The Armenians in Modern Turkey: Post-Genocide Society, Politics and History, by Talin Suciayan, London, I. B. Tauris, 2016, xxii + 280 pages, $110.00 (hardcover), ISBN 9781784531713

Abstract

neopatromonialism (Driscoll), authoritarian conflict management (Heathershaw and Mullojanov), extraterritorial security (Lemon), and securityscapes (Boboyorov). While this fresh book will undoubtedly become a key source to understand contemporary Tajikistan for English speakers, I would like to indicate my two main points of contention. First, in the Introduction, we read "From the end of the civil war to around 2013, the country opened up to international scholars and partnerships between Western and local institutions.… This openness came under threat from the early 2010 and dramatically deteriorated in 2013-2014" (xvi-xvii). This point is raised, and yet, it remains largely unexplored throughout any of the chapters. Importantly, most contributions in this volume extensively draw upon intensive field research in Tajikistan, conducted over long periods of time and involving interactions with local communities, experts, and political elites. While most authors include short explanations in their chapters with regard to methods of data collection, it would be welcome-and particularly valuable for younger researchers-if they elaborated more in depth on the nature of their engagement with the country. This could include a reflection on any particular difficulties related to the choice of specific research questions and accompanying field research, as well as strategies which they developed to bypass these challenges and which allowed them to build durable and meaningful ties with various actors on the ground. This would allow the book to offer not only an empirical contribution on political and societal transformations in Tajikistan, but also make a deeper methodological contribution regarding field research on Central Asia and more broadly the post-Soviet region, and preferably even make a nuanced epistemological argument, beyond stating that the country's openness to host foreign researchers is deteriorating. Second, it is striking that out of 11 chapters, only one (Boboyorov) is written by and one (Mullojanov) coauthored by Tajik authors.