|
Showing 1 - 2 of
2 matches in All Departments
This book challenges the conventional wisdom that informal
institutions-networks, clientelism, and connections-have to
disappear in modern societies due to liberalization of the economy,
rapid urbanization, and industrialization. The case of Kazakhstan
shows that informal reciprocal institutions continue to play an
important role in people's everyday lives. Liberalization of the
economy and state retrenchment from the social sphere decreased the
provision of public goods and social support to the population in
the post-independence period. Limited access to state benefits has,
in turn, stimulated people's engagement in informal reciprocal
relations. The author investigates informal channels and mechanisms
people use to gain access to quality public goods-education,
housing, and healthcare. Comparing the Soviet and post-Soviet
periods, the author shows that people are more likely to rely on
family networks and clientelist relations rather than on help from
the state to obtain scarce resources. The book provides an
important contribution to the literature on informal institutions
and explains the relationship between a formal welfare state and
informal reciprocity.
More than two decades after the break-up of the Soviet Union,
Central Asian republics-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-continue to reexamine and debate whom
and what they represent. Nationalism and Identity Construction in
Central Asia explores the complex and controversial process of
identity formation in the region using a "3D" framework, which
stands for "Dimensions", "Dynamics," and "Directions" of nation
building. The first part of the framework-dimensions-underscores
the new and complex ways in which nationalisms and identities
manifest themselves in Central Asia. The second part-dynamics-is
premised on the idea that nationalisms and identity construction in
the Central Asian republics may indicate some continuities with the
past, but are more concerned with legitimation of the present power
politics in these states. It calls for the identification of the
main actors, strategies, tactics, interests, and reactions to the
processes of nationalism and identity construction. The third part
of the framework-directions-addresses implications of nationalisms
and identity construction in Central Asia for regional and
international peace and cooperation. Jointly, the chapters of the
volume address domestic and international-level dimensions,
dynamics, and directions of identity formation in Central Asia.
What unites these works is their shared modern and post-modern
understanding of nations, nationalisms, and identities as
discursive, strategic, and tactical formations. They are viewed as
"constructed" and "imagined" and therefore continuously changing,
but also fragmented and contested.
|
|