Paper long abstract:

What are the long-term impacts of colonial policies on social trust? Could colonial policies differentially affect vertical trust in government and horizontal trust in friends and neighbors? Two regions in Kazakhstan, Almaty and Jambyl oblasts, allow for a test of the lingering impacts of Russian colonialism. In Almaty, where there were higher rates of Russian settlement and higher rates of Kazakh land displacement relative to Jambyl, I expect to find lower rates of vertical trust, lower rates of horizontal inter-ethnic trust, and higher rates of horizontal intra-ethnic trust. Social trust measures from survey data and indicators derived from images shared on social media provide mixed evidence for the theory and expectations. Survey respondents in Jambyl oblast do report higher levels of trust across the board relative to Almaty, and official government Twitter accounts from Jambyl are more likely to show civilians and state personnel together. However, the differences in horizontal trust between oblasts are less clear, with results varying depending on the specific survey question or the specific image indicator.

Paper short abstract:

Schedule for Oct 12 or Oct 13

Paper long abstract:

Amongst the darkest moments in Soviet history were the 1930s famines that occurred in several Soviet republics most notably Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Although Ukraine's case has been well-researched and analyzed, famine in Kazakhstan has received much less attention both in public sphere and academic world. This paper takes on a post-structural approach in analysis of relationship between Soviet power and Kazakh population in time of the 1930s famine.

The famine that occurred in Kazakhstan might have been caused by policy failures and neglect by the Soviet power, however, there was also another powerful dynamic behind this tragedy. It was in essence a relationship between the Soviet nation and the Other represented by Kazakh nomads. Soviet authorities viewed and treated nomads and their needs as the Other failing to understand their history, economy, social structure, and environmental aspect of nomadic household resulting in a large number of human casualties caused by actions of Soviet representatives. The paper contributes to the production of knowledge about how relationship between titular nation and the Other was intimately interweaved with the tragedy of famine in Kazakhstan in 1930s by analyzing archival data available from that time such as newspapers and official documents including local reports and books.

Paper long abstract:

The historical experience of the Soviet Union is covered differently in relatively similar Central Asian states in terms of historical Soviet past. Kazakhstan builds its nation-building model on civic idea, which embraces ethnic differences (with reservation) and promotes the slogan of 'strength in difference'. In contrast, Uzbekistan promotes a very different interpretation, which locates its nation-building project in a single Uzbek ethnicity and operates under the slogan of 'strength in unity'. Historically, these divisions were analyzed based on the degree of authoritarianism: soft vs hard authoritarian principles. Or explained as the differences between Karimov, who was more pro-Soviet vs Nazarbayev who was more pro-western. There is literature that attributes differences to agricultural vs nomadic lifestyles and culture that followed, with former liking the strong hand vs the latter being free spirits.

I argue that we cannot explain why these strategies were chosen without looking at the Telos, a vision of the future that two regimes create to legitimize their power. Uzbekistan, especially under Karimov introduced a backward-looking Telos proposing to resurrect the Golden Age of Amir Timur into the future. As a result, Soviet past was a debilitating experience, which undermined the great trajectory of Uzbek nation. In that sense, Uzbek nation-building model is rooted in what is depicted as the inherent Uzbek ethnicity and its traditions. The regime speaks on behalf of the single ethnically defined nation and requires a political will of the state. In contrast, political regime in Kazakhstan, especially under Nazarbayev, presents a forward-looking vision for the future based on the civic ideals of the nation and aims to create an internationally recognized modern Kazakhstan on par with the global centers of Singapore, Abu Dhabi and New York. Golden Age for Kazakhstan is moved into the future and requires economic integration into the global system. Soviet past is seen as a difficult experience, which forged the nation into a single entity since everyone went through hardships. The regime speaks on behalf of Kazakhstani nation, which embraces all ethnic groups into a single whole.

The paper will rely on two data analysis techniques: discourse and thematic analyses of speeches, official documents and programs produced by two regimes. It will also use qualitative content analysis to support the findings. Although the Uzbek and Kazakh cases will largely reflect Karimov's and Nazarbayev's eras respectively, they will shed light on the changes in the present-day Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as well.

Paper long abstract:

This paper traces the intersections of Leninist-Stalinist political theology and Soviet Islam in Kirghizia, to foreground the role of political Islam in disrupting narratives of the Communist Politburo. Locating the nexus of this political contestation at the historically-prophetic mountain of Sulaiman-Too, I argue that sacral rites undertaken on the were not mere acclamations to the divine, but also disruptions to Soviet political ideology. These rites included rituals promising protection from health malaises, solutions to childbirth problems, and other everyday frustrations. Known historically as the 'second Mecca', Sulaiman-Too witnessed also visitations by Muslims pilgrims from Central Asia and beyond. These occurrences continued despite Soviet intervention that ranged from outright prohibition to rewriting the mountain's prophetic history. Building upon theoretical foundations of glory and acclamation, this paper will demonstrate that sacral rites undertaken by dwellers of the Fergana undermined Soviet atheisation attempts at castrating the mountain's sacred order - and by extension Soviet order. At the same time, this paper will reveal how sacral practices allowed everyday Muslims to insert themselves - where they otherwise could not - within authoritarian complexes of power to resist Sovietisation in Central Asia.

Building upon the scholarship of political Islam in the Soviet Union, this paper shifts attention to concerns regarding anxieties of the Communist regime in maintaining a symbolic/ideological form of power. The findings herein are based on declassified Soviet records from the Central State Archive of the Kyrgyz Republic, and photographic references from the National Centre of Photographic Archives, in Bishkek. This paper draws also from visits to the mountain of Sulaiman-Too in Osh, as well as fieldwork and interviews with ritual practitioners, mullahs, government officials and other locals.