Tajikistan : a political and social history / Kirill Nourzhanov and Christian Bleuer.

By:

Nourzhanov, Kirill [author.]

Contributor(s):

Bleuer, Christian [author.]

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Asian studies seriesPublisher: Canberra, ACT : Australian National University E Press, [2013]Copyright date: ©2013Description: 1 online resource (xv, 404 pages) : illustrations, mapsContent type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9781925021165
1925021165

Subject(s): Genre/Form:

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Tajikistan.DDC classification:

958.6086 23

LOC classification:

DK928.6

Online resources:

EBSCOhost

Contents:

Tajiks on the crossroads of history, from antiquity to the age of colonialism -- Forging Tajik identity: ethnic origins, national-territorial delimitation and nationalism -- State formation in the Soviet era, 1917-1960s -- Traditional society and regionalism in Soviet Tajikistan -- Formal and informal political institutions in Soviet Tajikistan -- Experimentation, turmoil and fragmentation under Gorbachev, 1985-1991 -- The rise of opposition, the contraction of the state and the road to independence -- Islam in society and politics -- From political confrontation to civil war, 1991-1992 -- Epilogue: the civil war of 1992.

Summary: This book is a historical study of the Tajiks in Central Asia from the ancient times to the post-Soviet period. For millennia, these descendants of the original Aryan settlers were part of many different empires set up by Greek, Arab, Turkic and Russian invaders, as well as their own, most notably during the Middle Ages. The emergence of the modern state of Tajikistan began after 1917 under Soviet rule, and culminated in the promulgation of independence from the moribund USSR in 1991. In the subsequent civil war that raged between 1992 and 1997, Tajikistan came close to becoming a failed state. The legacy of that internal conflict remains critical to understanding politics in Tajikistan a generation later. Exploring the patterns of ethnic identity and the exigencies of state formation, the book argues that despite a strong sense of belonging underpinned by shared history, mythology and cultural traits, the Tajiks have not succeeded in forming a consolidated nation. The politics of the Russian colonial administration, the national-territorial delimitation under Stalin, and the Soviet strategy of socio-economic modernisation contributed to the preservation and reification of sub-ethnic cleavages and regional identities. The book demonstrates the impact of region-based elite clans on Tajikistan's political trajectory in the twilight years of the Soviet era, and identifies objective and subjective factors that led to the civil war. It concludes with a survey of the process of national reconciliation after 1997, and the formal and informal political actors, including Islamist groups, who compete for influence in Tajik society.

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Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-404).

This book is a historical study of the Tajiks in Central Asia from the ancient times to the post-Soviet period. For millennia, these descendants of the original Aryan settlers were part of many different empires set up by Greek, Arab, Turkic and Russian invaders, as well as their own, most notably during the Middle Ages. The emergence of the modern state of Tajikistan began after 1917 under Soviet rule, and culminated in the promulgation of independence from the moribund USSR in 1991. In the subsequent civil war that raged between 1992 and 1997, Tajikistan came close to becoming a failed state. The legacy of that internal conflict remains critical to understanding politics in Tajikistan a generation later. Exploring the patterns of ethnic identity and the exigencies of state formation, the book argues that despite a strong sense of belonging underpinned by shared history, mythology and cultural traits, the Tajiks have not succeeded in forming a consolidated nation. The politics of the Russian colonial administration, the national-territorial delimitation under Stalin, and the Soviet strategy of socio-economic modernisation contributed to the preservation and reification of sub-ethnic cleavages and regional identities. The book demonstrates the impact of region-based elite clans on Tajikistan's political trajectory in the twilight years of the Soviet era, and identifies objective and subjective factors that led to the civil war. It concludes with a survey of the process of national reconciliation after 1997, and the formal and informal political actors, including Islamist groups, who compete for influence in Tajik society.