Download or read book Kyrgyzstan written by Roland Paiva and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the transcript of interviews with Klavdiya Antipina by Philippe Labreveux and Diana Chochunbaeva.

Download or read book Where Are All Our Sheep written by Boris Petric and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the collapse of the USSR, Kyrgyzstan chose a path of economic and political liberalization. Only a few years later, however, the country ceased producing anything of worth and developed a dependence on the outside world, particularly on international aid. Its principal industry, sheep breeding, was decimated by reforms suggested by international institutions providing assistance. Virtually annihilated by privatization of the economy and deserted by Moscow, the Kyrgyz have turned this economic “opening up” into a subtle strategy to capture all manner of resources from abroad. In this study, the author describes the encounters, sometimes comical and tinged with incomprehension, between the local population and the well-meaning foreigners who came to reform them.

Download or read book Kyrgyzstan written by John Anderson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-11 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born out of the collapse of the USSR, Kyrgyzstan has been notable for its struggle to develop a pluralist polity and free market, an attempt that distinguishes it from some of its more authoritarian neighbors. This volume introduces students and businessmen to this most attractive of republics, offering an overview of its history, politics, economic development, and place in the international community. In particular, it focuses on the problematic nature of political development, with democratic and pluralist impulses struggling to survive against the dominance of more traditional forms of governance.

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan written by Rafis Abazov and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Turkmenistan is known for its huge oil and gas resources, as well as for the rich, complex, and captivating history of the Turkmen people. For centuries they were known as skillful and courageous warriors who left deep marks in the histories of other countries, such as India, Russia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Egypt. As craftsmen, they constructed extraordinary architectural monuments, whose ruins can be found all over the country, and famous Turkoman carpets are still highly valued in many parts of the world. Yet, for centuries, foreign invaders and local tribal conflict plagued the land with wars that devastated the Turkmen society and destroyed its magnificent but fragile oases. In the late 19th century, the Turkmens witnessed the establishment of the Russian Empire in their lands. In the years following, these lands were united by the Soviet government into a single political entity in an attempt to force the Soviet style nation-state building and socio-economic transformations. In 1991, the Turkmen parliament voted for the country's independence and promised to build a sovereign state capable of bringing prosperity and social and political stability to the society. The reality, however, proved to be more complex. After more than 15 years of independence, Turkmenistan still faces a number of difficulties, including economic and structural issues, security challenges, growing competition between various clans, and widespread poverty. Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan provides a concise overview of the historical development of Turkmenistan. The introduction and chronology provide an overview of the Turkmen history, focusing on the history of the country in the 20th century, political and economic development, ethnic policies, and nation building. This is the first comprehensive reference book on Turkmenistan published in English that provides comprehensive up-to-date details about the contemporary history, economy, and culture. The dictionary consists of approximately 300 entries a

Download or read book Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan written by Timur Dadabaev and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-12-09 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers perspectives from the general public in post-Soviet Central Asia and reconsiders the meaning and the legacy of Soviet administration in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This study emphasizes that the way in which people in Central Asia reconcile their Soviet past to a great extent refers to the three-fold process of recollecting their everyday experiences, reflecting on their past from the perspective of their post-Soviet present, and re-imagining. These three elements influence memories and lead to selectivity in memory construction. This process also emphasizes the aspects of the Soviet era people choose to recall in positive and negative lights. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how Soviet life has influenced the identity and understanding of self among the population in post-Soviet Central Asian states.

Download or read book Kyrgyzstan Regime Security and Foreign Policy written by Kemel Toktomushev and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kyrgyzstan is an interesting example of a relatively weak state, which for its brief period of independence has already ousted two presidents, experienced two revolutions, survived two interethnic conflicts and yet remained intact. This book explores this apparent paradox and argues that the schism between domestic and international dimensions of state and regime security is key to understanding the nature of Kyrgyz politics. The book shows how the foreign policy links to the Manas Air Base, used by the US military and essential for supplying their forces in Afghanistan, the economic arrangements necessary for sustaining the base, both inside and outside Kyrgyzstan, and the myriad of different actors involved in all this, combined to overshadow points of friction to ensure stable continuance of the status quo. Overall, the book shows how broad geopolitical forces and complex local factors together have a huge impact on the formation of Kyrgyz foreign policy.

Download or read book Domestic and International Perspectives on Kyrgyzstan s Tulip Revolution written by Sally Cummings and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In early 2005 regional protests in Kyrgyzstan soon became national ones as protesters seized control of the country’s capital, Bishkek. The country’s president for fifteen years, Askar Akaev, fled the country and after a night of extensive looting, a new president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, came to power. The events quickly earned the epithet ‘Tulip Revolution’ and were interpreted as the third of the colour revolutions in the post-Soviet space, following Ukraine and Georgia. But did the events in Kyrgyzstan amount to a ‘revolution’? How much change followed and with what academic and policy implications? This innovative, unique study of these events brings together a new generation of Kyrgyz scholars together with established international observers to assess what happened in Kyrgyzstan and after, and the wider implications. This book was published as a special issue of Central Asian Survey.

