Conflict Transformation in Central Asia: Irrigation disputes in the Ferghana Valley

by Bichsel; Christine

• ISBN13: 9780415467254
• ISBN10: 041546725X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-01-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book deals with irrigation disputes and conflict transformation in Central Asia. It analyzes aid projects which seek to transform inter-community conflicts between Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the Ferghana Valley. Addressing both the practicalities of aid and the discourses within which notions of these practicalities are formed, the book provides a novel and innovative approach to the study of development assistance and peacebuilding and will be of interest to researchers in the field of Central Asian studies, post-Soviet studies, IR and peace and conflict studies.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. x
List of abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Dangerous divisions in the Ferghana Valley	p. 2
Discourses of danger and conflict in Central Asia	p. 4
Ethnography of aid for peace-building	p. 7
Standpoints and perspectives	p. 9
Organisation of the book	p. 11
Seeing like a project: three cases in the Ferghana Valley	p. 13
The approach for peace-building	p. 13
A short history of the Ferghana Valley	p. 15
Pulgon, Khalmion and Alga	p. 22
Khush'iar, Sogment and Charbak	p. 25
Aksai and Tojikon	p. 28
Sources of thought: the ideational background	p. 32
Water, ethnicity, and conflict: contested links	p. 32
The transformation of violent conflict: from causes to cures	p. 37
The role of power: between empowerment and resistance	p. 43
Liberal peace from `bottom-up'	p. 47
The way of the water: irrigation and conflict	p. 49
Better be the head of the water than the head of the people	p. 49
The fate of the land is the fate of people	p. 54
Close to water means close to God	p. 59
Irrigation, conflict and infrastructure	p. 63
White beards and active citizens: institutions for conflict transformation	p. 68
Community-based organisations and `local traditions'	p. 68
Institutional histories of elders and ashar	p. 71
White beards and active citizens: competing schemes	p. 76
Institutional interfaces: the Jangy Jer association	p. 79
The differing lives of organisations	p. 82
The crucible of harmony: violence and politics	p. 86
`Urgent! We have a conflict!'	p. 86
The politics of big (and not so big) men	p. 90
Altered states, altered conflicts	p. 94
Border posts: policing people, policing water	p. 97
On sports clubs and consensus pipelines	p. 100
Trouble on the margins: states, borders and people	p. 103
A project site for multiple aid agencies	p. 103
A history of border delimitation and conflict	p. 106
Border speak and delimitation politics	p. 112
Peace-building in the Ferghana Valley	p. 119
Conclusion	p. 124
Appendix: Overview of aid agencies and projects	p. 130
Regional Dialogue and Development	p. 130
Peaceful Communities Initiative	p. 131
Preventive Development Component/Programme	p. 132
Glossary	p. 134
Notes	p. 136
Bibliography	p. 150
Index	p. 164
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