History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume VI. Towards the contemporary period: from the mid-nineteenth to the end of the twentieth century

Chahryar A. (ed.) - Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 2005. - 992 p. -ISBN 92-3-103985-7 The preparation of the History of Civilizations of Central Asia undertaken by the International Scientific Committee began in 1980. This scholarly team, composed of 19 members until 1991 and just 16 members after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, comes from the region of Central Asia (as defined by UNESCO) and from other parts of the world. They are responsible for the preparation of this six-volume work, which covers the period from the dawn of civilization to the present day. More than three hundred scholars, mostly from the Central Asian region, have contributed to this major work, which is now completed with the publication of the present volume. For each scholar who has invested his or her knowledge and expertise in this great undertaking, the work on this History has been a difficult task since Central Asia is a complex region, composed of a variety of cultural entities and influences that have undergone major changes over the centuries. Today, in an era of rapid globalization, it is increasingly vital to find ways to respect the world’s human values. The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity adopted by the General Conference at its thirty-first session is a major step towards finding avenues of dialogue between peoples living on our planet. We know that human beings forge their identity through the cultures which have enriched them. Their sense of worth and personal dignity very much lies in the recognition by the other of the special contribution that each and all - women and men, majorities and minorities - have made to weaving the rich tapestry of the world’s civilization. Indeed, civilizations are fertile mixtures and all borrowed from one another well before the advent of our age of electronic communications. The term ‘civilization’ must denote a universal, plural and non-hierarchical phenomenon, This major six-volume project, co-published with Macmillan, covers the historical experience of the peoples and societies of the Caribbean region from the earliest times to the present day. The sixth volume brings this series to an end as it takes in the whole of the modern period from colonial conquest and domination to decolonization; the Cold War from start to finish; the disintegration of the Soviet Union; and the renewed instability in certain areas. Not only did the colonial regimes lay a new patina over the region, but nationalism remoulded all old identities into a series of new ones. That process of the twentieth century was perhaps the most transformative of all after the colonial subjugation of the nineteenth. While it has been the basis of remarkable stability in vast stretches of the region, it has been a fertile source of tension and even wars in other parts. The impact and the results of such changes have been astonishingly variable despite the proximity of these states to each other and their being subject to, or driven, by virtually the same compulsions.

This report is one of a series documenting the New Zealand Land Resource Inventory (NZLRI)