Description
Book SynopsisExplores the politics of kin-based clan divisions in the post-Soviet state of Kazakhstan. Drawing from ethnographic and archival research, interviews, and wide-ranging secondary sources, this book highlights a politics that poses a two-tiered challenge to contemporary thinking about modernity and Central Asia.
Trade Review"Modern Clan Politics is one of the best books to have been published on the state-society interaction in Central Asia. . . . A must-read for anyone who wishes to understand contemporary Kazakhstan."
* American Journal of Sociology *
"In its insights and its material, Schatz's volume brings clarity to a topic on Kazakhstan often shrouded in controversy and speculation. The author succeeds in the ambitious combination of fieldwork, theoretical frameworks and a comparative approach and makes for compelling reading suitable to specialists and non-specialists alike."
* Europe-Asia Studies *
"This book presents a refreshing contribution to the contemporary study of identity and nationalism. [It] provides important insights into the invisible mechanisms of politics in transitional postcommunist societies and deserves an enthusiastic welcome. It is an indispensable reference for specialists and all others who are interested in the subject."
* Slavic Review *
"Highly original and refreshingly interdisciplinary. Schatz skillfully blends ethnography, archival research, interviews, and focus groups to explain the role of clan identities in an arena that has transitioned from an appendage of the USSR to an independent nation-state. By showing us how ethnicity as clan network permeates the architecture of the postsocialist state and society, Schatz's study is a welcome addition to a growing body of research about the nexus of state power and local experience."
* American Anthropologist *
"Schatz's book gives us a fresh perspective on the dynamics of clan politics in Kazakhstan. It is extremely well researched and well written and certainly should be a core text in any course on modern Central Asian politics or ethnicity. [A] very innovative, well-done study."
* The Russian Review *
Table of ContentsPreface
A Note on Transliteration
Introduction: Modern Clan Politics
Part One | The Reproduction of Clans
1. Kinship and Modernity
2. Nomads, Diffuse Authority, and Sovietization
3. Two Faces of Soviet Power
4. Continuity and Change after the Soviet Collapse
Part Two | The Political Dynamic of Informal Ties
5. Clan Conflict
6. Clan Megaconflict
Part Three | Managing Clans
7. A Vicious Cycle? Kinship and Political Change
Conclusions: Kinship and "Normal" Politics
Appendix: Methods
Notes
Bibliography
Index
