ABSTRACT
In the 1920s, Central Asian resistance took the form of elemental mass violence, the Basmachy revolt; in the 1980s, such mass violence might have the added force of direction by a modern skilled elite. This chapter examines the intersection between the Cold War and American studies of Islam and Muslim societies within the USSR. American Oriental studies have a history as German, French, British, or Russian studies. Bennigsen, who was particularly interested in the link between national identity, religion, and sources of resistance to Soviet rule, turned his attention to Sufi brotherhoods in the USSR. Alexandre Bennigsen early publications included a study of the Tatar communist Mirsaid Sultan Galiev, but by the late 1960s his work focused increasingly on evidence of resistance to Soviet rule. S. Enders Wimbush remained a French citizen, Bennigsen taught frequently in the US in the 1970s, including stints at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and the University of Rochester.
