Globalisation, Authoritarianism and the Post-Soviet State in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Gallo, Ernesto

doi:10.1080/09668136.2020.1761297

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…At the same time, most researchers stress that the highest level of the hierarchy concentrates most of the actual decision-making power as the old nomenklatura system did. In contrast, the lower classes have very little practical influence (Friedman & Reeves, 2020;Gallo, 2021). The above is consistent with the results of previous studies (Antonyan, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Devoid Elites and the Need for a New Elite Configuration: An Analysis of Post-Soviet Societies on the Example of Azerbaijan

Gerlich

2023

J Ethn Cult Stud

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This paper provides a comprehensive study of the Azerbaijani ruling elites. This study aims to describe the post-Soviet Azerbaijani elites, their interaction, and their influence to elaborate a basis for studying the impact on the government and the economy. The study focuses on the definition and origin of the Azerbaijani elites after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the analysis of their interactions, and the definition of behavior and hierarchy. The study relies on Higley and Burton’s (2006) elite configurations framework and Wedel’s (2003) concept of clans. It draws on qualitative analysis and applies analytical autoethnographic approaches to analyze and interpret the information received. The study used data from 113 informal dialogue interviews with those who worked closely with the elite and the elite representatives. These data provided detailed descriptions of their life and behavior in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. The total number of respondents was 1,817 people. Not all elites have equal access to power. Some, called “hyperagents,” control most decisions. Others, whom the author defines as “devoid elites”, have very little or no real power, although they have some privileges that the elites are endowed with in society. The researcher proposes a new elite configuration entitled “imposed unity elites”, which better describes the majority of Azerbaijani elites. This elite configuration implies the existence and behavior of devoid elites. It also describes elites that seem to be united in public but lacks any basic ideology or common goals. The research contributes to the further development of Higley and Burton’s (2006) framework of elite configurations and the theory of the influence of elites. The possible application of the obtained research results will allow scientists to better understand the development characteristics of the elite configuration in the post-Soviet space and their impact on the state.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Devoid Elites and the Need for a New Elite Configuration: An Analysis of Post-Soviet Societies on the Example of Azerbaijan

Gerlich

2023

J Ethn Cult Stud

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“…Nazarbayev's two sons-in-law, Timur Kulibayev and Rakhat Aliyev, became billionaires and heads of business empires stretching from the oil industry to the media and security. Combined with the Soviet statist legacy (Gallo, 2020) and Kazakhstan's clan traditions, neoliberalism gave birth to an unbridled economic oligarchy and a variegated neoliberal patchwork.…”

Section: Kazakhstan's Traditional Authoritarianismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is poised to become a major financial centre in the country's new capital, based on English law and supported by the capital of NASDAQ and Shanghai Stock Exchange. While one of its dimensions is mainly 'performative' (Gallo, 2020), it can also be seen as a vehicle to channel transactions between Eurasia and the rest of the world and to financialize Kazakhstan's economy in a more market-driven way. A fintech group, Kaspi, in fact made the headlines with a giant IPO in London in 2020 (Dawkins, 2020).…”

Section: Kazakhstan's Traditional Authoritarianismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three varieties of Authoritarian Neoliberalism: Rule by the experts, the people, the leader

Gallo

2021

Competition & Change

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Neoliberalism and authoritarianism are intimately connected, as is demonstrated by the existence of a growing body of literature on ‘authoritarian neoliberalism’. This article provides a taxonomy of authoritarian neoliberalism and claims that it appears in three varieties – technocracy, populist nationalism, and traditional authoritarianism. Also, it proposes both an overview of the varieties and an analysis of three states as case studies. States are investigated as actors which strongly contribute to the neoliberal project amidst a more complex process of multilocalized and variegated neoliberalizations, which have to be incorporated into the comparative research. First, Italy is studied as a consolidated Western democracy which has been often governed by technocrats, independent, non-party professionals who have recurrently been in power since the 1990s, and within the frame of an increasingly technocratic European Union. Second, the paper concentrates on Hungary, a semi-peripheral Central European country which has become an epitome of a populist nationalism with increasingly authoritarian traits. Third, the paper focuses on Kazakhstan, a former Soviet Union republic with no significant experience of liberal democracy before independence, and a key example of the ‘traditional authoritarian’ variety. The three varieties, however, are sometimes combined and coexisting, and their evolution will be decisive for the future of capitalism and liberal democracy.

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“…After the fall of the USSR, Kazakhstan's government readily endorsed economic policies such as privatization, social spending cuts, and a tax regime favorable to foreign direct investment in order to capitalize on its oil and gas resources, 18 starting with the signing of a production sharing agreement (PSA) with Chevron for the Tengiz oilfield in 1993. 19 As shown by anthropologist Saulesh Yessenova in her work, the US-based transnational corporation pushed the government to speed up the signing of the PSA, avoiding public debate by framing the issue as "a private (corporate) matter to be negotiated directly with the executive branch" behind closed doors.…”

Section: Oil Labor and Authoritarian Neoliberalism In Kazakhstanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimize! Oil, Labor, and Authoritarian Neoliberalism in Kazakhstan

Totaro

2023

Inter. Labor Working-Class Hist.

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“Optimizatsiya is a beautiful word while sokrashchenie (Rus.: ‘dismissals’) is not,” Kuspan remarked to me, referring to the ongoing restructuring of the oil service company where he had worked as a mechanic for the previous twenty years. It was the middle of 2017, almost three years after world oil prices plummeted in 2014, ending the bonanza that fueled Kazakhstan's double-digit economic growth since the early 2000s. As oil prices continued to decrease—bottoming out at around $30/barrel in early 2016—transnational oil corporations readily put on hold their expansion projects in the country, reducing the demand for drilling, construction, and transportation services. Thousands of workers were fired by subcontracting companies in order to “optimize” the production process, as corporate jargon put it.

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Globalisation, Authoritarianism and the Post-Soviet State in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Cited by 11 publications

References 81 publications

Devoid Elites and the Need for a New Elite Configuration: An Analysis of Post-Soviet Societies on the Example of Azerbaijan

Devoid Elites and the Need for a New Elite Configuration: An Analysis of Post-Soviet Societies on the Example of Azerbaijan

Three varieties of Authoritarian Neoliberalism: Rule by the experts, the people, the leader

Optimize! Oil, Labor, and Authoritarian Neoliberalism in Kazakhstan

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