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with Bulat Akhmetkarimov, SAIS, Johns Hopkins UniversityWhy would a secular state change its policies toward religion? Research on secularism and state policies toward religion suggests several models of interaction. However, these models are often better at describing static relationships than they are at explaining change. This study advances a framework for the conditions that presage the… Continue reading Islam and the Dynamics of Ethno-confessional Regimes in Russia, 1990-2012

This workshop and policy discussion will mark the launch of a new series of policy papers from the CERIA initiative that examine state and public responses to ISIS and its recruiting efforts in each of the Central Asian states, including Turkmenistan. Comparing and contrasting the perhaps surprisingly different strategies used by ISIS members recruited from… Continue reading Public and State Responses to ISIS Messaging in Central Asia

Recently, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon has sought new ways to reassert his Muslim identity.  These public acts of piety serve not only to sway the population toward the state muftiyat, but also to counter opposition narratives that the ruling family is not Muslim enough. This presentation explores the growing ideological and practical divisions between… Continue reading The Fight for Followers: Muslimness and Authenticity in Tajikistan

Uzbekistan appeared on the map in 1924. Adeeb Khalid traces its emergence in the interstices between Soviet nationalities policies and the strivings of the Central Asian Muslim intelligentsia. Understanding the origins of the Uzbek national project also shed light on the relationship between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and is thus of profound contemporary relevance.  Adeeb Khalid is Jane… Continue reading Adeeb Khalid – The Making of Uzbekistan: Nation Making in an Age of Revolution

How are revivalist forms of Islam emanating from the Indian subcontinent, especially the 'preaching group' of the Tablighi Jama'at, impacting the construction of post-Soviet national identities and attitudes vis-à-vis society and politics? From its emergence in the early 1990s, Tablighi proselytization gradually drew a new universe of meaning that rejects the values of contemporary Kyrgyz… Continue reading Aurélie Biard – The Tablighi Revivalism and its Social and Political Implications in Kyrgyzstan

Although there are no official statistics reflecting cases of polygamy in Kyrgyzstan, anecdotal evidence suggests that polygamy is on the rise. This talk explores possible reasons for this and asks, specifically, whether it is a consequence of Kyrgyzstan's post-Soviet Islamic revival. The research is based on interviews conducted with representatives of non-governmental organizations representing women,… Continue reading Michele Commercio – The Rise of Polygamy in Kyrgyzstan: A Consequence of the Country’s Post-Soviet Islamic Revival?

The rise of Islamic Banking in Central Asia has been predicted and expected by both experts and state and economic stakeholders. The financial crisis in 2008 had triggered first initiatives to launch sharia'h conforming financial businesses in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, yet most enterprises never managed to survive this early stage of development. The presentation discusses… Continue reading Alexander Wolters – Islamic Finance in Central Asia: From ‘Great Potentials’ to Lasting Stagnation

Often considered Central Asia's 'weakest' state, Tajikistan has nonetheless created a relatively sophisticated network through which it monitors and targets both secular and religious opponents abroad. Since 2002, the government of Tajikistan has targeted at least 51 of its citizens living abroad, subjecting them to harassment, intimidation, attack, detention, kidnapping and assassination. Drawing on and… Continue reading Edward Lemon – Extraterritorial Security: Governing Islam and Security Beyond Tajikistan

Central Asia is widely associated with Islam. However, throughout history the role of Islam in the region has been ambiguous and it has been mitigated by the pre-Islamic civilizational heritage, the nomadic tribal and customary norms and the Soviet legacy. An outcome of this ambiguity has been a significantly weaker political role of Islam and… Continue reading Galina Yemelianova – Official Islamic Leadership in Central Asia: The Soviet Legacy

In this discussion, Sophie Roche will unfold the social life of migrants in, around and through the main mosque in Moscow, Prospekt Mira. This mosque is important for Putin's politics of Islam as well as for inner-Russian Islamic sectarian tensions, and is increasingly linked to ordinary migrants from Central Asia, who constitute the large majority… Continue reading Sophie Roche – The Moscow Cathedral Mosque in the Life of Migrants from Central Asia

Religious radicalization among Central Asian migrants to Russia have raised particular attention in connection with the active recruitment by the "Islamic State" of many people from the region, as well as their participation in a series of terrorist attacks in Turkey. Many experts have wondered whether Central Asian migration to Russia creates fertile ground for… Continue reading Sergey Abashin – Central Asian Migrants in Russia: Will there be a Religious Radicalization?

What is religion? The answer to this question is either so obvious that it needs no asking, or so abstract and theoretical that we end up declaring it insoluble. The question therefore often gets sidelined and we operate with un-reflected upon notions of religion.  These ideas about religion, nonetheless, guide the research and analyses of… Continue reading Julie McBrien – The Tricky Matter of Defining Religion