Neo-liberal and communal civil society in Tajikistan: Merging or dividing in the post war period?

Central Asian Survey

Volumn 24, Issue 3, 2005, Pages 225-243

  Freizer, Sabine ^a,b  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS   (United Kingdom)

^b The International Crisis Group   (Georgia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CIVIL SOCIETY; NEOLIBERALISM; POST-WAR;

ASIA; EURASIA; TAJIKISTAN; WEST ASIA;

EID: 31144477527     PISSN: 02634937     EISSN: 14653354     Source Type: Trade Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/02634930500310295     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. World Bank, Tajikistan Poverty Assessment Update (Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2004).
2. European Commission, 2002-2004 Strategy Paper for Central Asia (Brussels: 2002);
3. International Crisis Group (ICG), Tajikistan: A Roadmap for Development (Brussels/Dushanbe: 2003);
4. K. Abdullaev and S. Freizer, Strategic Conflict Assessment Tajikistan (London: The Department of International Development, 2003).
5. Jude Howell and Jenny Pearce, Civil Society and Development: A Critical Exploration (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2002).
6. Shirin Akiner, 'Prospects for civil society in Tajikistan', in A. Sajoo, ed, Civil Society in the Muslim World: Contemporary Perspectives (London: I.B. Tauris, 2002), p 185.
7. Olivier Roy, 'Soviet legacies and Western aid imperatives in the new Central Asia', in Sajoo, ibid, p 144.
8. Sabine Freizer, 'Central Asian fragmented civil society: Communal and neoliberal forms in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan', in M. Glasius et al, eds, Exploring Civil Society: Political and Cultural Contexts (Oxford: Routledge, 2004), pp 130-140.
9. Glasius et al, ibid.
10. On this period see Muriel Atkin, 'Thwarted democratization in Tajikistan', in K. Dawisha and B. Parott, eds, Conflict, Cleavage and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997);
11. Aziz Niyazi, 'The year of tumult: Tajikistan after February 1990', in V. Naumkin, ed, State, Religion and Society in Central Asia: A Post Soviet Critique (Reading, MA: Ithaca Press, 1993).
12. Interview with Tatiana Abdushukurova, Program Director, Open Society Institute of Tajikistan, May 2002 in Dushanbe.
13. Interview with Jumaboy Niyazov, head of the Humanitarian Council, August 2002 in Khojand. He remembered how at that time: 'the situation called for the creation of such associations and gatherings to support Peretroika, to fights against the Communist nomenklatura. People created assemblies to support the idea of Perestroika'.
14. Interview with Yuri Skochilov, head, Youth Eco Center, May 2002 in Dushanbe.
15. Another potential form of civil society that did not resist state capture were the soviet era social organizations that provided a range of activities and services to benefit workers, youth, women, intellectuals, artists, etc. For more on these see: Deniz Kandiyoti, 'Post Soviet institutional design and rural livelihoods in Uzbekistan', mimeo, London, 2004;
16. Mark Waite, 'The role of the voluntary sector in supporting living standards in Central Asia', in Jane Falkingham et al, eds, Household Welfare in Central Asia (Houndmills, Hants: Macmillan Press, 1997).
17. Kamol Abdullaev, 'Current local government policy situation in Tajikistan', mimeo, Dushanbe, 2002.
18. It is remarkable that the mahalla, which in pre-Soviet times was traditionally strong in urban areas (now generally part of Uzbekistan), remained within the Tajik lexicon and during the Soviet period gained informal meaning in rural areas as part of the collective farm (kolkhoz). In 1985 legislation was passed defining official functions to the mahalla and beginning its transformation into a structure of local self-government. However unlike in neighbouring Uzbekistan the legal status of the mahalla was not further formalized in the 1990s. For more on mahallas (in Uzbekistan), see Stevens (in this issue) and Marianne Kamp, 'Between women and the state: Mahalla committees and social welfare in Uzbekistan', in Pauline Jones Luong, ed, The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004), pp 29-58.
19. Historians' debate whether mahallas and similar communal structures were captured by the state, or rather survived bureaucratic manipulation, in fact changing the nature of Soviet institutions. The latter is Olivier Roy's main argument. See Olivier Roy, New Central Asia: The Creation of Nations (New York: New York University Press, 2000);
20. and Roy, op cit, Ref 5.
21. Opponents include Pauline Jones Young, 'Introduction', in Pauline Jones Young, ed, The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004).
22. Muriel Atkin, 'The politics of polirization in Tajikistan', in Hafez Malik, ed, Central Asia: Its Strategic Importance and Future Prospects (New York: St Martin Press, 1994);
23. Olivier Roy, 'Kolkhoz and civil society in the independent states of Central Asia', in Civil Society in Central Asia (Seattle and London: Center for Civil Society International; The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University; in association with University of Washington Press, 1999);
24. Roy, op cit, Ref 15.
25. Interview with 20 year old female informant, on 30 July 2002 in Shulmak, Tajikistan.
26. Howell and Pearce, op cit, Ref 3, pp 196-201;
27. Roy, op cit, Ref 5;
28. Akiner, op cit, Ref 4.
29. In 2001 Counterpart Consortium undertook a 'Community Outreach Program' to increase the capacities of grass-roots initiatives; while Mercy Corps International began implementing the "Peaceful Communities Initiative" in the Ferghana Valley. USAID initiated a three year US $22 million Central Asia Community Action Investment Project to fund community groups to carry out infrastructure development and maintenance activities in 2002. For more information on CAIP see http://caip.usaidcar.info.
