The first longitudinal analysis of the Qazaqs in Mongolia in English and a contribution to anthropological theories on human adaptability and decision-making, economic and social inequalities.

Throughout its history the concept of "Uzbekness," or more generally of a Turkic-speaking sedentary population, has continuously attracted members of other groups to join, as being Uzbek promises opportunities to enlarge ones social network. Accession is comparatively easy, as Uzbekness is grounded in a cultural model of territoriality, rather than genealogy, as the basis for social attachments. It acknowledges regional variation and the possibility of membership by voluntary decision. Therefore, the boundaries of being Uzbek vary almost by definition, incorporating elements of local languages, cultural patterns and social organization. This book combines an historical analysis with thorough ethnographic field research, looking at differences in the conceptualization of group boundaries and the social practices they entail. It does so by analysing decision-making processes by Uzbeks on the individual as well as cognitive level and the political configurations that surround them.

Over the past three decades, Uzbekistan has attracted the attention of the academic and policy communities because of its geostrategic importance, its critical role in shaping or unshaping Central Asia as a region, its economic and trade potential, and its demographic weight: every other Central Asian being Uzbek, Uzbekistan's political, social, and cultural evolutions largely exemplify the transformations of the region as a whole. And yet, more than 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, evaluating Uzbekistan's post-Soviet transformation remains complicated. Practitioners and scholars have seen access to sources, data, and fieldwork progressively restricted since the early 2000s. The death of President Islam Karimov, in power for a quarter of century, in late 2016, reopened the future of the country, offering it more room for evolution. To better grasp the challenges facing post-Karimov Uzbekistan, this volume reviews nearly three decades of independence. In the first part, it discusses the political construct of Uzbekistan under Karimov, based on the delineation between the state, the elite, and the people, and the tight links between politics and economy. The second section of the volume delves into the social and cultural changes related to labor migration and one specific trigger - the difficulties to reform agriculture. The third part explores the place of religion in Uzbekistan, both at the state level and in society, while the last part looks at the renegotiation of collective identities.

Practices of Traditionalization in Central Asia focuses on how tradition is 'everyday-ified' in contemporary Central Asia, including Tatarstan and Tibet, and what people seek to achieve in its name. The case studies range from political demonstrations and industrial workers' gatherings to institutions of religious education, minority communities, weddings, and the Internet. In this volume we regard tradition as a practice that needs to be explored in its institutional and interactional context at a particular time, rather than as a reliable guide to the past: tradition can only be judged from the present; it is an interpretative concept, not a descriptive one. While the scholarly debate has so far centered on what tradition entails and what it does not, including the question of invention and ownership, less attention has been devoted to investigating how tradition is enacted, enforced, or motivated - in short, how it 'gets done.' In Central Asia, practices of traditionalization are closely related to the transformation of the socialist order and the emergence of highly stratified societies. This volume asks: When does tradition emerge as a line of argumentation, who are the actors invoking it and how is it being (materially) manifested? Practices of Traditionalization in Central Asia will be of great interest to scholars of Central Asia, Anthropology, History, Political Science, and Sociology. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Central Asian Survey.

Im Spektrum literaturwissenschaftlicher Forschungsansatze erscheinen seit einigen Jahren Konzepte, die sich nicht an hermeneutischen, sondern an ana- lytischen Philosophien orientieren, Konzepte, die in einen sich langsam ab- zeichnenden Rahmen einer Analytischen Literaturwissenschaft geordnet wer- den koennen. Was eine solche Analytische Literaturwissenschaft ist, was sie leisten kann und sollte, ist das Thema dcr Beitrage dieses Bandes. An dieser Stelle moechten wir all denen danken, die am Zustandekommen dieses Bandes mitgewirkt haben. Wir danken dem Bielefelder Zentrum fur interdiszi- plinare Forschung (ZiF) und seinen Mitarbeitern fur die Ausrichtung eines Symposions Analytische Literaturwissenschaft vom 1. bis 3.12.1980, das zum Ausgangspunkt dieses Bandes wurde. Wir danken allen Teilnehmern dieses Symposions, insbesondere jenen, deren dortiger Beitrag nicht in diesen Band aufgenommen werden konnte, unter ihnen besonders Jens Ihwe (Amsterdam). Den Beitragern dieses Bandes danken wir fur ihre bereitwillige und konstruktive Mitarbeit, auch dafur, dass alle die Verzoegerungen bei der Gesamtherstellung mit Geduld ertragen haben. Samtliche Beitrage werden hier zum ersten Mal veroeffentlicht. Dank fur ihre Hilfe schulden wir auch Monika Rieboldt (Bielefeld) und vor allem Monika Traut (Siegen), die die Druckvorlagen dieses Buches mit be- wahrter Zuverlassigkeit geschrieben hat. Dem Verlag Vieweg schliesslich dan- ken wir fur die verstandnisvolle Zusammenarbeit.

Trager and her coauthors focus on migration not as a single event but as a dynamic process that responds to and is shaped by broader economic, cultural and social forces. Individual essays consider issues of international and internal migration, of voluntary migration and forced movements due to civil conflicts and environmental degradation, and of macro-level forces and micro-level institutions. The authors investigate a wide variety of types of mobility, describe transnational and multilocal networks through which remittances and other flows take place; focus on migrants as active agents; and examine the impacts of ethnicity and assimilation. They offer original studies on Mexico, Puerto Rico, West Africa, Kazakstan, and Mozambique. This new volume will be a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in development anthropology, migration studies, and international planning and policy.