7 Mar 2013: CEES Seminar
Published: 13 September 2012
Dr Zharmukhamed Zardykhan: 'Politics of Ethnicity and Religion in Post-Soviet Central Asia'
Politics of Ethnicity and Religion in Post-Soviet Central Asia
Dr Zharmukhamed Zardykhan
KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Erasmus Mundus IMRCEES Visiting Scholar
5.30pm (tea and coffee from 5pm), Room 916, Adam Smith Building
Despite the widespread generalization in foreign media and reports, the nation-building process in post-Soviet Central Asian states took diverse, if not opposite, directions, signifying their complex and complicated political systems, ethno-religious composition, history and geography. Some states are relatively homogenous in terms of ethnic composition, while some are extremely diverse. In some, the use of official language dominates in all spheres of life, while in others Russian carries on its formal and informal influence. The role of Islam in their nation-building policies had been revised and adapted to the changing political and strategic circumstances and could hardly be considered uniform. While in some of the Central Asian states it was usually perceived as the traditional pillar of national culture, in others it is often depicted as threat to the existing political regime.
All welcome
The CEES West Coast Seminar Series is supported by the MacFie Bequest, named after Professor Alec MacFie, Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at the University from 1945 to 1958.
Enquiries: Ammon.Cheskin@glasgow.ac.uk, +44 (0)141 330 2845/5585
First published: 13 September 2012