30. On USAID in Tajikistan, see http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/bcbj2003/ee/tj/ 119-0420.html.
31. The World Bank began an extensive study on community driven development in Central Asia, and co-founded the Central Asian Community Empowerment Network. For more information on the WB Central Asia Community Driven Development Strategy see http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ECA/ECSSD.nsf/ ECADocByUnid/17047E5C27111C6585256C2B0069E10E/$FILE/ CDD%20Strategy%20in%20Central%20Asia%200205.pdf On the network: Http:// newcen.counterpart-tj.org/
32. Ghamkhori, Statute of the NGO. Registered at the Department of Justice of the Khatlon Region, 25 April 1999.
33. Colette Harris, Control and Subversion: Gender Relations in Tajikistan (London: Pluto Press, 2004).
34. Interview with Bahodur Toshmatov and Mikhail Fedorov, Ghamkhori Director and Deputy Director, on 14 June 2002 in Kurgan Tuppe, Tajikistan.
35. Interview with Hoorshed Bojev, Ghamkhori project supervisor, on 1 June 2002 in Kurgan Tuppe, Tajikistan.
36. Interview with Bahodur Toshmatov, Ghamkhori Director, on 11 June 2002 in Kurgan Tuppe, Tajikistan.
37. Toshmatov, op cit, Ref 24.
38. Ghamkhori, Information leaflet 2004, mimeo, Dushanbe, 2004.
39. Interview with Dilorom Markhamova, Ghamkhori project supervisor, on 30 May 2002 in Kurgan Tuppe, Tajikistan.
40. Roy, op cit, Ref 5, pp 131-145. According to the Tajik Constitution the lowest level of governmental authority was the 'jamoat' made up of 5-15 villages.
41. The mahalla committees also had a conflict resolution aim as in mixed ethnic villages where unified structures could be set up they helped nurture community cohesion, tolerance and trust.
42. Chris Buckley, Tajikistan Director, Act Central Asia, email communication received on 21 May 2003.
43. The main donor to the project is the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Tajikistan. Since April 2003 it is also partially financed by Act Central Asia.
44. Interview with Malika Sobirionova, Ghamkhori project supervisor, on 9 June 2002 in Kurgan Tuppe, Tajikistan.
45. Ghamkhori, Kurgan Tuppe Women's Center, 'Final Report to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Tajikistan', mimeo, Kurgan Tuppe, 2001.
46. Larry Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, Yun-han Chu and Hung-mao Tien, eds, Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies (Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 1997), p xxxi.
47. Ernest Gellner, Conditions of Liberty: Civil Society and Its Rivals (London: Hamish and Hamilton, 1994), p 5.
48. Jonathan Goodhand and Peter Chamberlain, 'Dancing with the prince: NGOs survival strategies in the Afghan conflict', in Deborah Eade, ed, Social Reconstruction in Times of Transition: From Conflict to Peace in a Changing World. Oxfam Working Paper (Oxford: Oxfam, 2000) pp 91, 98;
49. Roy, op cit, Ref 5, p 142.
50. David Lewis, The Management of Non-Governmental Development Organizations: An Introduction (London: Routledge, 2001).
51. Interview with Bahodur Toshmatov and Mikhail Fedorov, Ghamkhori Director and Deputy Director, on 14 June 2002 in Kurgan Tuppe, Tajikistan.
52. By 2002 MSDSP was supporting 400 village organizations in Gorno-Badakhshan and 72 in the Karategin Valley.
53. 'AKF Activities in Tajikistan, 2002', retrieved at http://www.akdn.org/akf/tajikrep_02.pdf on 28 July 2003.
54. Interview with Davlatjon Hokimov, VO head, Kalai-sur, Tajikistan on 29 June 2002.
55. Interview with Saifullo Gazoev, VO head, Khuja Ainee on 23 June 2002.
56. When asked what satisfaction he receives from his position as VO rais, one VO head responded, 'who wants to take all this responsibility? Who wants to write all these things down? For no money? I think about my responsibilities all the time, they worry me, its stressful.' When queried about whether or not he is proud of his work, the same rais answered, 'I am not proud. But of course I am proud if my work can bring benefit to the community. Then people say good things about you, and of course you feel proud.' Interview with Hokimov, op cit, Ref 41.
57. Roy, op cit, Ref 25, p 93.
58. MSDSP, VO Charter (Khorog, 2001).
59. Interview with Pavlatmurod Piramavdov, VO deputy head, Karashahr, Tajikistan on 26 June 2002.
60. Dilovarsho Eshanov, VO head, Loyova, Tajikistan on 22 June 2002.
61. Mark Whitton (13 July 2002). In 2002 out of six VOs visited only one actively lobbied other international organizations for funding.
62. MSDSP, Five Year Strategy 2002-2006 (Khorog, 2002), p 17.
63. Alimordhon Rakhimov, VO head, Shulmak, Tajikistan on 30 June 2002.
64. MSDSP, VO Charter (Khorog, 2001).
65. Roy, op cit, Ref 5, p 143.
66. Interview with Bahodur Toshmatov, Ghamkhori Director, on 14 June 2002 in Kurgan Tuppe, Tajikistan.
67. In two of the Karategin Valley VOs it seemed evident that the head of the VO had benefited disproportionately from MSDSP's aid: One constructed a drinking water line to this personal property, another placed a chicken incubator meant for the community in his garage.
68. Kathleen Collins, 'Clans, pacts and politics in Central Asia', Journal of Democracy, Vol 13, No 1, 2002, p 148.
69. Jane Covey, 'Accountability and effectiveness in NGO policy alliances', in Lewis, op cit, Ref 37, p 125.
70. Contrary to what McMann finds in Kyrgyzstan where 76% of those she polled requested assistance or expressed desire for assistance from the state. Kelly McMann, 'The civic realm in Kyrgyzstan: Soviet economic legacies and activists' expectations', in Pauline Jones Luong, ed, The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004), p 221.
71. Lewis, op cit, Ref 37, p 150.