ABSTRACT
In 1991, the Soviet Socialist Republics of Central Asia and Southern Caucasus gained their independence. The tenth anniversary invited scholars to assess and analyse this post-Soviet development period. It also, however, invited an assessment of such scholarly study and the ways in which it analyses the systemic principles of the political, social and economic organisation in the region and the continuities and changes within them. The aim of this chapter is to examine methodological approaches to the study of the societies of Central Asia and suggest possible avenues for further investigation.
