Overview
Most of the Muslim societies of the world have entered a demographic transition from high to low fertility, and this process is accompanied by an increase in youth vis-a-vis other age groups. Political scientists and historians have debated whether such a ""youth bulge"" increases the potential for conflict or whether it represents a chance to accumulate wealth and push forward social and technological developments. This book introduces the discussion about youth bulge into social anthropology. Tajikistan, a post-Soviet country that experienced civil war in the 1990s, is in the middle of such a demographic transition. Sophie Roche takes a social anthropological approach to demographic and political dynamics and suggests a new way of thinking about social change in youth bulge societies.
Full Product Details
Author: Sophie Roche
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Imprint: Berghahn Books
Volume: 8
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.562kg
ISBN: 9781782382621
ISBN 10: 1782382623
Pages: 316
Publication Date: 01 March 2014
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
“…a terrifically engaging work, one that addresses a wide range of important ideas while also offering some first-rate ethnographic research. Students of Central Asia, or indeed of social institutions elsewhere, would be well advised to take a close look.” · Central Asian Affairs “[This] is an interesting and valuable study of Tajikistan, but its lessons have much broader implications. Roche has illustrated powerfully that age is a central structural issue in society and that each particular age-category has its own history, interests, and experiences…Fieldworkers and theorists [should] absorb this message and investigate age concepts, relationships, institutions, and practices in all cultures, where no doubt many valuable things will be learned.” · Anthropology Review Database “This is an outstanding study of the ‘youth bulge’ in a remote country of Central Asia…Through her extensive field work, the author acquired a deep personal knowledge of the peculiarity of the country and its culture, for which little is available in the academic literature…This work is important not only for understanding the dynamics of the youth bulge in Tajikistan, but also to better grasp the rationale and multiple dimensions of youth movements in other developing countries of the same geographical area, and in particular the so-called “Arab Spring” revolutions.” · Michel Garenne, Institut Pasteur, Paris “This is an interesting and well organized study that deals with a central subject – youth – concerning Tadjik society, but also Muslim societies more generally. The different chapters cover well the multiple aspects of the dynamics of youth bulge (history, economy, migration, social and cultural organization, political events, war). Most important, the book is clearly written and very readable also for a non-specialist.” · Yazid Ben Hounet, CNRS, Paris “The focus of this study on youth in relation to civil war and conflict makes this a very important contribution to Central Asia studies, and to anthropology more generally. The manuscript contains a wealth of ethnographic material, including some very interesting accounts of former fighters in the civil war.” · Johan Rasanayagam, University of Aberdeen
This is an outstanding study of the 'youth bulge' in a remote country of Central Asia - Through her extensive field work, the author acquired a deep personal knowledge of the peculiarity of the country and its culture, for which little is available in the academic literature - This work is important not only for understanding the dynamics of the youth bulge in Tajikistan, but also to better grasp the rationale and multiple dimensions of youth movements in other developing countries of the same geographical area, and in particular the so-called Arab Spring revolutions. Michel Garenne, Institut Pasteur, Paris This is an interesting and well organized study that deals with a central subject - youth - concerning Tadjik society, but also Muslim societies more generally. The different chapters cover well the multiple aspects of the dynamics of youth bulge (history, economy, migration, social and cultural organization, political events, war). Most important, the book is clearly written and very readable also for a non-specialist. Yazid Ben Hounet, CNRS, Paris The focus of this study on youth in relation to civil war and conflict makes this a very important contribution to Central Asia studies, and to anthropology more generally. The manuscript contains a wealth of ethnographic material, including some very interesting accounts of former fighters in the civil war. Johan Rasanayagam, University of Aberdeen
This is an outstanding study of the 'youth bulge' in a remote country of Central Asia - Through her extensive field work, the author acquired a deep personal knowledge of the peculiarity of the country and its culture, for which little is available in the academic literature - This work is important not only for understanding the dynamics of the youth bulge in Tajikistan, but also to better grasp the rationale and multiple dimensions of youth movements in other developing countries of the same geographical area, and in particular the so-called Arab Spring revolutions. Michel Garenne, Institut Pasteur, Paris This is an interesting and well organized study that deals with a central subject - youth - concerning Tadjik society, but also Muslim societies more generally. The different chapters cover well the multiple aspects of the dynamics of youth bulge (history, economy, migration, social and cultural organization, political events, war). Most important, the book is clearly written and very readable also for a non-specialist. Yazid Ben Hounet, CNRS, Paris The focus of this study on youth in relation to civil war and conflict makes this a very important contribution to Central Asia studies, and to anthropology more generally. The manuscript contains a wealth of ethnographic material, including some very interesting accounts of former fighters in the civil war. Johan Rasanayagam, University of Aberdeen
Author Information
Sophie Roche studied Central Asian Studies and Social Anthropology in Berlin and did long-term fieldwork in Tajikistan while at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany, between 2005 and 2010. She has conducted research on the impact of conflicts on individual biographies and on demographic change. Her most recent work focuses on Islam and has resulted in the innovative edited volume, Central Asian Intellectuals on Islam (ZMO Studien 2013).
