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Conflict in Central Asia - A Soviet Affair

Axelsson, Hugo LU (2022) FKVK02 20221
Department of Political Science
Abstract
After the fall of the Soviet Union, two prominent Islamic groups, the IMU in Uzbekistan and the IRPT in Tajikistan, took to arms against their governments. To explain the contexts of these movements, this thesis utilises historical legacy theory to establish a continuity between the Soviet and post-Soviet regimes, which together with relative deprivation theory can explain why violent religious conflicts arose in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan after the collapse of the USSR. In conjunction with theory on state coercion, this thesis also establishes a framework for understanding the differing magnitudes of the Uzbek and Tajik conflicts. It concludes that the Soviet legacies of authoritarianism and state atheism conditioned the governments to... (More)
After the fall of the Soviet Union, two prominent Islamic groups, the IMU in Uzbekistan and the IRPT in Tajikistan, took to arms against their governments. To explain the contexts of these movements, this thesis utilises historical legacy theory to establish a continuity between the Soviet and post-Soviet regimes, which together with relative deprivation theory can explain why violent religious conflicts arose in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan after the collapse of the USSR. In conjunction with theory on state coercion, this thesis also establishes a framework for understanding the differing magnitudes of the Uzbek and Tajik conflicts. It concludes that the Soviet legacies of authoritarianism and state atheism conditioned the governments to respond coercively against the opposition movements in the respective countries. It proposes high levels of relative political and religious deprivation among Islamists as a reason for unrest, with the level of state coercion in the countries as a determinant for the magnitude of violence that followed. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Axelsson, Hugo LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Relative deprivation and state coercion as explanators for religious conflict in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan
course
FKVK02 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Soviet Union, Central Asia, relative deprivation, state coercion, historical legacies
language
English
id
9080911
date added to LUP
2022-07-03 09:08:07
date last changed
2022-07-03 09:08:07
@misc{9080911,
  abstract     = {{After the fall of the Soviet Union, two prominent Islamic groups, the IMU in Uzbekistan and the IRPT in Tajikistan, took to arms against their governments. To explain the contexts of these movements, this thesis utilises historical legacy theory to establish a continuity between the Soviet and post-Soviet regimes, which together with relative deprivation theory can explain why violent religious conflicts arose in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan after the collapse of the USSR. In conjunction with theory on state coercion, this thesis also establishes a framework for understanding the differing magnitudes of the Uzbek and Tajik conflicts. It concludes that the Soviet legacies of authoritarianism and state atheism conditioned the governments to respond coercively against the opposition movements in the respective countries. It proposes high levels of relative political and religious deprivation among Islamists as a reason for unrest, with the level of state coercion in the countries as a determinant for the magnitude of violence that followed.}},
  author       = {{Axelsson, Hugo}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Conflict in Central Asia - A Soviet Affair}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}