Paper long abstract:

At a time of intensifying processes of globalization, the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 heralded not only the creation and opening of borders but the rapid entry of new actors and ideas into this previously isolated part of the world. The effect of this major change has been particularly marked in Tajikistan, where, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the main source of funding and knowledge for researchers disappeared, resulting in rapid reductions in national budgets for research at the same time as access to networks became harder. The emigration of scientists as well as the disruptive effects of a civil war lasting from 1992 to 1997 exacerbated the negative consequences for Tajikistani science.

In circumstances like these, the potential role that international research collaborations can play in supporting knowledge production and in funding research increases significantly. Globally, the number of these collaborations has increased extremely rapidly in recent years. On the one hand, this points to the tremendous possibilities for researchers to not only be part of knowledge generation but to enhance the quality of knowledge through interconnectedness. On the other hand, while the ways in which knowledge is produced may have shifted, existing knowledge hierarchies have not flattened or as yet been significantly altered.

The combination of reliance on external funders to address ongoing resourcing gaps, political controls, and cultural understandings influenced by historical legacies about how and where research takes place make Tajikistan a unique setting through which to explore how researchers in politicized environments that constrain academic freedom negotiate their participation in international research collaborations.

Using a post-Western IR framework that gives agency to a greater range of actors and ideas at global and local levels, this paper draws on primary interviews with Tajikistani researchers to examine the challenges, opportunities and complexities they face in negotiating international research collaborations. Drawing from their perspectives and experiences, the paper offers recommendations to assist potential collaborators as well as policymakers consider how they can ethically and sustainably engage with researchers in Tajikistan, not only emphasizing the importance of equality in collaboration but in levelling the playing field that is currently set against researchers in Tajikistan.