|
|
| Research Projects |
| My research as a cultural anthropologist
focuses on the country of Kazakhstan. I have been been conducting
research on economic and political change in post-Soviet Kazakhstan
since 1991, the year Kazakhstan became an independent country.
I have visited Kazakhstan numerous times in order to conduct anthropological
fieldwork. Within cultural anthropology, my research interests fall
into the subfields of economic anthropology, political anthropology,
gender studies, and (most recently) medical anthropology. |
|
Why Kazakhstan?
People always ask me why I chose to do research in Kazakhstan.
To answer this question, I first have to explain that I was initially
interested in the Soviet Union. For as long as I can remember,
I have been concerned with issues of social inequality. Why
are some people economically better off than others? Why do
some people have more opportunities than others? How do politics
and economics fit into the picture? Are some governments able
to reduce the problem of social inequality? I could have followed
this line of thinking by exclusively looking at issues of poverty
and discrimination in the United States. But, instead, I became
interested in whether the socialist model of government really did
offer a better alternative. Although democratic states and
socialist states are both based on ideologies of equality, socialist
states seemed to be more committed to the elimination of class differences.
So, as an undergraduate, I started to study Soviet politics and
Russian culture. By the time I started to study these issues
in the late 1980s, the shortcomings of the Soviet system were coming
under close scrutiny. The economy was suffering greatly due
to inefficient production, internal corruption and excessive defense
expenditures. It was also clear that the state did not succeed
in eliminating social inequalities - party leaders and their families
had better access to education, health care, employment, foreign
travel, etc. And, finally, Soviet nationality studies demonstrate
that the state was not able to eliminate discrimination based on
ethnicity.
Although my initial enthusiasm for the socialist model of government
was weakened by these realities, I continued to study Russian language
and Soviet politics. After studying Russian for a year, I
participated in a study tour of the Soviet Union. We visited
several different regions, including what is now Russia, Ukraine,
Georgia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It was during this trip
that I started to develop an interest in the peoples of Central
Asia and their experience with Soviet rule. In the name of
progress, Muslim women were forced to unveil their faces, nomadic
pastoralists were forced to settle on collective farms, and customary
forms of marriage were banned. How did these attacks on their
cultural practices affect their willingness to participate in the
Soviet state? Did any aspects of their lives improve?
Did they receive equal opportunities?
Finally, my desire to study the Kazakhs was influenced by my own
romantic notions of the Kazakh nomadic pastoral lifestyle.
I grew up with a passion for horses and horseback riding, so it
was quite easy to imagine doing fieldwork in a formerly nomadic
community, especially one that cherished the horse.
|
| Below is an overview of my current
research projects: |
 |
Silk Road Memoirs: Social and Economic Change in a Post-Soviet
Village
|
 |
| |
I
am currently writing a book about my fieldwork experiences in
Kazakhstan. Intended for a general audience, this book provides
an overview of the historical and contemporary processes that
have affected daily life in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. This manuscript
is based on the stories I gathered between 1992 and 2000 while
conducting fieldwork in a rural village in southern Kazakhstan.
This book examines the different ways in which rural Kazakhs
are affected by social, political and economic change in the
post-Soviet context. These changes include the persistence
of high inflation, the escalation of social stratification,
the privatization of local state farms, the revival of Kazakh
national identity and the penetration of Western consumer goods. |
|
Gifts,
Bribes and Development in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan |
| |
Beginning in the 1990s, development organizations have launched
a global anti-corruption campaign. Throughout the world, including
post-Soviet Kazakhstan, widespread corruption is generally viewed
as a serious threat to economic development and political stability.
This article addresses the practical problem of distinguishing
gifts from bribes in a society like Kazakhstan where some gifts
function in part as bribes. The search for this non-existent
boundary reveals the limitations of categories such as "gifts,"
"bribes," and "commodities." In addition, by examining local
perceptions of morality and corruption, this article provides
insights which could be useful for developing culturally appropriate
development programs for fighting corruption. |
|
Between Family and Market: Women and the New Silk Road
in Post-Soviet Kazakstan
|
| |
For centuries, caravan traders transported goods across the
steppes and deserts of Central Asia along the legendary Silk
Road. Due to political instability and alternative trade routes,
this trade was disrupted in the 15th century. Since the fall
of the Soviet Union, the bazaars of Soviet Central Asia have
once again filled with foreign goods. On the "New Silk Road,"
commodities, such as silk and gold, have been replaced by
"modern" global commodities, such as ready-made clothing,
packaged foods and electronic goods. And, horses and camels
have been replaced by "modern" forms of transportation, including
airplanes, trains and buses. Nevertheless, the nature of this
trade is imbued with the spirit of the ancient Silk Road:
the trade fills local markets with highly coveted luxury goods;
the commodities cross through numerous middlemen before they
reach their final destination; and the merchants gain exposure
to other lifestyles through travel.
One of the most striking aspects of the New Silk Road trade
is the predominance of Central Asian women in the marketplace.
