I’ve recently reviewed Peter Finke’s 2014 monograph, based on his Habilitation dissertation, Variations on Uzbek Identity: Strategic Choices, Cognitive Schemas and Political Constraints in Identification Processes, published by Berghahn. The review will shortly be out in the Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology. I’ve uploaded a pre-print version of the review here. The first paragraph is pasted in below:
“Variations on Uzbek Identity” is a comparative analysis of Uzbek ethnic identity as it has emerged historically and as is expressed today in four diverse regions of contemporary Uzbekistan: Bukhara, Khorezm, Ferghana and Shahrisabz. The book is organised around a close description of these four settings (one chapter per fieldsite), together with an introduction, a conclusion and an opening historical overview that traces the Uzbeks’ ethnic history from “nomadic conquerors to post-socialist farmers.”
