Ethnicity, authority and power in central Asia : new games great and small / Edited by Robert L. Canfield and Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction - Robert L. CanfieldPart I, Repressions and their Consequences 1. Authoritarianism and Its Consequences in ex-Soviet Central Asia - Anatoly Khazanov 2. Localism and Identity among the Uyghur of Xinjiang - Ildikó Bellér-Hann Part II, Ethnic Perceptions and Reactions 3. Central Asian Attitudes towards Afghanistan; Perceptions of the Afghan War in Uzbekistan - Peter Finke 4. Alignment Politics and Factionalism among the Uzbeks of North-Eastern Afghanistan - Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek 5. Rebuilding Afghanistan - Thomas Barfield 6. Pukhtun Identity in Swat, Northern Pakistan - Charles Lindholm Part III, Devices of Mutual Support 7. Towards a Transnational Community: Migration and Remittances among the Hazaras - Alessandro Monsutti 8. An Interregional History of Pashtun Migration, c. 1775-2000 - Robert Nichols Part IV, Mechanisms of Authority and Influence 9. Political Games in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan: Factions, Protection and New Resistances - Boris Petrić 10. Female Mullahs, Healers and Leaders of Central Asian Islam: Gendering the Old and New Religious Roles in Post-Communist Societies - Habiba Fathi 11. Efficacy and Hierarchy: Practices in Afghanistan as an Example - Robert L. Canfield

The peoples of Greater Central Asia {u2013} not only Inner Asian states of Soviet Union but also those who share similar heritages in adjacent countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran, and the Chinese province of Xinjiang {u2013} have been drawn into more direct and immediate contact since the Soviet collapse. Infrastructural improvements, and the race by the great powers for access to the region{u2019}s vital natural resources, have allowed these peoples to develop closer ties with each other and the wider world, creating new interdependencies, and fresh opportunities for interaction and the exercise of influence. They are being integrated into a new, wider economic and political region which is increasingly significant in world affairs, owing to its strategically central location, and its complex and uncertain politics. However, most of its inhabitants are pre-eminently concerned with familial and local affairs. This work examines the viewpoints and concerns of a selection of groups in terms of four issues: government repression, ethnic group perspectives, devices of mutual support, and informal grounds of authority and influence. Responding to a need for in-depth studies concerning the social structures and practices in the region, the book examines trends and issues from the point of view of scholars who have lived and worked "on the ground" and have sought to understand the conditions and concerns of people in rural as well as urban settings. It provides a distinctive and timely perspective on this vital part of the world.