This dissertation is a study of imperial epistemology—the Russian Empire's attempts to produce useful knowledge about the Kazakh steppe, and the complex interrelationships between geographic, ethnographic, and statistical accounts of the region and imperial power. The dissertati…
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Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Western governments and international donor agencies have invested in the development of civil society, in order to promote the growth of democratic ideology in the newly independent, post-Soviet Central Asian states. After nineteen years the …
This study investigates differences in the public discourse regarding national identity and language policy issues in the Kazakh-language and Russian-language realms, by analyzing newspaper coverage of these issues. I illustrate how the usage of two languages in the country's me…
Studies of territorial cohesion combine aspects of effective national territory and spatial inequalities, focusing on better integration of regions through balanced economic growth, reducing regional disparities, and inclusive policies toward all citizens. Lack of cohesion and i…
This dissertation is based on 26 months, between 2007 and 2010, of official non-continuous ethnographic fieldwork in real estate development in Kazakhstan. During this time, I investigated the institutionalization of new housing “dreamworlds” and new modes of being urban in rela…
This investigation focuses on two competing theories (historical institutionalism and social constructivism) and their explanatory value in regards to female political representation in Kazakhstan. Historical Institutionalism maintains that current institutional dynamics are con…
The internet is has grown exponentially in Central Asian during the last decade. Political turmoil, media censorship, and the unique social and economic characteristics rooted in traditional culture and informed by the Soviet experience have informed the development of the inter…
Scientists have proposed that Haiti should relocate its capital to avoid another catastrophic earthquake in Port-au-Prince, projected to happen in about thirty years. Haiti still suffers the effects of colonialism in the socio-economic structures throughout society as well as po…
For over two post-Soviet decades, Kazakhstan has experienced multiple transformations, big and small, visible and invisible, recognized and unnoticed. Focusing on child welfare transformation in post-Soviet Kazakhstan, this thesis pursues two research questions: (1) How have chi…
My dissertation examines the interplay between ideology and entertainment as reflected in the holiday cycle of post-Soviet Kazakhstan. During a two-year ethnographic study of holiday celebrations and expressive culture in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China between 2004 and 2006, I …
In contrasting the political trajectories of two post-Soviet Central Asian states this study addresses one of the defining questions of political science: what factors shape regime change? Despite their shared seven decades of Soviet rule, Kazakhstan has, since communism's colla…
The politicization of regional cleavages across the multi-ethnic, newly-independent states of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, and the variation in design of electoral systems that developed in response to them present two integrally related empirical puzzles: (1) why was…
Kazakhstan's livestock sector experienced dramatic changes during the first decade of transition from a centrally-planned to a market economy. The livestock population declined by 60–70 percent and production largely shifted from large-scale farm enterprises to subsistence rural…
This dissertation explores the terrain of educational policy and classroom practice in the subject area of history in Kazakhstan. I investigate teachers' responses to changes in the history program, governmental standards and instructions and new pedagogical initiatives teachers…
The difference between languages regarding rhetorical organization has long been noted. It has been asserted that a language's word order (i.e., VO or OV) affects the ordering of propositions from clause to text in Papuan SOV languages. Qazaq, a Turkic language, is examined to d…
Identifying the mechanisms by which similar species coexist is a central problem in ecology. The classical explanation for coexistence depends on resource partitioning driven by interspecific competition. Alternative processes that may also promote coexistence include predation,…
The United States seized upon the opportunity presented with the end of the Cold War to engage in a high-yield, low-cost strategy to limit potential future threats from Russia. To accomplish this, the U.S. expanded its sphere of influence into areas hitherto controlled by Russia…
This dissertation seeks to explain variation in political liberalization among three post-communist Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. These countries share several common political outcomes such as the dominance of the executive and a high degree o…
Why is there a variance in the size of investment by American multinational corporations (MNCs) in the oil and gas sectors of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan? All ten of the leading oil MNCs in the world petroleum industry have invested in the region. However, the size of investment b…