Researching Central Asia

Jasmin Dall’Agnola is a postdoctoral researcher at the George Washington University’s Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES), Washington D.C., USA. Her research focuses on the relationship between human security and surveillance in authoritarian societies. Her research has been published by numerous peer-reviewed journals and publishing houses, including Europe-Asia Studies, Central Asian Affairs, Central Asian Survey and Routledge.Aijan Sharshenova is a postdoctoral research fellow at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Dr. Sharshenova holds a Ph.D. in Politics awarded at the University of Leeds, UK. Prior to joining the OSCE Academy, Dr. Sharshenova has worked at the UN and UNDP country offices in the Middle East.

• Chapter 1. The Central Asian Research Setting. An Introduction (Jasmin Dall’Agnola).- Part I. Epistemic and Methodological Uncertainty.- Chapter 2. Making Sense of Central Asia: Sources of Epistemic Uncertainty (Aziz Elmuradov).- Chapter 3. Pitfalls and Promise for Public Opinion Research in Central Asia (Kasiet Ysmanova).- Chapter 4. ‘Swiping Right’ – The Ethics of Using Tinder as a Recruitment Tool in the Field (Paolo Sorbello).- Part II. Beyond ‘Outsiders’ and ‘Locals’.- Chapter 5. The Power of a Multi-layered Identity in Central Asian Research (Gulzhanat Gafu).- Chapter 6. Being Afghani, French and not Soviet, Along the Border Between Tajikistan and Afghanistan (Mélanie Sadozaï).- Chapter 7. A Stranger in the Village: Anti-Blackness in the Field (Alexa Kurmanov).- Part III. Doing Research in Closed Contexts.- Chapter 8. Safety, Security, and Self-Censorship as Survival Strategies (Aijan Sharshenova).- Chapter 9. Navigating AcademicRepression in Central Asia (Ruslan Norov).- Chapter 10. Performative Heterosexuality: A Gay Researcher Doing Fieldwork in Central Asia (Marius Honig).- Chapter 11. From Romantic Advances to Cyberstalking in the Field (Jasmin Dall’Agnola).