This doctoral thesis introduces the Wakhi ethno-linguistic group living in the region of the Pamiri-Hindu Kush mountain knot on territories of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. As a result of the strategic economic and political rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia during the 19th century (the so- called Great Game), part of the so far homogeneous ethnic group was forced to leave their native Wakhan Corridor in the late 19th century. The Wakhi people then found themselves on the territory of future states with diametrically opposite development to their own. The goal of this work is a comprehensive analysis of the transformation of the material and spiritual culture of the Wakhi ethnic group or groups living on the territories of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan with emphasis on their current status. Very important part of my work deals with the visual context that by means of images and photographs presents significant features associated with the Wakhi everyday life. My primary aim is to uncover the material and spiritual phenomena that are closely related to everyday life, historical and political contexts, socio-economic situation, Shia Ismaili, religion and affiliated features which the members of Wakhi ethno-linguistic...

Yazghulami is a South-East Iranian language spoken in the Pamir area of Tajikistan by about 9000 people. This study gives an account of the phonology of the language by describing contrastive segments and their distribution and realizations, as well as describing suprasegmental features such as syllable structure and stress patterns. Field research was carried out in a community of Yazghulami speakers in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, by recording, transcribing and annotating spoken language. Yazghulami is analyzed as having 8 vowel phonemes of which one pair contrasts in length, and 36 consonant phonemes with a considerable display of palatal, velar and uvular phonemes, of which a set of three labialized plosives and three labialized fricatives is found. The syllable structure of Yazghulami allows for clusters of no more than two consonants in the onset and two in the coda; clusters in both positions do not occur in one and the same syllable. The stress generally falls on the last syllable of a word, although when nouns are inflected with suffixes, the stress instead falls on the last syllable of the stem. With these results, a foundation for further efforts to develop and increase the status of this endangered language is laid. / Yazghulami är ett sydöst-iranskt språk som talas i Pamirområdet i Tadzjikistan av cirka 9000 personer. Studien redogör för språkets fonologi genom beskrivning av dess kontrastiva segment och hur dessa distribueras och realiseras, samt en beskrivning av dess suprasegmentella drag så som stavelsestruktur och betoningsmönster. Fältstudier bedrevs bland yazghulami-talare i Dusjanbe, Tadzjikistans huvudstad, genom inspelning, transkribering och annotering av talat språk. Analysen visar på att yazghulami har 8 vokalfonem, där ett par kontrasterar i längd, och 36 konsonantfonem med en nämnvärd uppsättning av palatala, velara och uvulara fonem, varav ett set med tre labialiserade klusiler och tre labialiserade frikativor. Stavelsestrukturen i yazghulami tillåter kluster med upp till två konsonanter i ansatsen och två i kodan, men kluster förekommer inte i båda positioner inom en och samma stavelse. Betoningen faller generellt på den sista stavelsen av ett ord, men för substantiv böjda med suffix faller betoningen istället på den sista stavelsen i stammen. Dessa resultat kommer ligga till grund för vidare arbete med att utveckla och öka statusen av detta hotade språk.

Central Asia is a region strategically located on the crossroads of the two continents. The region is represented by five states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) with different level of economic development and with the population amounting to over 60 million people. The region is rich in energy resources, represented by oil, gas, coal and hydropower resources. The thesis analyses, assesses and scrutinises one of the topical issues of the contemporary international relations - cooperation between the European Union and Central Asian states before and after adoption in June 2007 of the ‘European Union and Central Asia: Strategy for a New Partnership’, an important political document in the history of relations between the two parties. The new stage of cooperation is analysed more comprehensively accentuating priorities set in the Strategy. Analysis of the current state of affairs is conducted concerning some important issues of the Strategy related to regional cooperation between Central Asian states, such as integrated water management and development of hydro-energy system, issues of diversification of hydrocarbons supply routes from the region to Europe and provision of energy security, etc. Issues of cooperation between the European Union and Tajikistan are analysed as a case study. State of affairs between some of the European Union member-states and Central Asian countries is characterised. The thesis also scrutinises other regional/international actors engaged in cooperation with Central Asia (such as China, Russia, the US, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, etc.) and their potential for interaction with the European Union for more effective joint solution of the problems existing in the region is assessed. In the conclusion, development of cooperation between the European Union and Central Asian states is scrutinised, the problems and their possible solutions in this regard are analysed, and the recommendations for increasing effectiveness of cooperation between the two parties are presented. The European Union’s foreign policy in Central Asia is interpreted from perspective of the theories of international relations namely neorealism, neoliberalism and constructivism in the end of every chapter.

