Border Work: Spatial Lives of the State in Rural Central Asia

308 Pages·2014·2.207 MB·English

by  Madeleine Reeves

BORDER WORK
CULTURE AND SOCIETY AFTER SOCIALISM
edited by Bruce Grant and Nancy Ries
A list of titles in this series is available at
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
BORDER WORK
Spatial Lives of the State in Rural Central Asia
MADELEINE REEVES
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2014 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book,
or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permis -
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First published 2014 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2014
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reeves, Madeleine, author.
Border work: spatial lives of the state in rural Central Asia / Madeleine
Reeves.
p ages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-4997-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8014-7706-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Borderlands—Fergana Valley. 2. Ethnology—Fergana Valley.
3. Fergana Valley—Politics and government. 4. Fergana Valley—
Ethnic relations. I. Title.
D K855.4.R44 2014
9 58.7—dc23 2013036994
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Photos are by the author unless otherwise indicated.
Dedicated to Christopher Reeves, 1939–2012

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Naming and Transliteration xiii
Introduction: On Border Work 1
1. Locations: Place and Displacement in Southern Ferghana 38
2. Delimitations: Ethno-Spatial Fixing in the Twentieth Century 65
3. Trajectories: Mobility and the Afterlives of Internationalism 101
4. Gaps: Working a “Chessboard” Border 141
5. Impersonations: Manning the Border, Enacting the State 173
6. Separations: Confl ict and the Escalation of Force 205
Conclusion 241
Bibliography 251
Index 281

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As work on the manuscript comes to an end it is a pleasure to acknowledge
the many friends, colleagues, and interlocutors without whom this book
would not have been possible. The initial idea for this book emerged over a
decade ago when I was working at the American University-Central Asia in
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. This was a young, self-consciously experimental, and
uniquely stimulating environment in which to teach and research. Several
one-time colleagues and students have become close scholarly collaborators
and friends. For illuminating conversations at various stages of research I
am grateful to Zulfi a Abdullaeva, Abdujalil Abdurasulov, Mehrigul Ablezo-
va, Medina Aitieva, Gulnara Aitpaeva, Aida Alymbaeva, Michael Andersen,
Nina Bagdasarova, Norma-Jo Baker, Aisalkyn Botoeva, Gulzat Botoeva, the
late Aron Brudny, Aminat Chokobaeva, Bill Hansen, Gulnara Ibraeva, Dasha
Isachenko, Emil Joroev, Shairbek Juraev, Anara Karagulova, Mirgul Kari-
mova, Anna Kirey, Russell Kleinbach, Martha Merrill, Valia Papoutsaki,
Vanessa Ruget, Balihar Sangherra, Colin Spurway, Muzaffar Suleymanov,
Chad Thompson, Bermet Tursunkulova, Burul Usmanalieva, Tom Wood,
Amanda Wooden, and Tanya Yarkova. Vika Lavrova—student, colleague,
and friend—left us too early and is dearly missed.
The book took initial shape at the University of Cambridge, where Nikolai
Ssorin-Chaikov inspired and challenged me with his uncanny ability to make
connections between material and across literatures. Piers Vitebsky and the
Magic Circle Seminar fostered a supportive and creative environment in
which to try out ideas. I am grateful to colleagues with whom I shared writ-
ing seminars, and in particular to the incisive feedback offered by Barbara
Bodenhorn, Tod Hartman, Steven Hugh-Jones, Caroline Humphrey, Elena
x / Acknowledgments
Khlinovskaya-Rockhill, Jon Mair, Polly McMichael, Yael Navaro-Yashin, El-
eanor Peers, David Sneath, Maja Petrovic´-Šteger, Marilyn Strathern, Katie
Swancutt, and Olga Ulturgasheva.
As the manuscript developed, I have benefi ted from the insight and exper-
tise of many scholars of Central Asia who have pointed me to new sources,
read drafts of chapters, or shared conversation about the themes that emerge
in this book. I am grateful to Sergei Abashin, Laura Adams, Sarah Amsler,
Gazi Babayarova, Judith Beyer, Sally Cummings, Eva-Marie Dubuisson,
Adrienne Edgar, Jeanne Féaux de la Croix, Olivier Ferrando, Dave Gullette,
John Heathershaw, Aksana Ismailbekova, Deniz Kandiyoti, Botakoz Kassym-
bekova, Sarah Kendzior, Adeeb Khalid, Mateusz Laszczkowski, Morgan Liu,
Nick Megoran, David Montgomery, Alexander Morrison, Till Mostowlansky,
Kirill Nourzhanov, Stephanie Ortmann, Serguei Oushakine, Mathijs Pelk-
mans, Johan Rasanayavam, Sophie Roche, Jeff Sahadeo, Elmira Satybaldieva,
John Schoeberlein, Regine Spector, Julien Thorez, Stina Torjesen, and Rano
Turaeva. Christine Bichsel was a friend and inspiration during my period of
research in Batken, and our conversations about borders, irrigation, and the
work of confl ict prevention have profoundly shaped this book. Gerry Fagan
proved a wonderful writing partner as we both sought to bring books to frui-
tion (she got there fi rst by several months). Claire Malone-Lee, Andrew Barry,
a nd Juliana Ochs generously read a draft of the entire manuscript, giving
d etailed and insightful feedback on matters of substance and style. The s eries
editors, Bruce Grant and Nancy Ries, provided pages of astute and generous
feedback on the manuscript, and the helpful comments of an anonymous
reader helped me to clarify parts of my argument. At Cornell University Press
I am indebted to John Ackerman for his enthusiasm, responsiveness, and
p atience, and to Susan Specter and Irina Burns for their careful edits to the
manuscript. Bill Nelson drew the maps. Any errors, of course, remain my own.
A t the University of Manchester and the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-
Cultural Change (CRESC), this research has grown in several ways as I have been
immersed in new conversations about borders, politics, and the materiality of
state projects. Penny Harvey and Sarah Green have inspired me by their intel-
lectual curiosity and ability to weave together theory and ethnography. Jackie
Stacey has pointed me to new questions and ways of conceiving of the political,
and Nina Glick-Schiller always encouraged me to look beyond the nation-state.
Mike Savage has provided a model for productive interdisciplinary collabora-
tion and created a generous working environment in Waterloo Place. Jeanette
Edwards and Gillian Evans have shown by example why anthropology matters. I
hope that each of these scholars will see traces of their inspiration here, personal
and professional. For their stimulating support, conversation, and in some cases