Political Mobilization of National Minorities: From the Tajik Civil War to the Khorog Events. A Case Study of Pamiris and Uzbeks

Abstract

This thesis project has been aimed to study political mobilization of ethnic minorities in Tajikistan using cases of two groups - Uzbeks and Pamiris. This paper attempts to identify factors contributing to the process of mobilization as well as the forms that mobilization can take. Planned as a qualitative research, this thesis seeks to answer the question “What are the factors contributing to political mobilization of ethnic minorities in Tajikistan” through review of fundamental theories on mobilization, interviews with Uzbek and Pamiri group representatives. Therefore, this thesis is aimed to bolster a theoretical framework on political mobilization represented by debates, different approaches, and various groups of scholars with certain practical outcome extracted empirically by going into field and applying theoretical patterns on mobilization on real situation in Tajikistan. This work is structured as follows: the first chapter introduces the study, its main questions and subject, gives brief background information, and outlines theoretical framework. The second chapter reviews the more prominent explanations and theories on political mobilization of ethnic minorities, looks at different approaches to explain the root causes of mobilization, nationalism, and synthetizes the present literature on regionalism, different trends to interpret nationhood and construction of nation-state along with occurrence of nationalism. The third chapter brings in background information on Pamiris and Uzbeks including census, cultural distinctions, reflection of theories of mobilization by these minority groups, and summary of interviews providing empirical data on a given topic. The Civil War (1992-1997) will be analyzed as an event that found ethnic minorities in mobilized condition in chapter four. The fifth chapter tries to compare the state vision on the Khorog Events of 2012 with unofficial versions and investigate on ethnic component of the events. Finally, the conclusion will sum up the outcomes appeared during a research, assess the relation between theories of mobilization and perceptions of them by different iv experts and minority groups’ representatives, and come up with findings gained during the study.