Theorizing Central Asian Politics

Rico Isaacs is Reader in Politics at Oxford Brookes University, UK. He is the author of Film and Identity in Kazakhstan (2018), Nation-Building in the Post-Soviet Space (with Abel Polese, 2016) and Party System Formation in Kazakhstan (2011).Alessandro Frigerio is Dean of the School of Management at Almaty Management University, Kazakhstan. He has been working in Almaty for the past ten years combining administrative duties at different universities with heterodox scholarly activities in political philosophy.

“Theorizing Central Asian Politics is a book that is destined to have a long shelf-life, due to its innovative approach that seeks to reframe theoretically the work of scholars with first-class knowledge of Central Asia, its languages, its politics and its societies.” (Luca Anceschi, Inner Asia, Vol. 21, 2019)“The editors aimed to plant a seed to discuss political theorization starting from practices in Central Asia, but they exceeded expectations. This book marks the development of new research trails that could be the roots of a reflourishing of general political theory.” (Gian Marco Moisé, Central Asian Survey, Vol. 38 (4), 2019)

• 1. Political Theory and Central Asia: An Introduction.- 2. Legitimacy and Legitimation in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.- 3. Governmentalization of Kazakhstani State: Between Governmentality and Neopatrimonial Capitalism.- 4. Theorizing the managerialism-neoliberalism-development nexus: Changing donor landscapes and persistence of practices in Kyrgyzstan.- 5. Rawlsian Liberalism and Rationalistic Maturidi Islam in Central Asia.- 6. In Search for “National Purpose”: in Theory and Practice. Formation and Main Features of National ideologies in post-Soviet Central Asia.- 7. Compartmentalized Ideology: Presidential Addresses and Legitimation in Kazakhstan.- 8. Beyond “Personality Cults”: Sacralization of Power in Kazakhstan and the Concept of Monarchy.- 9. Eternal Futurostan: Myths, Fantasies and the Making of Astana in post-Soviet Kazakhstan.- 10. The State Identities in post-Soviet Foreign Policy: Theories and Cases in Central Asia.- 11. The Heartland of IR Theory? Central Asia as an ‘International Society’ between Realism and Liberalism.- 12. The Incomplete State: Re-conceptualizing State and Society Relations in Central Asia.- 13. Driving in Almaty: Ironic Perspectives on Domestic Anarchical Society.- 14. Postscript: Dude Where is my Theory?.