Tajikistan on the Move

Statebuilding and Societal Transformations

Edited by Marlene Laruelle - Contributions by Jesse Driscoll; Michele Commercio; Hafiz Boboyorov; Tim Epkenhans; John Heathershaw; Brent Hierman; Sophie Hohmann; Marlene Laruelle; Edward Lemon; Suzanne Levi-Sanchez; Parviz Mullojonov; Kirill Nourzhanov and Sophie Roche

The southernmost and poorest state of the Eurasian space, Tajikistan collapsed immediately upon the fall of the Soviet Union and plunged into a bloody five-year civil war (1992–1997) that left more than 50,000 people dead and more than half a million displaced. After the 1997 Peace Agreements, Tajikistan stood out for being the only post-Soviet country to recognize an Islamic party—the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT)—as a key actor in the civil war as well as in postwar reconstruction and democratization. Tajikistan’s linguistic and cultural proximity to Iran notwithstanding, the balance of external powers over the country remains fairly typical of Central Asia, with Russia as the major security provider and China as its principal investor.

Another specificity of Tajikistan is its massive labor migration flows toward Russia. Out of a population of eight million, about one million work abroad seasonally—one of the highest rates of departure in the world. Migration trends have impacted Tajikistan’s economy and rent mechanisms: half of the country’s GDP comes from migrant remittances, a higher share than anywhere else in the world. However, it is in the societal and cultural realms that migration has had the most transformative effect. Migrants’ cultural and societal identities are on the move, with a growing role given to Islam as a normative tool for regulating the cultural shock of migration. Islam, and especially a globalized fundamentalist pietist movement, regulates both physical and moral security in workplace and other settings, and brings migrants together to make their interactions meaningful and socio-politically relevant. It offers a new social prestige to those who work in an environment seen as threatening to their Islamic identity.

The first section of this volume investigates the critical question of the nature of the Tajik political regime, its stability, legitimacy mechanisms, and patterns of centralization. In the volume’s second part, we move away from studying the state to delve into the societal fabric of Tajikistan, shaped by local rural specificities and social vulnerabilities in the health sector and gender relationships. The third section of the volume is devoted to identity narratives and changes. While the Tajik regime works hard to control the national narrative and the interpretation of the civil war, society is literally and figuratively on the move, as migration profoundly reshapes societal structures and cultural values.

Lexington Books

Pages: 336 • Trim: 6¼ x 9

978-1-4985-4651-5 • Hardback • May 2018 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

978-1-4985-4652-2 • eBook • May 2018 • $122.50 • (£95.00)

Series: Contemporary Central Asia: Societies, Politics, and Cultures

Subjects: Political Science / World / Asian, History / Asia / Central Asia, Social Science / World / Asia

Tajikistan on the Move

Statebuilding and Societal Transformations

Hardback

eBook

Summary

The southernmost and poorest state of the Eurasian space, Tajikistan collapsed immediately upon the fall of the Soviet Union and plunged into a bloody five-year civil war (1992–1997) that left more than 50,000 people dead and more than half a million displaced. After the 1997 Peace Agreements, Tajikistan stood out for being the only post-Soviet country to recognize an Islamic party—the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT)—as a key actor in the civil war as well as in postwar reconstruction and democratization. Tajikistan’s linguistic and cultural proximity to Iran notwithstanding, the balance of external powers over the country remains fairly typical of Central Asia, with Russia as the major security provider and China as its principal investor.

Another specificity of Tajikistan is its massive labor migration flows toward Russia. Out of a population of eight million, about one million work abroad seasonally—one of the highest rates of departure in the world. Migration trends have impacted Tajikistan’s economy and rent mechanisms: half of the country’s GDP comes from migrant remittances, a higher share than anywhere else in the world. However, it is in the societal and cultural realms that migration has had the most transformative effect. Migrants’ cultural and societal identities are on the move, with a growing role given to Islam as a normative tool for regulating the cultural shock of migration. Islam, and especially a globalized fundamentalist pietist movement, regulates both physical and moral security in workplace and other settings, and brings migrants together to make their interactions meaningful and socio-politically relevant. It offers a new social prestige to those who work in an environment seen as threatening to their Islamic identity.

