This volume addresses the crucial role of knowledge and innovation in coping with and adapting to socio-economic and political transformation processes in post-Soviet societies. Unique are the bottom up or micro-sociological and ethnographic perspectives offered by the book on the processes of post-Soviet transformations in Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus. Three thematic fields form the structuring frame: cultures of knowledge production and sharing in agriculture; local governance arrangements and knowledge production; and finally, the present situation of agricultural advisory services development.

This thesis examines the role of agricultural service organizations in the rural transformation processes in Uzbekistan, which has experienced a chain of agricultural reforms since 1991. These organizations, apart from providing services (i.e. provision of fertilizers, seeds, machinery), fulfill many other socio-political functions. They also act as a social security net for their personnel. The book's analysis reveals that agrarian transformation has produced three types of service organizations, which differ in their distance from and importance for the government and the state procurement system. This distance has implications for their autonomy, market orientation, and potential for long-term sustainability. Thesis. (Series: ZEF Development Studies - Vol. 23)