Gorno-Badakhshan and Karakalpakstan since 1991: understanding territorial autonomy in Central Asia

The two Central Asian autonomies of Gorno-Badakhshan and Karakalpakstan have functionally the same competencies as other regions in their respective countries. And yet their autonomous status has persisted. Why? What functions does territorial autonomy carry out in authoritarian states? This paper argues – on the basis of Akchurina’s work of 2019 – that territorial autonomy in Central Asia is a feature of the incomplete state. Namely, territorial autonomy is an institution that sustains informal processes through which state authority is exerted in these challenging territories. The article substantiates this argument by tracing the evolution of centre–region relations in Gorno-Badakhshan and Karakalpakstan since 1991. For Dushanbe, territorial autonomy is a way to symbolically outsource its authority to rebellious local elites, while in Karakalpakstan autonomy allows Tashkent to manage the latent independence claims of the Karakalpaks.