{"title":"China’s BRI expansion and great power ambition: The Silk Road on the ice connecting the Arctic","authors":"Kamrul Hossain, Yue Xu, Li Lifan","doi":"10.22261/CJES.F3OSGP","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.F3OSGP","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123088254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Complex regionalism in Central Asia: Local, regional, and global factors","authors":"M. Rakhimov","doi":"10.22261/CJES.J6Y3O7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.J6Y3O7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"179 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133871096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article looks at the processes, metaphors and politics of the “Silk Road” as an ideological concept and the ways in which “authenticity” is actively constructed, implemented and performed as a strategy for development by government, non-governmental agencies and business owners. Case studies from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan are touched upon and material from interviews, observations and examples from material culture presented. This project seeks to analyse: the culture of the textiles business in Central Asia and how this operates at the seams of national-ethnic identity within the Eurasian context; the formal and informal business practices of the everyday, operating within the discourses of economic development; and how consumer culture may be interrogated as a means for performing identity at the local and global perspectives. Contemporary intersectional approaches to understanding the business of textiles and fashion in Central Asia should redress the marginalisation of academic efforts across multiple disciplines to unite the region inwardly and outwardly and call for an integrated approach to considering both the cultural and economic value of handmade textiles, which acknowledges and makes visible the role of the artisan, the designer, the entrepreneur, the retailer and all the stages that exist in the value chain between production the final consumer. The precursors to the current framework of research necessarily lie in the work of scholars of development and industrialisation established during the Soviet period. Their expertise must be called upon to enrich the perspective presented here, which is focused on contemporary craftsmanship and enterprise in Central Asia and how current practices in design and business may offer fruitful opportunities for development of the New Silk Road project, both intellectually and economically.
{"title":"Performing Eurasia in the textiles and clothing businesses along the Silk Road","authors":"Emma Dick, M Shahidi, G. Jorayev","doi":"10.22261/CJES.5N9400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.5N9400","url":null,"abstract":"The article looks at the processes, metaphors and politics of the “Silk Road” as an ideological concept and the ways in which “authenticity” is actively constructed, implemented and performed as a strategy for development by government, non-governmental agencies and business owners. Case studies from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan are touched upon and material from interviews, observations and examples from material culture presented. This project seeks to analyse: the culture of the textiles business in Central Asia and how this operates at the seams of national-ethnic identity within the Eurasian context; the formal and informal business practices of the everyday, operating within the discourses of economic development; and how consumer culture may be interrogated as a means for performing identity at the local and global perspectives. Contemporary intersectional approaches to understanding the business of textiles and fashion in Central Asia should redress the marginalisation of academic efforts across multiple disciplines to unite the region inwardly and outwardly and call for an integrated approach to considering both the cultural and economic value of handmade textiles, which acknowledges and makes visible the role of the artisan, the designer, the entrepreneur, the retailer and all the stages that exist in the value chain between production the final consumer. The precursors to the current framework of research necessarily lie in the work of scholars of development and industrialisation established during the Soviet period. Their expertise must be called upon to enrich the perspective presented here, which is focused on contemporary craftsmanship and enterprise in Central Asia and how current practices in design and business may offer fruitful opportunities for development of the New Silk Road project, both intellectually and economically.","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128182750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study examines ethno-cultural associations—public institutions representing interests of minority groups—and discusses their role in the development of civil society in ethnically rich Kazakhstan. Minority associations developed in Soviet times inherited Soviet-era property and certain charitable and social practices. The Soviet footprint translates into hierarchy and state subordination. Based on interviews with representatives of associations and their visitors in Almaty, the study focuses on their quotidian activities and attempts to explain why these associations are providers of various resources for civil society development. The findings show evidence of the state being a part of the institutional synergy in the civil sphere. As part of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and being “government-organised NGOs,” ethno-cultural associations add their voice on “togetherness” and “unification” of diverse nationalities and to the official rhetoric of the new patriotic act. Despite transparent loyalty to the authorities and lacking a formal political agenda, cultural and social activities of these associations remain relatively autonomous. The study concludes that their real non-decorative functions deal with creating unionism, providing opportunities for social capital development, and fostering an understanding and appreciation of ethnic diversity. These associations have a potential to bridge the gap between communities while providing platforms for civic exchanges and being intermediaries between the public, the state and their kin states.
