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Rethinking the Study of International Boundaries: A Biography of the Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan Boundary

2011; American Association of Geographers; Volume: 102; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00045608.2011.595969

1467-8306

Nick Megoran,

Migration, Refugees, and Integration

Abstract Over the past century there have been a number of distinct attempts by geographers to generalize about the nature of international boundaries. The most influential contemporary movement is that which considers them as examples of more general processes of "bordering" or "bounding." This approach is insightful but not without limitations, and can be advanced through writing what are termed "boundary biographies" that explore how specific boundaries materialize, rematerialize, and dematerialize in different ways, in different contexts, at different scales, and at different times. A biography of the Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan boundary traces its materialization as a result of the 1924 through 1927 process of national territorial delimitation and its multiple and varied re- and dematerializations throughout the Soviet and particularly the post-Soviet periods. This biography illustrates the importance of geography for understanding processes of nation-state formation and political contestation in Central Asia. Durante el siglo pasado han habido distintos intentos de los geógrafos para generalizar acerca de la naturaleza de las fronteras internacionales. El movimiento contemporáneo más influyente es el que los considera como ejemplos de procesos más generales de "delimitación" o "limitación". Este enfoque es profundo pero no sin limitaciones, y puede ser mejorado a través de la escritura de lo que se denomina "biografías límite" que exploran cómo específicos límites se materializan, re-materializan y desmaterializan en diferentes formas, en diferentes contextos, a diferentes escalas y en diferentes tiempos. Una biografía de la frontera de Kirguistán –Uzbekistán traza su realización como resultado de un proceso de 1924 a 1927 de delimitación territorial nacional y sus múltiples y variadas desmaterializaciones a lo largo de la Unión Soviética y en particular los períodos post-soviéticos. Esta biografía ilustra la importancia de la geografía para la comprensión de los procesos de formación del Estado-nación y la confrontación política en Asia Central. Key Words: international boundariesKyrgyzstanpolitical geographyUzbekistan关键词: 国际边界吉尔吉斯斯坦政治地理学乌兹别克斯坦Palabras claves: fronteras internacionalesKirguistángeografía políticaUzbekistán Acknowledgments Research for this article was made possible by the Economic and Social Research Council for funding my doctoral research at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and the British Academy for providing me with a Small Research Grant to conduct postdoctoral work on "The Impact of the Ferghana Valley Boundary Closures on Border Communities" (SG:38394). I would like to express my gratitude to all three institutions for supporting this research. The argument in this article was originally presented in a seminar to the Exeter Centre for Ethnic-Political Studies, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, in May 2008. I am grateful to the participants for their comments and especially for those of Ewan Anderson and James Sidaway. I would also like to thank Shelagh Furness, Henk van Houtum, Alison Williams, and Rachel Megoran for their comments on earlier drafts. Finally, the guidance of Audrey Kobayashi and two referees, one anonymous and the other David Newman, was extremely helpful in revising the article. Notes 1. Interview with Azim Karashev, member of bilateral Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan border demarcation committee, Osh, 12 June 2000. 2. Conversation with anonymous pensioner in Chek village, which straddles the Jalalabat (Kyrgyzstan) and Andijon (Uzbekistan) oblasts, April 2004. Longitudinal ethnographic work was conducted at this site between 2000 and 2009. 3. The claims in this paragraph are based on numerous conversations with adults in the Ferghana Valley who were educated during the Soviet period or who were working in Ferghana Valley universities in the post-Soviet period. 4. I crossed the boundary frequently during this period, often passing through inspection points, but was generally waved through without having my passport examined or without guards realizing that I was a foreigner. My experience was that if you were asleep, or had your eyes closed, on a bus when a border guard boarded, he would be too kind to wake you and ask for your passport! 5. News broadcast, Tashkent TV1, 13 March 1999. I watched it at the time and wrote the quotation down the following week, so cannot confirm that these were the exact words used. 6. Interview, Solijon Madanenov, Head of Agriculture, Suzak Region, Jalalabat Oblast, Kyrgyzstan, 4 May 2000. 7. Conversations during ethnographic fieldwork with two anonymous Kyrgyzstanis, 5 May 2000, and with the anonymous manager of the Uzbekistani industrial plant who confirmed this order, 30 June 2000. 8. The name of this boy has been changed to protect his identity. Interview, Sai Village, Sokh, 19 April 2004. 9. Interview, Colonel Tamas Kiss, BOMCA/CADAP Programmes in Central Asia, Project Manager, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, 24 April 2006. 10. Interview, The White House (Kyrgyz governmental administration building), Bishkek, 4 April 2006.