The Central-Asian region, in current geo-political signification understood as the territory of five Post-Soviet states: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and partially of Kazakhstan, has went through a very rich and colorful historical development. During this development it has absorbed many different culture impulses and influences that helped the region to develop conditions for the formation of a distinctive artistic expression. To a certain extent, we can observe continuity in the development of traditional arts and crafts professions since early historical times until today. Among the most important craft branches we need to mention textile production, involving carpet weaving, processing of felt, fabrics and embroideries, and also artistic metal processing represented particularly by the jewelry production and last but not least, ceramics production. Arts and crafts have always had a very important position in the history and culture of Central Asia. Craftwork has been a subject of trade for a very long time period here, this fact being enhanced by the geographical position as well, since the region is situated on the route of the famous Silk Road. Arts and craft production, which comprised of common goods but also exclusive products of high artistic value, intended for the...

This thesis deals with the phenomenon of Central Asian foreign fighters in Syria, 2011- 2017. It analyzes their radicalization, recruitment, and travel patterns. Special emphasis is placed on tracking the home states' responses, including elements of de-radicalization and counter-radicalization. The thesis has found that there is arguably no single factor explaining the Central Asian fighters' radicalization; nor is there a typical profile of a Central Asian fighter. Available data suggest that radicalization and extremist recruitment most often occur in Russia. Furthermore, the analysis of travel patterns has shown that the majority of Central Asian fighters traveled to Syria either indirectly via multiple countries (again, most often Russia) or directly from their country of origin, and then crossed the border from Turkey. The thesis concludes that all five Central Asian states have adopted policies to address the perceived security threat of returning foreign fighters, whereas the hard, restrictive and punitive approach has been prevalent all across the region.

Die vorliegende Arbeit wollte eine Antwort auf die Frage geben, was das wirtschaftliche und soziale Handeln tadschikischer Kolchosbauern seit den 1960er Jahren leitete. Das Kernargument der Arbeit ist, dass die Bauern auch nach der Industrialisierung der Agrarproduktion an einem vorindustriellen Wirtschaftshandeln festhielten. Zum vorindustriellen Wirtschaftsverhalten gehörten zum einen familiengetragene Bauernwirtschaften, zum anderen bewährte Formen von Reziprozität wie Patron-Klientel-Strukturen, redistributive Ausgaben für die Dorfgemeinschaft und die kollektive Nutzung von Ressourcen. Das Konzept, dass die Existenz im Sinne der vormodernen moral economy über soziale Bindungen gesichert wird, hatte während der Sowjetperiode Bestand. Die Fortdauer einer vormodernen Wirtschaftsgesinnung zeigt sich auch darin, dass die Bauern in den peripheren Gebieten (Kaukasus, Mittelasien) stärker als die Bauern in den zentralen Regionen der Sowjetunion die persönliche Nebenerwerbswirtschaft für die Steigerung ihres Einkommens nutzten. Die Steigerung der privaten Hoflandproduktion seit den 1960er Jahren ging mit einer sozialen und kulturellen Re-Traditionalisierung einher. Dank der konzilianten Haltung, die die Brežnev-Führung gegenüber den Muslimen einnahm, und den gestiegenen Einnahmen aus dem informellen Sektor lebten lokales Brauchtum und lokale Festkultur wieder auf. Die Befunde zur sozialen und wirtschaftlichen Situation in der Maxim-Gorki-Kolchose stellen die von James Scott vorgebrachte These in Frage, wonach die sowjetische Agrarmodernisierung als Misserfolg einzuschätzen sei. Die sowjetische Transformation brachte an der tadschikischen Peripherie eine komplexe Variante der Moderne hervor, in der sowjetische und traditionelle Identitäten gleichzeitig nebeneinander gut funktionierten. Diese subjektiven und lokalen Perspektiven müssen ebenso bei der Frage berücksichtigt werden, ob man das Verhältnis zwischen Zentrum und Peripherie als kolonial bezeichnen kann. / The present doctoral dissertation aimed to explore economic and social motives behind peasant activities in Tajik kolkhozes since the 1960s. The core-argument of the dissertation is that the Soviet agrarian modernization production could not overcome the peasants’ preindustrial mentality. Like pre-modern societies the rural Tajik communities were shaped by the family household economy and by different patterns of reciprocity such as the exchange of food, protective patron-clientele-relationships, the collective use of village resources and prestigious, redistributive expenditures of village elites. The concept that social ties secure one’ s existence as defined by the moral economy endured during the Soviet Period. The persistence of a preindustrial mentality also become apparent that the peasants of the Soviet periphery more intensely than the peasants of the central regions used the “personal garden plot economy”. The rise of the family production in the Brezhnev-Era went along with a social, cultural and political re-traditionalisation. Due to a more conciliatory attitude towards the Muslims and against the backdrop of the declining ideological appeal of Communism in the Brezhnev era, the kolkhoz farmers began to spend the increased revenues from the private fruit and vegetable trade for costly celebrations of life-cycle and religious holidays. In Tajikistan, the establishment of the new district (oblast') Kurganteppa in 1976, offered the opportunity to purchase posts in politics and administration. The findings concerning the social and economic situation in the Maxim-Gorki-Kolkhoz challenge James Scott’s thesis, that the Soviet agrarian modernization has to be regarded as a failure. The Soviet transformation generated a complex form of modernity, which smoothly combined traditional and Soviet identities. These local perspectives also have to be taken into account in the debate, if the relationship between Moscow and its Central Asian periphery was colonial or not.

