Beschreibung
The book re-reads what has become a true knowledge on
Central Asia. Since the 1990s, the true knowledge on Central
Asia has been embedded in the `five stans‘ – Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan –
spatial discourse. The study argues that this `five stans‘
spatial discourse determines the conceptual boundaries of
Central Asia in International Relations. The book asserts
that the `five stans‘ spatial discourse is territorially
trapped; hence it is limited to explain the political and
economic processes taking place `on the ground‘ in the
region. Re-reading the `five stans‘ discourse the study
introduces an alternative methodology drawing upon Niklas
Luhmann’s social systems theory.
Ulugbek Azizov is a researcher affiliated to
the University of Erfurt, Germany.
