Variations on Uzbek Identity: Strategic Choices, Cognitive Schemas and Political Constraints in Identification Processes (Integration and Conflict Studies, 7)

Throughout Its History The Concept Of Uzbekness, Or More Generally Of A Turkic-speaking Sedentary Population, Has Continuously Attracted Members Of Other Groups To Join, As Being Uzbek Promises Opportunities To Enlarge Ones Social Network. Accession Is Comparatively Easy, As Uzbekness Is Grounded In A Cultural Model Of Territoriality, Rather Than Genealogy, As The Basis For Social Attachments. It Acknowledges Regional Variation And The Possibility Of Membership By Voluntary Decision. Therefore, The Boundaries Of Being Uzbek Vary Almost By Definition, Incorporating Elements Of Local Languages, Cultural Patterns And Social Organization. This Book Combines An Historical Analysis With Thorough Ethnographic Field Research, Looking At Differences In The Conceptualization Of Group Boundaries And The Social Practices They Entail. It Does So By Analysing Decision-making Processes By Uzbeks On The Individual As Well As Cognitive Level And The Political Configurations That Surround Them. --provided By Publisher. Introduction -- A Historical Sketch Of The Uzbeks: From Nomadic Conquerors To Post-socialist Farmers -- A Central Asian Melting Pot: The Oasis Of Bukhara -- Desperation At The End Of The World? The Oasis Of Khorezm -- Conflict Inevitable? The Ferghana Valley -- Birthplace Of A National Hero: The Oasis Of Shahrisabz -- Conclusion. Peter Finke. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 A Historical Sketch of the Uzbeks: From Nomadic Conquerors to Post-socialist Farmers Chapter 2 A Central Asian Melting Pot: The Oasis of Bukhara Chapter 3 Desperation at the End of the World? The Oasis of Khorezm Chapter 4 Conflict Inevitable? The Ferghana Valley Chapter 5 Birthplace of a National Hero: The Oasis of Shahrisabz Conclusion Bibliography Index