Download or read book Sovietistan written by Erika Fatland and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-01-07 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world. Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan, she takes the reader on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships. In Kyrgyzstani villages, she meets victims of the tradition of bride snatching; she visits the huge and desolate nuclear testing ground "Polygon" in Kazakhstan; she meets shrimp gatherers on the banks of the dried out Aral Sea; she travels incognito through Turkmenistan, as it is closed to journalists, and she meets German Mennonites that found paradise on the Kyrgyzstani plains 200 years ago. We learn how ancient customs clash with gas production and witness the underlying conflicts in new countries building their futures in nationalist colors. Once the frontier of the Soviet Union, life follows another pace of time. Amidst the treasures of Samarkand and the brutalist Soviet architecture, Sovietistan is a rare and unforgettable travelogue.

Download or read book From Belonging to Belief written by Julie McBrien and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2017-06-08 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Belonging to Belief presents a nuanced ethnographic study of Islam and secularism in post-Soviet Central Asia, as seen from the small town of Bazaar-Korgon in southern Kyrgyzstan. Opening with the juxtaposition of a statue of Lenin and a mosque in the town square, Julie McBrien proceeds to peel away the multiple layers that have shaped the return of public Islam in the region. She explores belief and nonbelief, varying practices of Islam, discourses of extremism, and the role of the state, to elucidate the everyday experiences of Bazaar-Korgonians. McBrien shows how Islam is explored, lived, and debated in both conventional and novel sites: a Soviet-era cleric who continues to hold great influence; popular television programs; religious instruction at wedding parties; clothing; celebrations; and others. Through ethnographic research, McBrien reveals how moving toward Islam is not a simple step but rather a deliberate and personal journey of experimentation, testing, and knowledge acquisition. Moreover she argues that religion is not always a matter of belief—sometimes it is essentially about belonging. From Belonging to Belief offers an important corrective to studies that focus only on the pious turns among Muslims in Central Asia, and instead shows the complex process of evolving religion in a region that has experienced both Soviet atheism and post-Soviet secularism, each of which has profoundly formed the way Muslims interpret and live Islam.

Download or read book Kyrgyzstan written by Rowan Stewart and published by Odyssey Books & Maps. This book was released on 2002 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique and stunningly illustrated book, the first English- language guide exclusively dedicated to Kyrgyzstan, provides up-to-date practical information on the full range of travel possibilities to all parts of the country, along with a clear overvie

Download or read book Gender Activism and International Development Intervention in Kyrgyzstan written by Joanna Pares Hoare and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-04-19 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gender, Activism, and International Development Intervention in Kyrgyzstan draws on feminist critiques and ethnographic data to interrogate how development has been implemented in Kyrgyzstan since 1991.

Download or read book The State as Investment Market written by Johan Engvall and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2016-09-07 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a detailed examination of Kyrgyzstan, Johan Engvall goes well beyond the case of this single country to elaborate a broad theory of economic corruption in developing post-Soviet states regionally—as a rational form of investment market for political elites. He reveals how would-be officials invest in offices to obtain access to income streams associated with those offices. Drawing on extensive fieldwork over an eight-year period, Engvall details how these systems work and the major implications this holds for political and economic development in the region. Often identified and criticized simply as obstacles to development by scholars, Engvall instead argues that these systems must be reinterpreted in the context of a standardized and entrenched method of organizing the state. He also shows how private actors have been unsuccessful in buying preferential treatment directly from the state. Instead, public officials have become the predominant conduit to influencing policy process and monitoring the sale of protection, property rights, and other privatized "public" goods.

Download or read book Bishkek Boys written by Philipp Schröder and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2017-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this pioneering ethnographic study of identity and integration, author Philipp Schröder explores urban change in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek from the vantage point of the male youth living in one neighbourhood. Touching on topics including authority, violence, social and imaginary geographies, interethnic relations, friendship, and competing notions of belonging to the city, Bishkek Boys offers unique insights into how post-Socialist economic liberalization, rural-urban migration and ethnic nationalism have reshaped social relations among young males who come of age in this Central Asian urban environment.