Il coordinamento dell’aiuto pubblico allo sviluppo, evocato negli ultimi anni da più parti come la soluzione alla deludente efficacia degli aiuti è in realtà un argomento che nasce quasi contemporaneamente alle prime organizzazioni internazionali dedicate allo sviluppo . La funzione ambivalente delle Nazioni Unite, agente di mediazione diplomatica da un lato (mediazione tra stati e tra gruppi di potere all’interno dello stesso stato), e agente di sviluppo dall’altro, garantisce all’organizzazione un ruolo preminente nel coordinamento degli aiuti nei contesti di guerra e di post-conflitto. E’ questa stessa ambivalenza che impone all’organizzazione un rapporto ufficiale con i territori sottosviluppati, incardinato nella relazione con i governi centrali degli stati. La critica radicale all’aiuto pubblico allo sviluppo individua tutte le distorsioni politiche ed economiche legate all’afflusso dei fondi, sottolineandone le aggravanti possibili laddove esista una discrasia tra gli obiettivi di sviluppo delle Nazioni Unite e quelli dell’élite che occupa le posizioni apicali dello stato. Questa ricerca attraverso un’analisi storica del contesto, mette in luce l’interazione tra il sistema degli aiuti e il sistema-paese in Tajikistan dall’ingresso delle organizzazioni ai giorni nostri. L’analisi dimostra infine che la struttura politico-economica radicata sul territorio, pur conservando i tratti di uno “stato predatorio” (tratti non alleviati bensì aggravati dalle distorsioni legate all’afflusso dei fondi per lo sviluppo), sfugge in realtà alla definizione stessa di “Stato”. Questo dato rivela una debolezza insita nell’approccio metodologico del sistema degli aiuti che si fonda proprio sull’archetipo dello “Stato”. / The Official Development Assistance (ODA) coordination has been recently launched as a genuine mean to increase aid effectiveness. Actually, the “aid coordination” paradigm was born almost contemporaneously to the first international organizations dedicated to “development”. The ambivalent function of the United Nation that acts both as an agent of diplomatic mediation (among states and among different lobbies within the borders of the same state), and as a development agent, guarantees to United Nations a preeminent role in the field of aid coordination in conflict and post-conflict contexts. It’s this real ambivalence that compels the United Nations to deal with development countries through official relations with the central governments. The radical critique to development aid shows different political and economic distortions related to the incidence of foreign funds. At the same time, it underlines that wherever the goals of the official governments diverge from the development goals of the aid community these distortions might be even more burdensome for the country. This research, through an historical analysis, draws attention on the interaction among the development industry and the country-system in Tajikistan from the arrival of the international organizations to our days. The analysis demonstrates that the political and economic structure of the country, while maintaining the features of a “predatory state” (features which are not alleviated but worsened by the distortions brought about by the aid industry), simply do not comply with the definition of a “State”. This result highlights an innate weakness of the aid industry methodological approach that is in fact, fully based on the political archetype of the “State”.