{"title":"Ethno-cultural associations in Kazakhstan: The Soviet footprint and resources for civil society","authors":"Timur Alexandrov","doi":"10.22261/CJES.PDXWGC","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.PDXWGC","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines ethno-cultural associations—public institutions representing interests of minority groups—and discusses their role in the development of civil society in ethnically rich Kazakhstan. Minority associations developed in Soviet times inherited Soviet-era property and certain charitable and social practices. The Soviet footprint translates into hierarchy and state subordination. Based on interviews with representatives of associations and their visitors in Almaty, the study focuses on their quotidian activities and attempts to explain why these associations are providers of various resources for civil society development. The findings show evidence of the state being a part of the institutional synergy in the civil sphere. As part of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and being “government-organised NGOs,” ethno-cultural associations add their voice on “togetherness” and “unification” of diverse nationalities and to the official rhetoric of the new patriotic act. Despite transparent loyalty to the authorities and lacking a formal political agenda, cultural and social activities of these associations remain relatively autonomous. The study concludes that their real non-decorative functions deal with creating unionism, providing opportunities for social capital development, and fostering an understanding and appreciation of ethnic diversity. These associations have a potential to bridge the gap between communities while providing platforms for civic exchanges and being intermediaries between the public, the state and their kin states.","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"356 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134481604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There is considerable debate over how and in what form Central Asian (CA) states should conduct relations among each other and with other post-Soviet states. The notion of the “Silk Road” has become one of the symbols of extended economic and political cooperation. Notably, however, Japan (Silk Road Diplomacy, 1996–1999), China (One Belt, One Road [OBOR] or the Belt and Road initiative [BRI]) and South Korea (Silk Road Strategy, 2011) have used the rhetoric of reviving the Silk Road to imply closer engagement with the CA region but with different connotations. This paper focuses on the formation of this discourse of engagement with the CA region through the notion of the Silk Road in China, South Korea and Japan and raises the following questions: What are the approaches that facilitate the most effective ways of engaging CA states under this “Silk Road” rhetoric? What are the principles that have detrimental effects on the successes and failures of the engagement of China, Japan and South Korea? The primary objective of this paper is to address these questions and to stimulate debate among both academics and policy makers on the formats of engagement and cooperation in Eurasia.
{"title":"Engagement and contestation: The entangled imagery of the Silk Road","authors":"Timur Dadabaev, R. Allison, A. Bukh","doi":"10.22261/CJES.Q4GIV6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.Q4GIV6","url":null,"abstract":"There is considerable debate over how and in what form Central Asian (CA) states should conduct relations among each other and with other post-Soviet states. The notion of the “Silk Road” has become one of the symbols of extended economic and political cooperation. Notably, however, Japan (Silk Road Diplomacy, 1996–1999), China (One Belt, One Road [OBOR] or the Belt and Road initiative [BRI]) and South Korea (Silk Road Strategy, 2011) have used the rhetoric of reviving the Silk Road to imply closer engagement with the CA region but with different connotations. This paper focuses on the formation of this discourse of engagement with the CA region through the notion of the Silk Road in China, South Korea and Japan and raises the following questions: What are the approaches that facilitate the most effective ways of engaging CA states under this “Silk Road” rhetoric? What are the principles that have detrimental effects on the successes and failures of the engagement of China, Japan and South Korea? The primary objective of this paper is to address these questions and to stimulate debate among both academics and policy makers on the formats of engagement and cooperation in Eurasia.","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116576905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The term energy security is undergoing a sea change from a state-centric economic conception to a sociological one. The definitional aspect is undergoing a transformation because of the changing pattern of relations between “energy producing and consuming states” along with “transit states”. Eurasia is one such region where the broader definition of energy security can be applicable. The existence of historically rooted social conflicts like Chechnya, South Ossetia, Crimea, “simmering discontent” in Siberia and Far East, and primordial apprehensions between ethnic groups (Armenian and Azeri) in Nagorno Karabakh are providing a structural basis for the accentuation of regional conflicts. Most of these conflicts are taking place in Eurasia due to existence of natural resources like energy. Often competition over controlling transportation corridor is also generating societal tension. Some of these trajectories are putting this geopolitical space into a “cauldron.” Against this backdrop, Constructivism is emerging as a major theoretical approach to study the securitization processes in Eurasia.
