Social and Cultural Change in Central Asia

Sevket Akyildiz is Lecturer at Arcadia University, UK and is a post-doctoral research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK. Richard Carlson currently works as an energy researcher and analyst, focusing on European, Turkish and Caspian energy issues. He is a founding member of the Eurasia Studies Society (TESS GB-Europe) and editor of the website.

Introduction: The Soviet cultural legacy Part 1: Central Asia 1924-1991: Implementing a Soviet culture and society 1. ‘Learn, learn, learn!’ Soviet style in Uzbekistan: Implementation and planning 2. The emancipation of women in Soviet Central Asia from 1917 to 1940: Strategies, successes, and failures 3. The Soviet construction of Kazakh batyrs 4. The concept of traditional music in Central Asia: From the revolution to independence 5. Political, economic and historical foundations of Central Asian cinema 6. Socialist realism: Cooperation and challenge among non-Russian Central Asian writers 7. The Second World War in Central Asia: Events, identity, and memory 8. Becoming Soviet in Turkmenistan: The unseen influence of the ‘special settlers’ Part 2: The challenges of independence 9. The failure of liberal democratisation in Kazakhstan: The role of international investment and civil society in impending political reform 10. Social networking practices: Continuity or rupture with the Soviet past? 11. National identity formation in post-Soviet Central Asia: The Soviet legacy, primordialism, and patterns of ideological development since 1991 12. Deconstructing communal violence during the civil war in Tajikistan: The case of the Pamiris 13. The relics of 1991: Memories and phenomenology of the post-Soviet generation