Bazaars: Power and Trade in Central Asia
Bazaars are hubs of entrepreneurial power in Central Asia, and that power is expressed both formally and informally. By immersing herself in the bazaars of Kyrgyzstan, Regine Spector learned that…
Joanna Lillis on the Secret World of Kazakhstan
Joanna Lillis is a well-known journalist who has been one of the main reporters on Central Asia over the past 13 years. Her book Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World…
Central Asia in the Era of Sovereignty The Return of Tamerlane? Book launch
On June 7, 2018, Central Asia Program hosted the book launch for Central Asia in the Era of Sovereignty: The Return of Tamerlane? The event featured some of the book’s…
Hamid Ismailov On “The Devils’ Dance” and Other Works
“A beguiling tale of khans, commissars, spies and poet-queens…[who] feature in a rare English translation of modern Uzbek fiction.” This is how The Economist described The Devils’ Dance, the most…
“Have the Mountains Fallen?” The Story of Two Journeys of Loss and Redemption in the Cold War
In the early 1990s, while working as a journalist in Moscow, Jeff Lilley witnessed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 2004, he moved to Kyrgyz Republic. After spending around…
“Azan on the Moon”: Anthropology of Infrastructure
Till Mostowlansky is intrigued by the anthropological study of routes, roads and pathways, and the anthropology of infrastructure more generally. This research interest frames his latest monograph, Azan on the Moon: Entangling…
Iconic Places in Central Asia. The Moral Geography of Dams, Pastures and Holy Sites explained by Jeanne Féaux de la Croix
Interview Dr. Jeanne Féaux de la Croix Dr. Jeanne Féaux de la Croix is a social anthropologist at the University of Tübingen in Germany. She specializes in environmental issues and…
China’s Belt and Road Initiative and its Impact in Central Asia
The NAC-NU Central Asia Studies Program, in partnership with GW’s Central Asia Program, has published a book on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its impact in Central Asia.…
Sufism as a Product of Collective Imagination: On a New History of Islamic Mysticism
Alexander Knysh’s Sufism: A New History of Islamic Mysticism is the result of more than thirty years of study of Sufism and Sufis. The monograph critically reconsiders approaches to the…
Best Books on Central Asia in 2017
2017 was a great year for publications Central Asian studies are thriving! 2017 was a great year for publications. The range of books presented below covers multiple themes, from state…