Description
Book SynopsisPost-Cold War historiography of modern Central Asia has been characterized by a focus on cultural history. Most of this scholarship rests on a set of assumptions about traditional institutions and social practices which merely reflect the bias of Soviet or even Tsarist-era historiography. 'Explorations in the Social History of Modern Central Asia addresses the need for a remedy to this state of affairs and thus offers new insights on a number of subjects relating to the social history of the region. It includes essays dealing with property relations, resource management, forms of local administration, the constitution of new social groups, the construction of identity categories, and an enquiry into the landscape of Islamic practices among the nomads.
Trade Review'If social history is ‘one of the less fashionable intellectual enterprises of these days’, this edited volume more than makes the case for a revival of the discipline.(...) the overall accomplishments of this volume, which identifies exciting new directions of research in between, and beyond, these fragmented ‘singular stories.’ Jennifer Griffiths, School of Slavonic & East European Studies, University College London, Central Asian Survey 2014.
Table of ContentsA Note on Conventions List of Figures List of Contributors INTRODUCTION: ON THE SOCIAL IN CENTRAL ASIAN HISTORY: NOTES IN THE MARGINS OF LEGAL RECORDS - PAOLO SARTORI CHAPTER ONE: AMLĀKDĀRS, KHWĀJAS AND MULK LAND IN THE ZARAFSHAN VALLEY AFTER THE RUSSIAN CONQUEST - ALEXANDER S. MORRISON CHAPTER TWO: MANAGING RURAL LANDSCAPES IN COLONIAL TURKESTAN: A VIEW FROM THE MARGINS - BEATRICE PENATI CHAPTER THREE: WHO SHOULD MANAGE THE WATER OF THE AMU-DARYA? CONTROVERSY OVER IRRIGATION CONCESSIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND KHIVA, 1913–1914 - AKIFUMI SHIOYA CHAPTER FOUR: HIGH RANK AND POWER AMONG THE NORTHERN KIRGHIZ: TERMS AND THEIR PROBLEMS, 1845–1864 - DANIEL G. PRIOR CHAPTER FIVE: PERFORMANCE AND POETICS IN KYRGYZ MEMORIAL FEASTS: THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY CATEGORIES -SVETLANA JACQUESSON CHAPTER SIX: USING TURKI-LANGUAGE QAZAQ LETTERS TO RECONSTRUCT LOCAL HISTORY OF THE 1820S-30S -VIRGINIA MARTIN CHAPTER SEVEN: A MONTH AMONG QAZAQS IN THE EMIRATE OF BUKHARA: OBSERVATIONS ON ISLAMIC KNOWLEDGE IN A NOMADIC ENVIRONMENT - ALLEN J. FRANK CHAPTER EIGHT: CREATING THE FAÇADE OF A DESPOTIC STATE: ON ĀQSAQĀLS IN LATE 19TH-CENTURY BUKHARA - ANDREAS WILDE CHAPTER NINE: FATHERS AND SONS: RE-READINGS IN A SAMARQANDI PRIVATE ARCHIVE - THOMAS WELSFORD INDEX