{"title":"Energy security and pattern of regional conflicts in Eurasia: From a constructive framework of analysis","authors":"Nalin Kumar Mohapatra","doi":"10.22261/CJES.UQ2OTI","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.UQ2OTI","url":null,"abstract":"The term energy security is undergoing a sea change from a state-centric economic conception to a sociological one. The definitional aspect is undergoing a transformation because of the changing pattern of relations between “energy producing and consuming states” along with “transit states”. Eurasia is one such region where the broader definition of energy security can be applicable. The existence of historically rooted social conflicts like Chechnya, South Ossetia, Crimea, “simmering discontent” in Siberia and Far East, and primordial apprehensions between ethnic groups (Armenian and Azeri) in Nagorno Karabakh are providing a structural basis for the accentuation of regional conflicts. Most of these conflicts are taking place in Eurasia due to existence of natural resources like energy. Often competition over controlling transportation corridor is also generating societal tension. Some of these trajectories are putting this geopolitical space into a “cauldron.” Against this backdrop, Constructivism is emerging as a major theoretical approach to study the securitization processes in Eurasia.","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127705184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article takes a long historical perspective on the Silk Road, attempting to see it from a Chinese point of view. It focuses on five themes that figure in the Chinese imagination of the Silk Road, all rooted in China’s history. These include influences that came to China via the Silk Road in prehistoric and early historic times, patterns of military expansion of Chinese power in the Western regions, the threat of invasion from the northern and north-western frontiers, commercial exchanges and individual travel. Individuals journeyed across the Silk Road for diplomatic, military, commercial and sometimes religious reasons and the various themes overlap to some extent. Some myths are also dispelled: first, the Silk Road was not one route but many; second, other commodities besides silk travelled along it and third, the maritime Silk Road should also be included in the concept. Under Mongol rule, the route was at times an unbroken corridor between East and West on which many people travelled in both directions. When the Mongol empire broke up, travel overland was restricted again, which may have been why China took to the seas in the Ming. At present, China is building a New Silk Road to connect with the rest of the world in a more integrated way than ever before. The focus of this article is on establishing the patterns of the past in the hopes that it will contribute to the discussion of whether these patterns will be repeated in the present or if we are in completely uncharted territory. China’s perspective on the historical Silk Road is such a large topic that one would need several volumes to do it justice. This article focuses on certain key themes that figure in the Chinese imagination of the Silk Road, all rooted in China’s history and the history of her interaction with Eurasia and the rest of the world in premodern times (roughly before 1800 CE). The first of these themes is that while the term “Silk Road” is relatively new in origin, having been coined by the geologist Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen (1833–1905) in 1877, the Silk Road itself, defined collectively from the Chinese perspective as the various overland routes extending from China’s north-western and western frontiers to Central Asia and beyond, was a corridor for the exchange of goods and the transfer of information dating back to prehistoric times. It