The Transformation of Central Asia: states and societies from Soviet rule to independence

Pauline Jones Luong, ed. The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. 49. 95, cloth. 22. 95, paper. This collection provides an invaluable contribution to the small but growing literature on Central Asia, as well as addresses important theoretical questions surrounding the character and role of the state and its relationship to broader society. Unlike many of the studies that have treated Central Asia following the September 11 attacks, this one features authors who are familiar with the local languages and have done extensive fieldwork in the region. The result is a volume that offers important and nuanced insights surrounding the development of the post-Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The eight essays admirably fulfill the goals stated by Pauline Jones Luong in her introduction: to dispel simplistic characterizations of Central Asia and bring the region from the periphery to the centre of debates surrounding the complex relationship between state and society in the post-socialist era. All of the authors agree that the Soviet state had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the region, shaping identities, institutions, and power. Even contemporary notions of Central Asian tradition, the basis for new nationalisms in the region, are based on Soviet characterizations of traditional society and culture. The authors also argue that progressively more authoritarian regimes are actually masking increased decentralization. Central Asian states can in fact be best as strongweak. They are strong in that they control substantial financial and natural resources and possess numerous tools of coercion, but weak in that individual states are often at war with themselves, with multiple struggles between and within local, regional, and central organs of government preventing the effective and coherent implementation of policies on the ground. Most significantly, many of the authors argue, the state at all levels remains largely isolated from society, neither seeking its participation nor meeting its everyday needs. As a result, Central Asian regimes appear profoundly unstable over the long term. The first piece, by Marianne Kamp, details the dissonance between societal expectations and weak state capacity in contemporary Uzbekistan. Kamp argues that Uzbek women still carry expectations, born in the Soviet era, of a universal cradle-to-grave welfare state. The Uzbek central government, however, has pawned off responsibilities for social services to neighbourhood (mahalla) committees. Kamp argues that this case demonstrates how devolutions of power to the local level, though favoured in western development theory, do not always work to society's advantage. Composed largely of unelected male elders, neighbourhood committees play favourites in determining who qualifies for the limited money available. They exclude women, such as single mothers, who are seen to violate moral standards of the community. Working mothers have seen resources available to them evaporate as the state moves from a Soviet maternalist to a nationalist paternalist policy, justified in the name of Central Asian tradition. Like Kamp, Cynthia Werner notes a marked decline in women's status in post-Soviet Central Asia. Werner's research on bride-kidnapping in Kazakhstan demonstrates that increasing numbers of Kazakh men are forcefully abducting women to take as wives. Werner argues that Kazakh men fear their own precarious position in the chaotic post-Soviet economy will harm their chances in gaining voluntary acceptance of marriage. They also realize that the state is showing little interest in the phenomenon, and small bribes to police or judges can prevent any legal repercussions. Patriarchal ideologies and weakened state capacity have combined to erode the status of women in post-Soviet Central Asia. …