ABSTRACT
The dissolution of the Soviet Union engendered in the Central Asian republics diverse processes of decolonization and recolonization (Egorov 2002; Henderson and Robinson 1997). The partial unravelling of relations of dependency established over a century and a half of Russian rule and the emergence of new dependencies intended to fill these gaps, along with concurrent projects of nationalization, internationalization, cultural hybridization and essentialization, situate Central Asian societies firmly within the postcolonial world. However, there has been some debate as to whether Central Asia may be considered legitimately ‘colonial’ (Abdurakhimova 2002; Caroe 1953; Clem 1992; Fierman 1990; Tillett 1964) or ‘postcolonial’, particularly as this term is generally reserved for what was once known as the ‘Third World’ or more recently the ‘South’ (Beissinger and Young 2002; Cavenaugh 2001; Gammer 2000; Kandiyoti 2002; Moore 2001; Verdery 2002). I suggest, with Cavenaugh (2001) and Moore (2001), that complications of this labelling notwithstanding, serious comparative studies of Central Asia and the more classical postcolonial regions of Africa, the Middle East, India and Latin America are both necessary and fruitful. In many ways, as Moore argues, ‘East is South’ (2001: 115).