was the route by which many foreign influences came into China during the formative years of Chinese civilisation. The second theme is that beginning with the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), China’s state expansion into the north-western and western frontiers tended to be sporadic, with military expeditions and the establishment of protectorates undertaken by ambitious emperors during the early years of strong dynasties, such as the Han and Tang, when there was ample wealth to support these operations.When these campaigns became overextended and the regime’s wealth drained away from the provision of essential goods and service
这篇文章从历史的角度来看待丝绸之路，试图从中国人的角度来看待它。它聚焦于中国对丝绸之路想象中的五个主题，这些主题都植根于中国的历史。这些影响包括史前和早期历史时期通过丝绸之路传入中国的影响，中国在西部地区的军事扩张模式，来自北方和西北边境的入侵威胁，商业交流和个人旅行。人们为了外交、军事、商业，有时还有宗教原因而穿越丝绸之路，各种主题在某种程度上重叠。一些神话也被打破了:首先，丝绸之路不是一条路线，而是多条路线;第二，除了丝绸之外，其他商品也会沿着丝绸之路流通。第三，海上丝绸之路也应该包括在内。在蒙古人的统治下，这条路线有时是东西方之间不间断的走廊，许多人在两个方向上旅行。当蒙古帝国解体时，陆路旅行再次受到限制，这可能就是中国在明朝走向海洋的原因。当前，中国正在建设新丝绸之路，以前所未有的一体化方式与世界接轨。本文的重点是建立过去的模式，希望它将有助于讨论这些模式是否会在现在重复，或者我们是否处于完全未知的领域。中国对历史上丝绸之路的看法是一个如此庞大的话题，以至于需要好几卷才能公正地表达出来。这篇文章关注的是中国人对丝绸之路想象中的一些关键主题，这些主题都植根于中国的历史以及她在前现代时期(大约在公元1800年之前)与欧亚大陆和世界其他地区的互动历史。第一个主题是，虽然“丝绸之路”一词的起源相对较新，是由地质学家费迪南德·冯·里希特霍芬男爵(1833-1905)于1877年创造的，但丝绸之路本身，从中国人的角度来看，被统称为从中国西北和西部边境延伸到中亚及其他地区的各种陆路路线，是一条可以追溯到史前时代的货物交换和信息传递的走廊。在中国文明的形成时期，许多外国影响都是通过这条路线进入中国的。第二个主题是，从汉朝(公元前206年-公元220年)开始，中国向西北和西部边境的国家扩张往往是零星的，在强大王朝的早期，如汉唐，当有充足的财富支持这些行动时，雄心勃勃的皇帝会进行军事远征和建立保护国。然而，当这些运动变得过度扩张，政府的财富从向中国政治中心的民众提供基本商品和服务中枯竭时，国家往往会退出这些遥远的活动，以便将有限的资源部署在更紧迫的国内问题上。通过这种方式，我们可以看到，尽管中国对1并不缺乏兴趣，但在中亚地图上，它的德文形式(die Seidenstraße)被用来表示东西方之间的贸易路线。该地图发表于《费迪南德·冯·里希霍芬:Ergebnisse eigener Reisen und darauf gegr<s:1> ndeter studen》(柏林:D. Reimer, 1877)。剑桥J.欧亚种马。#XW4ESF | https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.XW4ESF在世界其他地方，她的首要任务是照顾自己国内的人民。因此，在国内出现危机的时候，她倾向于放弃外交事务，把注意力集中在国内事务上。第三，由于中国的北部和西北部边境容易受到游牧民族和其他外国入侵者的袭击，北部、西北部和西部的边境地区被视为威胁帝国和平与安全的潜在来源，特别是在国内混乱、分裂和软弱的时候。第四个主题是，某些商品往往会在丝绸之路上遇到，或者在丝绸之路上进行交易，比如葡萄酒、玉石和马，由于它们在诗歌和历史记载中被提及，它们与丝绸之路联系在一起，并融入了中国人对丝绸之路的想象。这里要讨论的最后一个主题是，几个世纪以来，某些人往往独立于重大的政治和经济事件，穿越了分隔东西方的遥远距离。他们每个人都有自己的旅行理由，无论是出于军事或外交任务，还是出于宗教目的或商业利益。
{"title":"The Eurasian Silk Road: Its historical roots and the Chinese imagination","authors":"S. Church","doi":"10.22261/CJES.XW4ESF","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.XW4ESF","url":null,"abstract":"This article takes a long historical perspective on the Silk Road, attempting to see it from a Chinese point of view. It focuses on five themes that figure in the Chinese imagination of the Silk Road, all rooted in China’s history. These include influences that came to China via the Silk Road in prehistoric and early historic times, patterns of military expansion of Chinese power in the Western regions, the threat of invasion from the northern and north-western frontiers, commercial exchanges and individual travel. Individuals journeyed across the Silk Road for diplomatic, military, commercial and sometimes religious reasons and the various themes overlap to some extent. Some myths are also dispelled: first, the Silk Road was not one route but many; second, other commodities besides silk travelled along it and third, the maritime Silk Road should also be included in the concept. Under Mongol rule, the route was at times an unbroken corridor between East and West on which many people travelled in both directions. When the Mongol empire broke up, travel overland was restricted again, which may have been why China took to the seas in the Ming. At present, China is building a New Silk Road to connect with the rest of the world in a more integrated way than ever before. The focus of this article is on establishing the patterns of the past in the hopes that it will contribute to the discussion of whether these patterns will be repeated in the present or if we are in completely