Download or read book Politics Identity and Education in Central Asia written by Pınar Akçalı and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-03-20 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the areas of politics, identity and education, this book looks at some of the most pressing and challenging issues that Kyrgyzstan faces in the post-Soviet era. It argues that Kyrgyzstan is challenged with oscillations between the old and the new on the one hand, and domestic and international on the other. The book analyses the process of post-Soviet transition in today’s Kyrgyzstan by focusing on the political elites, some of the major identity problems and educational issues. It discusses how Kyrgyzstan’s first president in the post-Soviet era had already been an exceptional leader even prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union in terms of his democratic and liberal tendencies. The book goes on to look at how identity is a major factor in the country, shaped to a large extent by genealogical factors and patron-client mechanisms on the one hand, and religious considerations on the other. Finally, it highlights how education has been perceived as a very influential agent of socialization that develops not only literacy and other skills, but also common attitudes and values that are considered essential to any society. By evaluating these three areas, the book argues that Kyrgyzstan cannot isolate itself from the demands, priorities and pressures of international actors, which sometimes are in conflict with the country’s domestic conditions. It is of interest to students and scholars of Asian Studies, Politics and International Relations.

Download or read book Speaking Soviet with an Accent written by Ali F. Igmen and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2012-07-31 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Speaking Soviet with an Accent presents the first English-language study of Soviet culture clubs in Kyrgyzstan. These clubs profoundly influenced the future of Kyrgyz cultural identity and fostered the work of many artists, such as famed novelist Chingiz Aitmatov. Based on extensive oral history and archival research, Ali Igmen follows the rise of culture clubs beginning in the 1920s, when they were established to inculcate Soviet ideology and create a sedentary lifestyle among the historically nomadic Kyrgyz people. These "Red clubs" are fondly remembered by locals as one of the few places where lively activities and socialization with other members of their ail (village or tribal unit) could be found. Through lectures, readings, books, plays, concerts, operas, visual arts, and cultural Olympiads, locals were exposed to Soviet notions of modernization. But these programs also encouraged the creation of a newfound "Kyrgyzness" that preserved aspects of local traditions and celebrated the achievements of Kyrgyz citizens in the building of a new state. These ideals proved appealing to many Kyrgyz, who, for centuries, had seen riches and power in the hands of a few tribal chieftains and Russian imperialists. This book offers new insights into the formation of modern cultural identity in Central Asia. Here, like their imperial predecessors, the Soviets sought to extend their physical borders and political influence. But Igmen also reveals the remarkable agency of the Kyrgyz people, who employed available resources to meld their own heritage with Soviet and Russian ideologies and form artistic expressions that continue to influence Kyrgyzstan today.

Download or read book Medicinal Plants of Central Asia Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan written by Sasha W. Eisenman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-09-14 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique book is a collaborative effort between researchers at Rutgers University and colleagues from numerous institutions in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. It will be the first book to document more than 200 of the most important medicinal plants of Central Asia, many whose medicinal uses and activities are being described in English for the first time. The majority of the plants described grow wild in Central Asia with some being endemic, while other species have been introduced to Central Asia but are commonly used in regional plant based medicine. The book contains four introductory chapters. The first and second chapters cover the geography, climate and vegetation of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, respectively. The third chapter provides a brief history of medicinal plant use and science in Central Asia and the fourth chapter contains general information about phytochemistry. The fifth chapter comprises the bulk of the book and covers 208 medicinal plant species. Nearly all species have one or more high quality, color photographs. Three useful appendices have been included. The first is a glossary of botanical and ecological terms, the second is a glossary of chemistry terms and the third is a glossary of medical terms. During the preparation of this manuscript we found there to be a deficiency in quality reference resources for the translation of many of the technical terms associated with the different branches of science covered in this book. In order to make our job easier we compiled glossaries over the course of preparing the manuscript and have included them feeling that they will be an extremely valuable resource for readers. ​

Download or read book Blood Ties and the Native Son written by Aksana Ismailbekova and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-22 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthropologist explores the politics and society of Kyrgyzstan through a study of one influential man’s life. A pioneering study of kinship, patronage, and politics in Central Asia, Blood Ties and the Native Son tells the story of the rise and fall of a man called Rahim, an influential and powerful patron in rural northern Kyrgyzstan, and of how his relations with clients and kin shaped the economic and social life of the region. Many observers of politics in post-Soviet Central Asia have assumed that corruption, nepotism, and patron-client relations would forestall democratization. Looking at the intersection of kinship ties with political patronage, Aksana Ismailbekova finds instead that this intertwining has in fact enabled democratization—both kinship and patronage develop apace with democracy, although patronage relations may stymie individual political opinion and action. “This book is an important contribution to a growing literature on Central Asian politics and society, and by complicating dominant narratives about the dangers of weak state institutions, Ismailbekova has much to offer to the broader research project on democratization and clientelism.” —Europe-Asia Studies