In particular, women dominate the exchange of commodities
that play a special role in women's lives, such as cloth and
clothing. The impact of the New Silk Road trade on women and
their families varies from one family to the next. For the
women, benefits include greater social interaction, reduced
household chores, and increased physical mobility. For most
families, the income that a merchant woman brings into a household
to pay for basic foodstuffs outweighs the strains that these
activities place on family relationships. However, for some
families, a woman's trade activities can have damaging effects
on her family and marriage relations.
|
|
Bride
Kidnapping and Elopement in Southern Kazakstan |
| |
The practice of bride kidnapping in Kazakhstan is a particularly
interesting topic in the post-Soviet context. In the rural
regions of southern Kazakhstan, young couples meet and marry
in several different ways. In Kazakh terms, most marriages
fall into one of two categories: arranged marriages (quda
tusu) or kidnap marriages (alyp qashu). For each category,
however, the actual practices may vary greatly from the implied
meaning. In the case of arranged marriages, the union might
actually be initiated by the young couple, yet formally arranged
by the parents after they give their consent. In the case
of kidnap marriages, the bride may be a co-conspirator in
her kidnapping, or she may be literally kidnapped against
her will. Those who are kidnapped against their will have
a choice between marrying somebody they don't know or facing
the social stigma of allowing herself to be kidnapped. Meanwhile,
those brides who conspire in their kidnapping choose to do
so for a variety of reasons: she and her boyfriend might want
to speed up the marriage process, they may want to marry against
their parents' wishes, or they may want to stifle gossip about
an unintended pregnancy.
These are the questions that will be addressed in this article:
- What are the historical roots to bride kidnapping?
- Why was the Soviet state unsuccessful in eradicating
this practice or "tradition"?
- How can the persistence of this practice be reconciled
with other Soviet policies (i.e. education and employment)
that effectively increased women's status in society?
- Are non-consensual bride kidnapping on the rise in the
post-Soviet period? If so, why?
|
|
State,
Society and Marriage in Kazakstan |
| |
The institution of marriage is frequently overlooked in the
study of state-society relations. Yet marriage provides an
ideal lens for understanding the dynamics of state-society
relations. Most states set controls on marriage by establishing
minimum ages for marriage, banning certain forms of marriage,
and establishing official procedures for marriage and divorce.
However, social norms do not always coincide with state law,
and public debates often influence legal revisions.
This paper provides a comparison of state-society relations
in Soviet and post-Soviet Kazakhstan by looking at the institution
of marriage. This paper gives special attention to the custom
of bride kidnapping.
Widespread in southern Kazakhstan, this custom was banned
by the Soviet state for ideological reasons and remains illegal
under Kazakh law. Though some brides help conspire their own
kidnappings, others are "kidnapped" against their will. Using
data from legal records and interviews, this paper considers
the state's efforts to eliminate the custom of bride kidnapping,
in both the late Soviet (1980s) and post-Soviet (1990s) periods.
This historical analysis provides critical insights for understanding
the nature of state-society relations in post-Kazakhstan.
|
|
Perceptions
of Risk From Nuclear Testing in Kazakstan: A Comparative Study
of Kazakh Villagers, Public Health Care Workers, and Research
Scientists |
| |
Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet government conducted more
than 470 nuclear tests in the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeastern
Kazakhstan. According to some estimates, over a million people
living in the region have been exposed to varying radiation
doses as a result of these tests. Due to radioactive fallout,
the atmospheric tests (1949-1962) have had a greater impact
on local populations than the 340 underground tests (1961-1989).
Individual radiation doses vary further depending on the proximity
to the test sites and the paths of radioactive fallout. Several
studies indicate populations near the test site have experienced
higher rates of cancers (including leukemia), benign thyroid
abnormalities, psychological problems, and birth abnormalities
than control populations.
In Kazakhstan, the legacy of nuclear testing extends beyond
these health issues. The historical context of nuclear testing,
the access to information concerning the tests, and the compensation
provided to the "victims" of nuclear testing are all highly
politicized issues. In light of these political issues, it
is important to understand how the public perceives the risk
of nuclear testing. Previous studies of risk perception demonstrate
that the perception and communication gaps are considerable
between scientists and lay people, especially with regards
to issues of nuclear science.
My colleagues (Kathleen Purvis and Nurlan Ibraev) and I plan
to study whether the risk perceptions of the villagers affected
by nuclear testing coincide with those of the scientists studying
the health and environmental degradation due to nuclear testing
in Kazakhstan. We also propose to compare the risk perceptions
of Kazakh villagers, health care workers and research scientists.
This study will examine how nuclear testing has affected local
lifestyles and perceptions of environmental resources. This
study should have practical applications for the development
of educational programs related to radiation exposure in Kazakhstan.
In particular, if chronic, low-dose radiation exposure does
not provide any significant risks in Kazakhstan, then experts
need to learn to communicate better the lack of risk to the
villagers. On the other hand, if the quality of life of the
villagers is at risk due to current radionuclide exposure,
villagers should be educated about the steps they can take
to reduce radiation exposure. This study should also provide
valuable insights for revision of current compensation programs.
|
| Research
Papers |
| |
|
|
| |
|
 |
