‘A little help from my friend?’ Analysis of network links on the meso level in Uzbekistan

Abstract

Recent work on Uzbekistan has emphasised the importance of formal and informal networks during the period of transition. While earlier studies on land privatisation just mention the importance of these networks for accessing land, anthropological studies have analysed in much detail the network interactions of rural households within the rural community. These studies have deepened the understanding of the organisation and functioning of social networks in Uzbekistan and have emphasised the importance of these networks and their utilisation as coping strategies for households especially during the period of transition. A recent study highlighted the importance of networks for private farmers and shirkat (collective and state farm) managers to higher administrative level to guarantee the functioning and to turn these farms into ‘bright spots’. While the anthropological studies highlight the importance of these networks on the local level as survival strategies, on higher administrational levels these networks and their utilisation are of great concern. On 26 November 2004 the Uzbek President Islam Karimov freed the hakim (governor) of Sirdaryo province, because he gathered ‘around him his friends and people close to him who used to work with him before’. Prior to this event the President acknowledged the problem of informal networks in governing positions and started to appoint hakims in provinces other than their own province. However, the dismissed governor brought his network from Tashkent to Sirdaryo province. In the Khorezm province, as in the Sirdarya province, the utilisation of networks for higher level positions of importance is widespread. In 1996 the former province hakim, Mr Yusupov, was dismissed on the grounds that he placed his network too openly in the positions of district hakims and shirkat managers. One interviewee stated, that Mr Yusupov dismissed 55 shirkat managers during his tenure in office. In the Khorezm province all three province hakims were locally born and therefore had extensive networks within the province. Central Asian Survey (March–June 2006) 25(1–2), 115–128