The first section of this volume investigates the critical question of the nature of the Tajik political regime, its stability, legitimacy mechanisms, and patterns of centralization. In the volume’s second part, we move away from studying the state to delve into the societal fabric of Tajikistan, shaped by local rural specificities and social vulnerabilities in the health sector and gender relationships. The third section of the volume is devoted to identity narratives and changes. While the Tajik regime works hard to control the national narrative and the interpretation of the civil war, society is literally and figuratively on the move, as migration profoundly reshapes societal structures and cultural values.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 336 • Trim: 6¼ x 9

978-1-4985-4651-5 • Hardback • May 2018 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

978-1-4985-4652-2 • eBook • May 2018 • $122.50 • (£95.00)

Series: Contemporary Central Asia: Societies, Politics, and Cultures

Subjects: Political Science / World / Asian, History / Asia / Central Asia, Social Science / World / Asia

Author

Marlene Laruelle is research professor, director of the Central Asia Program, and associate director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at the Elliott School of International Affairs of George Washington University.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Marlene Laruelle
Part I: State Dynamics. Policies, their Actors and their Spaces
Chapter 1: Hobbesian Neopatrimonialism, Jesse Driscoll
Chapter 2: Rebels without a Cause? Authoritarian Conflict Management in Tajikistan, 2008-2015, John Heathershaw and Parviz Mullojonov
Chapter 3: From Moscow to Madrid: Governing Security Threats Beyond Tajikistan’s Borders, Edward Lemon
Chapter 4: Tajikistan’s Multi-Vector Foreign Policy: Constructing Relations with Russia, China, and the United States, Kirill Nourzhanov
Part II: Tajik Society: Local Developments and Social Vulnerabilities
Chapter 5: Dushanbe Is Quite Far: Deconcentrated Agrarian Reform in Rural Tajikistan, Brent Hierman
Chapter 6: Local Governance in Khatlon, Tajikistan, Suzanne Levi-Sanchez
Chapter 7: Development Practices, Insecurity, and Risks: Injectable Drug Users in Gorno-Badakhshan, Sophie Hohmann
Chapter 8: “A Woman Without a Man is a Kazan Without a Lid”: Polygyny in Tajikistan, Michele Commercio
Part III: State Memory and Moving Identities
Chapter 9: Oblivion, Ambivalence and Historical Erasure: Remembering the Civil War in Tajikistan, Tim Epkenhans
Chapter 10: Translocal Securityscapes of Tajik Labor Migrants and the Families and Communities They Leave Behind, Hafiz Boboyorov
Chapter 11: Illegal Migrants and Pious Muslims: The Paradox of Bazaar Workers from Tajikistan, Sophie Roche

Reviews

The book features a uniquely cohesive collection of essays by well-known scholars of Tajikistan. . . The frank description of government dependence on Chinese investment, Russian security support, significant labour migrant remittances and drug trafficking sets the tone for a thorough and forthright presentation of the country. . . . In sum, the rich and detailed descriptions in this book give it general appeal as well as academic value. As a coherent set of perspectives, each offering high levels of expertise, deep knowledge and astute analysis, this book belongs in every university library. Students of sociology, anthropology and development economics can learn a great deal from these examples. Scholars of comparative politics, conflict analysis and politics will see here a substantive development of their fields.
— Europe-Asia Studies

This collection of studies on state and society and their interplay combines the best of theoretically informed and ethnographically grounded research to date on contemporary Tajikistan. The authors collectively offer nuanced and realistic assessments of the political, economic, and social dynamics influencing Tajikistan’s autocratic regime, the elites within, on the margins of, and excluded from the ruling Rahmon family’s consolidated privileges, and the broader Tajik population at home and abroad. In short, this is a sobering and useful resource for scholars, policymakers, and program implementers seeking a deep understanding of this so-called ‘post post-conflict’ country.
— David Abramson, Georgetown University

This is an important study. Compiling a wide range of topics such as foreign policy, civil war memories, migration, gender relations, and Muslim piety, it provides an impressive kaleidoscopic image of post-civil war Tajikistan. Casting new light on the state-society nexus, this volume is a remarkable advance in our understanding of the multiple movements in and beyond the country on local, translocal, and regional scales. This is a significant book not only for scholars of Tajikistan and Central Asia but also for scholars of political science, anthropology, and area studies interested in the complex assemblage of authoritarian state politics, socio-economic complexities, and mobility at the crossroad of postsocialism and globalization.
— Manja Stephan-Emmrich, Humboldt University of Berlin

This is an excellent book that brings together insights from cutting-edge research on Tajikistan, greatly advancing our understanding of the country. The contributors deftly integrate social science theories and concepts into their fine-grained analysis, covering a number of key issues confronting the country: how the state pursues security at home and abroad; what underlying support sustains its authoritarian rule; how society addresses daunting challenges such as inequality, drug use, polygyny, and migration; and what are the underlying legacies of its civil war. This book, in short, provides a penetrating look into the most essential problems in Tajikistan’s politics and society.
— Lawrence P. Markowitz, Rowan University