uncharted territory. China’s perspective on the historical Silk Road is such a large topic that one would need several volumes to do it justice. This article focuses on certain key themes that figure in the Chinese imagination of the Silk Road, all rooted in China’s history and the history of her interaction with Eurasia and the rest of the world in premodern times (roughly before 1800 CE). The first of these themes is that while the term “Silk Road” is relatively new in origin, having been coined by the geologist Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen (1833–1905) in 1877, the Silk Road itself, defined collectively from the Chinese perspective as the various overland routes extending from China’s north-western and western frontiers to Central Asia and beyond, was a corridor for the exchange of goods and the transfer of information dating back to prehistoric times. It was the route by which many foreign influences came into China during the formative years of Chinese civilisation. The second theme is that beginning with the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), China’s state expansion into the north-western and western frontiers tended to be sporadic, with military expeditions and the establishment of protectorates undertaken by ambitious emperors during the early years of strong dynasties, such as the Han and Tang, when there was ample wealth to support these operations.When these campaigns became overextended and the regime’s wealth drained away from the provision of essential goods and service","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131382301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Afghanistan in the whirlwind of US-Russia rivalry in Central Asia","authors":"Yahia Baiza","doi":"10.22261/CJES.4ZEWGU","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.4ZEWGU","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"PP 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126440958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article looks at the mobility of Tajikistani students and how they negotiate their place in an increasing globalised world, where national boundaries are becoming more navigable. It explores how structural and cultural factors intersect and influence young people’s choices as they re-shape their connections to their homeland, and re-negotiate cultural meanings in the new geographical and cultural contexts they find themselves in. This inquiry uses the concept of translocality which frames the negotiation of cultural meanings in a distant geographical and (host) cultural space by acknowledging the place of the “local connection” within international mobility. It does this by examining students’ perceptions of two cultural concepts: nomus or “keeping the family name high in the community” and kase shudan or “being the shaper of one’s own destiny.” Drawing on Stephen and Storey’s conceptualisation of culture (and the local notions of agency) the article explores how continuity and contestation are juxtaposed and brought to bear on the new meaning-making by the students, against the national and international agendas that define student mobility choices. Using qualitative methodology, the researchers engaged with Tajikistani research participants in England and Japan, and looked at what those decisions about mobility mean for the individual students, locating them in a translocal (as opposed to a transnational) space. The article finds that contrary to the usual expectations of immigrants adhering more closely to cultural values (for fear of diluting them) in a new setting, while the local cultures keep evolving, these students re-interpreted traditional values to take account of their new settings and their exposure to new cultures and spaces and sought to expand meanings rather than constrain them in traditional moulds.
