Rethinking Central Asia : Non-Eurocentric Studies in History, Social Structure and Identity

by Erturk, Korkut A.

• ISBN13: 9780863722400
• ISBN10: 0863722407
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Consortium Book Sales & Dist

Summary

This book re-examines the place of Central Asia in world history and argues that it has to be thought of in its own terms, rather than within an Eurocentric framework. Two important implications follow from this work: first, that Eurocentric interpretations of Central Asia are at best misleading and at worst detrimental to our understanding of the region; second, that studying Central Asia is important not only for its own sake but also because of the contributions the region can make to comparative social theory by reflecting on its unique history in state and identity formation, social structure and gender relations.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(10)
Korkut A. Erturk
ReOrient: From the Centrality of Central Asia to China's Middle Kingdom	11	(28)
Andre Gunder Frank
Patterns of Legitimization of Rule in the History of the Turks	39	(16)
Isenbike Togan
Central Asian Societies and the Oral Literature of Epic Heroes	55	(22)
Lois A. Giffen
Tribe, Confederation and State among Altaic Nomads of the Asian Steppes	77	(34)
Sharon Bastug
Abdurreshid Ibrahim and Zeki Velidi Togan in the History of the Muslims of Russia	111	(18)
Serif Mardin
Uzbekistan between Central Asia and the Middle East: Another Perspective	129	(34)
A. Aydin Cecen
In Search of an Approach to the History of Women in Central Asia	163	(34)
Isenbike Togan
Index	197