Policy Press

Post-Liberal Statebuilding in Central Asia

Imaginaries, Discourses and Practices of Social Ordering

By Philipp Lottholz

Published

May 25, 2022

Page count

266 pages

Browse the series

Spaces of Peace, Security and Development

ISBN

978-1529220001

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

May 25, 2022

Page count

266 pages

Browse the series

Spaces of Peace, Security and Development

ISBN

978-1529220025

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press
Post-Liberal Statebuilding in Central Asia
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Drawing on decolonial perspectives on peace, statehood and development, this illuminating book examines post-liberal statebuilding in Central Asia. It argues that, despite its emancipatory appearance, post-liberal statebuilding is best understood as a set of social ordering mechanisms that lead to new forms of exclusion, marginalization and violence.

Using ethnographic fieldwork in Southern Kyrgyzstan, the volume offers a detailed examination of community security and peacebuilding discourses and practices. Through its analysis, the book highlights the problem with assumptions about liberal democracy, modern statehood and capitalist development as the standard template for post-conflict countries, which is widespread and rarely reflected upon.

“An engaging rethinking of political order in Kyrgyzstan, combining sophisticated conceptual reflection with the insights of fieldwork. Valuable reading for anyone wanting to understand the intersections of peacebuilding, development and the state in Central Asia, and the post-liberal age more generally.” Nick Megoran, Newcastle University

“The book's focus on security practices and community peacebuilding, especially after the 2010 Osh events in Kyrgyzstan, makes a very important contribution to Central Asian studies, peace and conflict research as well as studies of changing political orders.” Aksana Ismailbekova, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient

Philipp Lottholz is a post-doctoral fellow at the Collaborative Research Centre ‘Dynamics of Security’ and the Center for Conflict Studies, Philipps-University of Marburg.

1. Introduction

2, Theorizing Post-Liberal Forms of Statebuilding and Order-Making Globally

3. From Imaginary to Practice: Capturing the Multiple Meanings of Peace, Security and Order

4. Imaginaries and Discourses of Social Order in Kyrgyzstan

5. Local Crime Prevention Centres and the (After) Lives of the State in Rural Kyrgyzstan

6. Shaping Peace, Social Order and Resilience: Territorial Youth Councils and the Field of Youth Policy

7. Reform Deadlock for Stability? The Civic Union ‘For Reforms and Result’

8. Conclusion