{"title":"Re-interpreting cultural values: Tajikistani students abroad","authors":"Nazira Sodatsayrova, Anise Waljee","doi":"10.22261/CJES.DKC8NT","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/CJES.DKC8NT","url":null,"abstract":"This article looks at the mobility of Tajikistani students and how they negotiate their place in an increasing globalised world, where national boundaries are becoming more navigable. It explores how structural and cultural factors intersect and influence young people’s choices as they re-shape their connections to their homeland, and re-negotiate cultural meanings in the new geographical and cultural contexts they find themselves in. This inquiry uses the concept of translocality which frames the negotiation of cultural meanings in a distant geographical and (host) cultural space by acknowledging the place of the “local connection” within international mobility. It does this by examining students’ perceptions of two cultural concepts: nomus or “keeping the family name high in the community” and kase shudan or “being the shaper of one’s own destiny.” Drawing on Stephen and Storey’s conceptualisation of culture (and the local notions of agency) the article explores how continuity and contestation are juxtaposed and brought to bear on the new meaning-making by the students, against the national and international agendas that define student mobility choices. Using qualitative methodology, the researchers engaged with Tajikistani research participants in England and Japan, and looked at what those decisions about mobility mean for the individual students, locating them in a translocal (as opposed to a transnational) space. The article finds that contrary to the usual expectations of immigrants adhering more closely to cultural values (for fear of diluting them) in a new setting, while the local cultures keep evolving, these students re-interpreted traditional values to take account of their new settings and their exposure to new cultures and spaces and sought to expand meanings rather than constrain them in traditional moulds.","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129819634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
It has often been argued that since 1991 Central Asian and Caspian region had become a playground for the New Great Game between the global superpowers. Analysing the geopolitical competition for Caspian energy resources, this article argues that the New Great Game framework has its limitations as it fails to incorporate the active role played by the Newly Independent Caspian (NIC) states. One cannot deny the fact that the strategic competition among the geopolitical powers for hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian shaped the trajectories of the new pipeline routes. At the same time, the NIC states, namely, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan benefited from the competition as they managed to diversify their export options, achieving greater political and economic independence. In the end, the interaction between the NIC states and energy consumers has led to strengthened energy cooperation along the same area where the ancient Silk Road crossed East Asia, Central Asia and Europe. The findings support the theoretical argument of the article, which stipulates that in exploring the developments in the Caspian region both realist and liberal theories of international relations should be applied in conjunction.
{"title":"Competition for pipeline export routes in the Caspian region: The new Great Game of the new Silk Road?","authors":"Serik Orazgaliyev, W. Ostrowski, Paul Kubicek","doi":"10.22261/5B75G8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22261/5B75G8","url":null,"abstract":"It has often been argued that since 1991 Central Asian and Caspian region had become a playground for the New Great Game between the global superpowers. Analysing the geopolitical competition for Caspian energy resources, this article argues that the New Great Game framework has its limitations as it fails to incorporate the active role played by the Newly Independent Caspian (NIC) states. One cannot deny the fact that the strategic competition among the geopolitical powers for hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian shaped the trajectories of the new pipeline routes. At the same time, the NIC states, namely, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan benefited from the competition as they managed to diversify their export options, achieving greater political and economic independence. In the end, the interaction between the NIC states and energy consumers has led to strengthened energy cooperation along the same area where the ancient Silk Road crossed East Asia, Central Asia and Europe. The findings support the theoretical argument of the article, which stipulates that in exploring the developments in the Caspian region both realist and liberal theories of international relations should be applied in conjunction.","PeriodicalId":328462,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114928874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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