvili)
15. The Politics of Migration ‘Management’ (Malika Bahovadinova)
16. Migration and Cultivating Religious Belonging (Emil Nasritdinov)
17. Marginalization and Getting by on the Streets (Grace Zhou)
18. Violent Paternalism: Surviving as an Uyghur in Xinjiang (Darren Byler)
19. Gender, Generation and Political Activism (Elmira Satybaldieva)
PERSONHOOD AND COMMUNITIES
20. Childhood and Health (Baktygul Tulebaeva)
21. Changing Pastoral Livelihoods (Carole Ferret)
22. The Social World of the Mahalla (Morgan Liu)
23. The Dvor and Urban Communities (Philipp Schroder)
24. Kinship Strategies after Conflict (Aksana Ismailbekova)
25. Kinship, Trade and Economic Security (Rune Steenberg)
ETHICAL REPERTOIRES
26. Customizing law (Judith Beyer)
27. The Value of Work (Jeanne Feaux de la Croix)
28. The Social Lives of ‘Natural’ Disasters (Sophie Roche)
29. Host and Guest (Magnus Marsden)
30. Dreams as Omens (Maria Louw)
31. Soap Operas and Modern Futures (Julie Billaud)
EVERYDAY ECONOMIES
32. Who owns the Land? (Tommaso Trevisani)
33. Industrial Labour (Eeva Keskula)
34. New Entrepreneurial Trajectories (Regine Spector)
35. Infrastructure and Inequality in Xinjiang (Agnieskza Joniak-Luthi)
36. The Halal Economy (Aisalkyn Botoeva)
37. Illegal Economies (Gulzat Botoeva)
MIGRATION AND DIASPORA
38. The Transnational Family (Juliette Cleuziou)
39. Migration and the ‘Left-behind’ (Diana Ibanez-Tirado)
40. Gulf Migrations (Manja Stephan-Emmrich)
41. Informality and Uzbek Migrant Networks in Russia (Rustamjon Urinboyev)
42. Ismaili Diaspora Networks (Till Mostowlansky)
ART, AESTHETICS, AND MATERIAL CULTURE
43. Craft and the Transmission of Knowledge (Stephanie Bunn)
44. Ceramics and the Master-Apprentice Relation (Haruka Kikuta)
45. Uyghur Subnational History as a Repository of Cultural Heritage (Ildiko Beller-Hann)
46. Sounding Islam (Rachel Harris)
47. Patriotism and Pop Music in Uzbekistan (Kerstin Klenke)
48. Art as Activism (Diana Kudaibergenova)
SACRED WORLDS
49. Sacred Geography of Kyrgyzstan: Diversity, Debates, Resilience (Gulnara Aitpaeva)
50. Varieties of Navigating Religious Experience (David Montgomery)
51. Muslim Marriages (Julie McBrien)
52. Dawat and Mosque Life (Yanti Holzchen)
53. Healing with Spirits (Danuta Penkala-Gawęcka)
Afterword: the Future of the Field (Caroline Humphrey)