Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia

by Kathleen Collins (Author)

3 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0521839501

ISBN-10: 0521839505

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Exploring the varied roots of clans, and their political role and transformation during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, this volume argues that clans are informal political actors critical to understanding regional politics. It demonstrates that the Soviet system was far less successful in transforming and controlling Central Asian society by eradicating clan identities, than has often been assumed. Clans actually influenced and constrained the regime's political trajectory increasingly, during the later Soviet and post-Soviet periods, and made liberalizing political and economic reforms very difficult.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The author is to be commended for seeking to reorient comparative politics toward the study of informal relations and politics and for her attention to Central Asia's pre-transition history. The book is stimulating."
Sada Aksartova, Japanese Journal of Political Science

"Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia is a stunning piece of scholarship on regime transformation. It is, by far, the best work to date on the dynamics of Central Asia's weak states. Collin's empirical research is impeccable and based on an array of sources gathered during three years of fieldwork. She buttresses every point, large and small, with on-the-ground interview material, ethnographic data, and well-considered secondary accounts. One can only hope that her attention to empirical detail will become the new standard among scholars of comparative politics. This is an empirically rich and theoretically stimulating book that deserves to be read adn deeply considered, by anyone who cares about Central Asia or the phenomenon of weak states." - Edward Schatz, University of Toronto The Russian Review

"...should be welcomed by all scholars of contemporary Central Asia for their detailed and comparative description of the politics of independence in these three republics." --Marianne Kamp, University of Wyoming, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Book Description

This book is a study of the role of clan networks in Central Asia from the early Soviet period through 2004. The book explores the social, economic, and historical roots of clans, and their political role and political transformation in the Soviet and post-Soviet period. The book argues that in order to understand Central Asian politics and their economies today, scholars and policy makers must take into account the powerful role of clans, how they adapt and change over time, and how they affect political and economic reforms.

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Product details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (April 3, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0521839505
ISBN-13: 978-0521839501
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,005,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1383 in Central Asia History
- #8943 in Asian History (Books)
- #7638 in Political Ideologies

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William Dirks

fundamentally flawed scholarship

December 24, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This scholarship and other similar works on "clans" in Uzbekistan are based on a number of false assumptions: 1. Uzbeks belong to clans and did so even before the Soviet era 2. These clans somehow "survived" the Soviet era 3. These clans are politically strong and run the show in Uzbekistan and 4. Karimov was Uzbek and had a clan identity. The author herself seems to sense that there aren't strong enough kinship ties between the actors in the political scene in Uzbekistan to constitute real clans, and so doctors her definition of clan to include "fictitious" kinship, which allows her to conveniently draw connections that don't exist. A simple survey (in Uzbek, not Russian) of Uzbeks from the various regions that supposedly comprise the "clans" mentioned in the book would have shown the author that, with the exception of some Qipchaq Uzbeks in the south, the vast majority of Uzbeks have no clan identity and what vestigial clans that do remain have no political power (they also have names, not generic regional appellations like "Samarqand" or "Ferghana", and have a traditional hierarchical structure, unlike the so-called political "clans"). Even if Uzbekistan had a clan-based political system, how an orphan from Samarqand (an urban area that has never had clan structure) came to represent a powerful "clan" should raise a few questions, as should the fact that none of Karimov's actual kinsmen are in positions of power. Furthermore, how Tajiks (some 75% of Samarqand is Tajik) and Uzbeks could belong to the same clan is never discussed. Thanks to this and other writings, having ascribed "clan" status to Uzbeks' general place of birth (minus Khorazm, for some reason) journalists interpret all political appointments in Uzbekistan as evidence of "clan" activity, even when certain actors do not even hail from the "clan" area they have been assigned to. Several Uzbek authors have written about the erroneousness of using the word "clan" to refer to Uzbek political factions, and at least one dissertation has been written on the subject - see Nicklas Norling's Myth and Reality: Politics in Soviet Uzbekistan.

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Customer11

Informative, but quite biased

January 10, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The author seems so fascinated by her theory that she simply ignores certain features of modern Central Asian life that would definitely betray her theory. Also, the very term 'clans' is broad and, thus, misleading. She places too much importance on traditional clan formation idea, which, in isolation, does not provide a distinct and true picture of complex political and social relations in any developing society. Among others, the 'clan' factor should closely be reviewed through the prism of powerful economic forces that influence social behaviors today.

In fact, the concept of kinship, on which clans are based, no longer dominates social relationships in Central Asia. Local communities there are quite diverse in nature and can be based on neighborliness, familiarity and many other factors. Economic considerations are partly responsible for 'unusual' networks formation and not only traditions or culture of clans.

As an example, she argues that regional networks prevalent in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are an example of clans. This is obviously not true because regional networks consist of tens of thousands of people (if not hundreds) while average clans make up "2,000 people" at the most as she herself points out in the book. Considering the numbers it is impossible for a regional network to be based on kinship solely.

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The Politics of Clan

January 6, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Be warned, this book is not for the faint of heart, the chapters are lengthy and they are packed with information that can confuse the reader if they are not careful. Really needs to read more than once to fully comprehend fully all the information that's heaved at the reader. However, Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia does offer a very detailed look at clan politics from Soviet times through 2004 and the problems that clan politics has caused throughout Central Asia by preventing consolidation of power and promoting a culture of indebtedness to the clan, even though this culture leads to state and economic weakness that creates poor conditions for those citizens not connected to the clan.

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Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia

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