This thesis seeks to investigate the various forces that have shaped modern Persianate children‘s literature - history, revolution, political climate, government, institutions, writers, education, and so on. The historical origins of tales popular in modern times, and of themes recurrent in stories from past times to present are analyzed, along with other factors which have shaped Persianate children‘s literature. The thesis begins with a historical and theoretical overview relating to change and continuity in Persianate children‘s literature. It examines the influence of ancient texts on modern Persianate children‘s stories. The cultural development reflected in the organizational infrastructure of institutions is also examined, as well as other contemporary influences, both social and political, in order to assess how these have affected modern Persianate children‘s literature. The contents of children‘s books are analyzed from different aspects, including their representation of social values. Concerns of children themselves are shown in examples of their own work; in addition, works of illustrators of children‘s books, and examples from the extended body of Persianate children‘s literature in Tajikistan are analyzed. Modern children‘s literature is the product of a number of influences and while differences can be perceived between historical periods, underlying similarities can also be seen which show a continuity of socio-political purpose, either supporting the status quo or challenging it. The thesis is concerned with this interplay between the recurring uses of children‘s literature; moralistic, didactic, the political agenda of its authors, criticism of the status quo, etc. and the surface changes which attract attention and which create an appearance of change in its underlying purpose. Fashions and styles may change, but children still read, firstly in order to learn to read, and then for information and amusement. The author contends that, in reality a limited number of changes are possible in the purpose of children‘s literature, and the age-old arguments likewise continue about what those are: entertainment or preparation for the harsh realities of life, retreat into fantasy and acceptance of one‘s place or incitement to rebel and change the world. / Information Science / D.Litt. et Phil.

This thesis seeks to investigate the various forces that have shaped modern Persianate children‘s literature - history, revolution, political climate, government, institutions, writers, education, and so on. The historical origins of tales popular in modern times, and of themes recurrent in stories from past times to present are analyzed, along with other factors which have shaped Persianate children‘s literature. The thesis begins with a historical and theoretical overview relating to change and continuity in Persianate children‘s literature. It examines the influence of ancient texts on modern Persianate children‘s stories. The cultural development reflected in the organizational infrastructure of institutions is also examined, as well as other contemporary influences, both social and political, in order to assess how these have affected modern Persianate children‘s literature. The contents of children‘s books are analyzed from different aspects, including their representation of social values. Concerns of children themselves are shown in examples of their own work; in addition, works of illustrators of children‘s books, and examples from the extended body of Persianate children‘s literature in Tajikistan are analyzed. Modern children‘s literature is the product of a number of influences and while differences can be perceived between historical periods, underlying similarities can also be seen which show a continuity of socio-political purpose, either supporting the status quo or challenging it. The thesis is concerned with this interplay between the recurring uses of children‘s literature; moralistic, didactic, the political agenda of its authors, criticism of the status quo, etc. and the surface changes which attract attention and which create an appearance of change in its underlying purpose. Fashions and styles may change, but children still read, firstly in order to learn to read, and then for information and amusement. The author contends that, in reality a limited number of changes are possible in the purpose of children‘s literature, and the age-old arguments likewise continue about what those are: entertainment or preparation for the harsh realities of life, retreat into fantasy and acceptance of one‘s place or incitement to rebel and change the world. / Information Science / D.Litt. et Phil.

Central Asia is a region strategically located at the crossroads of the two continents: Asia and Europe. The region is represented by five states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) with different level of economic development and with the population amounting to over 60 million people. The region is rich in energy resources represented by oil, gas, coal and water resources. The thesis analyses, assesses and scrutinises one of the topical issues of the contemporary international relations - cooperation between the European Union and Central Asian states before and after adoption in June 2007 of the ‘European Union and Central Asia: Strategy for a New Partnership’,  an important political document in the history of relations between the two parties. The new stage of cooperation is analysed more comprehensively accentuating priorities set in the Strategy. Analysis of the current state of affairs is conducted concerning some important issues of the Strategy related to regional cooperation between Central Asian states, such as integrated water management and development of hydro-energy system, issues of diversification of hydrocarbons supply routes from the region to Europe and provision of energy security, etc. Issues of cooperation between the European Union and Tajikistan are analysed as a case study. State of affairs between the Central Asian states and the European Union Member States actively cooperating with these countries is characterised. The thesis also scrutinises other regional/international actors engaged in cooperation with Central Asia (such as China, Russia, the US, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, etc.) and their potential for interaction with the European Union for more effective joint solution of the problems existing in the region is assessed. In the conclusion, development of cooperation between the European Union and Central Asian states is scrutinised, the problems and their possible solutions in this regard are analysed, and the recommendations for increasing effectiveness of cooperation between the two parties are presented. The European Union’s policy in Central Asia is interpreted from perspective of the theories of international relations namely neorealism, neoliberalism and constructivism in the research.