“Applied Orientalism” in Soviet Central Asia

The projects and epistolary legacy of Soviet Marxist Orientalists in the 1920s are a poorly studied part of the intellectual history of Russian science. It is important to note that in the early USSR, the study of the “Orient” was associated with the ideological necessity of the Bolsheviks, who considered science like a tool for modernizing not only the former outskirts  the Russian Empire, but also the whole world. This research is devoted to the activities of the All-Union Scientifi c Association of Oriental Studies in Central Asia. Paid a special attention to M. P. Pavlovich who was the initiator of association and the magazine “New Orient”. The paper found that association employers were engaged in economic, political and cultural projects in the region, including the national-territorial demarcation of Central Asia, as well as archaeological research and restoration of ancient monuments.