Soon we will embark on what I hope will be a fantastic, life-changing trip…to Uzbekistan! Many of you reading this might know I am obsessed with Central Asia. This region excites and fascinates me like none other. Firstly, the history of Central Asia is extraordinary! As the centre of the ancient Silk Road, almost everyContinue reading “Our Trip is Confirmed!”
Tag Archives: Uzbekistan
Review: “Soviets in Central Asia” – W. P. and Zelda Coates
“Soviets in Central Asia” by W. P. and Zelda Coates confirmed my expectation of a broad, Marxist overview of the socialist transformation of Russian Turkestan and the emirates of Bukhara and Khiva. I enjoy the Coates’ work on the USSR, although most people would criticize them for being too ‘Stalinist.’ While there is an elementContinue reading “Review: “Soviets in Central Asia” – W. P. and Zelda Coates”
Karakalpakstan: Mirziyoyev the New “Saakashvili”? (Some Thoughts)
Widespread demonstrations in Uzbekistan’s large autonomous republic Karakalpakstan have reportedly left 18 people dead and triggered the declaration of a month-long state of emergency by the Uzbek regime. The demonstrations come after President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed on 1 July 2022 a new Constitution of Uzbekistan—which has since been withdrawn—that would have ended Karakalpakstan’s autonomous statusContinue reading “Karakalpakstan: Mirziyoyev the New “Saakashvili”? (Some Thoughts)”
Review: “Soviet Nationalities Policy and Bourgeois Historians: The Formation of the Soviet Multinational State (1917-1922) in Contemporary American Historiography” – L. Zenushkina
When I first started reading L. Zenushkina’s “Soviet Nationalities Policy and Bourgeois Historians: The Formation of the Soviet Multinational State (1917-1922) in Contemporary American Historiography,” I must admit I didn’t have very high expectations. True, Soviet nationalities policy is an area I specialize in, but since I have already read multiple books published in theContinue reading “Review: “Soviet Nationalities Policy and Bourgeois Historians: The Formation of the Soviet Multinational State (1917-1922) in Contemporary American Historiography” – L. Zenushkina”
Review: “Russia’s Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Kiva, 1865-1924” – Seymour Becker
Seymour Becker’s analysis of Russia’s conquests of the khanates of Bukhara and Khiva is considered the book on the subject. However, I did not find this book lived up to its reputation in Central Asian studies circles. What is most striking about this book is Becker’s elementary understanding of imperialism and empire. Throughout much ofContinue reading “Review: “Russia’s Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Kiva, 1865-1924” – Seymour Becker”
Review: “The Formation of the Uzbek Nation-State: A Study in Transition” – Anita Sengupta
Anita Sengupta’s “The Formation of the Uzbek Nation-State: A Study in Transition” is a highly theoretical examination of nation-state formation. Unlike Adeeb Khalid, Adrienne Edgar, Arne Haugen, and other Central Asia scholars, Sengupta’s primary focus is not on the actual establishment of Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, nor Soviet nationalities policy, but how the transformationContinue reading “Review: “The Formation of the Uzbek Nation-State: A Study in Transition” – Anita Sengupta”
Review: “Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Empire, and Revolution in the Early USSR” – Adeeb Khalid
Adeeb Khalid’s “Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Empire, and Revolution in the Early USSR” is a landmark study of the creation of the state of Uzbekistan and national territorial delimitation in Soviet Central Asia. The haphazard and seemingly irrational borders of the five Central Asian republics — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan — has often beenContinue reading “Review: “Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Empire, and Revolution in the Early USSR” – Adeeb Khalid”
Review: “How the National Question was Solved in Soviet Central Asia (A Reply to Falsifiers)” – R. Tuzmuhamedov
R. Tuzmuhamedov’s “How the National Question was Solved in Soviet Central Asia” offers a superb analysis of the socialist transformation of Soviet Central Asia. Most of the book is what you would expect from something published by Progress Publishers: constant praise for Lenin and the Great October Socialist Revolution (not that I think that’s aContinue reading “Review: “How the National Question was Solved in Soviet Central Asia (A Reply to Falsifiers)” – R. Tuzmuhamedov”
Review: “The Establishment of National Republics in Soviet Central Asia” – Arne Haugen
“The Establishment of National Republics in Soviet Central Asia” by Arne Haugen is the Das Kapital of Soviet nationalities policies, especially in Central Asia. Haugen, a Norwegian scholar, methodically and scientifically examines Soviet national territorial delimitation in Central Asia. In this book Haugen examines many of the issues raised in Western scholarly works on SovietContinue reading “Review: “The Establishment of National Republics in Soviet Central Asia” – Arne Haugen”
Soviet Nationalities Policy and Territorial Delimitation: “Divide at impera” or something else?
Have you ever looked at a map of Central Asia and the Caucasus? If you answered ‘yes’, then you have more than likely wondered why the borders of many of the now independent states in these regions of the former Soviet Union are so confusing and seemingly irrational. The strategic and fertile Ferghana Valley, forContinue reading “Soviet Nationalities Policy and Territorial Delimitation: “Divide at impera” or something else?”
T. J. Petrowski 