Paper abstract:

In my paper, I will focus on the depiction of the environmental and human crisis caused by the manufactured desiccation of the Aral Sea in three different novels: Abdi-Jamil Nurpeisov's "Final Respects", Rollan Seisenbaev's "The Dead Wander the Desert", and Chingiz Aitmatov's "The Day Lasts Longer Than a Century". All three novels conceptualise this environmental catastrophe as well as its Soviet imperial setting differently. However, they all link environmental degradation to imperial institutions and creatively engage with time as well as space in order to narrate the catastrophe. Thus, the temporality both of empire as well as that of catastrophe intermingle and one is told through the other. The novels differ in that they engage with various dimensions of time and space. While Nurpeisov's novel focuses almost exclusively on the Aral Sea region and Almaty, Seisenbaev and Aitmatov extend the spaciality of their novels beyond the territory of Kazakstan, the latter even into space. In terms of time, Seisenbaev and Nurpeisov focus on the lifetime of a generation while Aitmatov incorporates legends of a distant past as well as the enounter with extraterrestrial beings who, symbolically, represent the distant future of earth. At the same time, the catastrophe is deeply connected to Soviet imperialism and, particularly, to imperial institutions and the imperial economy. While all three novels practise ecocriticism through their depiction of the catastrophe, they differ in their explanations as to why this happens. In Nurpeisov's and Seisenbaev's novels, much attention is payed to science as an academic institution, clientilism and bureaucracy. Nonetheless, the environmental catastrophe is not only connected to these imperial institutions and mechanisms but also to questions of morality. Particularly Nurpeisov points to the conflict between morality and a Soviet identity that is connected to the fulfillment of quotas for the imperial economy. Seisenbaev includes a critique of the mechanisms of agricultural production and chemical poisoning to stress both the "slow violence" (Rob Nixon) and the quick violence of pollution that occurres regionally and affects individuals. Aitmatov, in turn, focuses on questions of technology and progress on a larger scale and allegorically points to a looming planetary catastrophy. Thereby he draws attention to the dark side of technological progress and asks the fundamental question of whether technological progress can safe humanity from climate change.

Paper abstract:

The Southern Great Chui Canal is one of the three branches of the Great Chui Canal which is an extensive complex of irrigation canals in Chui Valley. It was built under the administration of the Soviet Union, with M. V. Patrushev as an authoring engineer. Construction of the Southern Great Chui Canal began in 1976, and since that the canal never been used for its intended purpose, and there is no water. The canal is a concrete structure that consists of 2.5-meter high walls, with a width of 10 meters, and the length is about 4.5 kilometers.

Within the course "Redesigning the Commons and Urban Design" in the spring semester at the American University of Central Asia me and my classmates surveyed and mapped the condition of the canal, surveyed local residents, held a community meeting, and developed a strategy for how the canal can be turned into a valued and valuable community resource. The goal of our team was to redesign the Southern Great Chui Canal into public space. In bringing this idea to life, we were supported by the Bishkek Chief Architecture Department (BGA), the Oktyabrsky Akimiat and the city's territorial departments for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth micro-districts of Bishkek. To achieve our goal, we started with a mosaic art intervention on the Big Chui Canal, where students, professors, local residents and municipal employees were involved.

In this paper, I will discuss how the initiative of the students and Professors can lead to something big and significant.

Paper abstract:

The article is devoted to the history, economy and environmental issues of the Muynak region and its inhabitants through the study of special literature and field research of the author as part of an ethnographic expedition. The study revealed that the formation and development of the Muynak region took place depending on the planned economy of the former USSR. In this work, to some extent, you can look at the real transformation of the environment and mode of life of the inhabitants of Muynak. While observing and interviewing, we saw and felt how seriously the consequences of the "Aral" crisis affected the environment and the daily life of the region. We chose the Muynak region for study by two reasons: firstly, the Muynak region was most affected by the disappearance of the Aral Sea and suffered from an environmental disaster, and secondly, the former Muynak port and its surrounding have a unique culture associated with fishing, with which they shared our informants, getting involved in their memories and nostalgic mindsets. Special literature shows that the sea level has always fluctuated due to changes in the channels of the Amudarya River, which also led to the disappearance of many large lakes until beginning of XX centary. However, these changes were under a nature factor the water balance has never violated. Until the middle of the 20th century, the policy of a planned economy, in particular, the five-year plan to "get and get everything at once" caused damage to the ecological situation, becoming the main anthropogenic factor. Despite the rise of the agricultural economy in the former state farms and collective farms, according to respondents, the climate and social life are radically changing after the crisis due to non-disturbance of water resources.

Paper abstract:

Central Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the world and its temperature is rising faster than the global average. Climate change already poses a variety of environmental, social and economic risks to the region. This paper assesses the extent to which the academic community engaged with climate change in Central Asia between 1991 and 2021. The systematic review method is used. This was popularised for the medical sciences by Cochrane but has later spread to other fields of research, including the social sciences. The article includes sections on data and methodology, the physical impacts of climate change in Central Asia, social science aspects of climate change in the region, the grey literature and academic events on climate-related issues in Central Asia. It finds that climate change has been neglected in the field of Central Asia area studies. Out of a total 13 488 journal articles in eight key journals for Central Asia research, only 33 articles (0.24%) were on climate change or a related topic. Climate change has been similarly neglected at the events of 17 Central Asia area studies associations. Out of 1 305 conference panels, none were focused on climate change. Out of 10 249 individual presentations, only two (0.02%) were focused on climate change. The very same scholars who have been most active in the securitisation of Central Asia have ignored the severe security threats that climate change poses to the region. Addressing these knowledge gaps is of high importance. It can help inform local populations, raise climate change awareness, facilitate the development of adaptation policies and promote evidence-based decision-making across Central Asia. The paper concludes with six recommendations for further research on climate change in Central Asia. The study contributes to the field of Central Asian studies by drawing attention to limited research on climate change in Central Asia where severe knowledge gaps hinder local communities from taking action and adapting to climate change impacts.