DIVERGING DISCOURSES ON THE SYR DARYA
Abstract
The hydraulic mission of the Soviet Union has transformed Central Asia’s Syr Darya River into a governable entity. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the river system disintegrated and conflict arose over the operation of the main dam and reservoir of the river: the Toktogul. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have widely different and diverging sanctioned discourses on how the dam should be operated and on the nature of the water itself. These discourses have had a significant impact on the hydro-politics of the river basin and the operation of the dam. The central argument of this paper is that both the decline of the Aral Sea, and the potential conflict between the states are driven by the same modernist governmentality of the river.
About the Author
Eelke KraakUnited Kingdom
D. Phil candidate, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; South Parks Road, OX1 3QY
References
1. Adams, L. (2010). The Spectacular State: culture and national identity in Uzbekistan.
2. Durham, NC: Duke University Press Books.
3. Agrawal, A. (2005). Environmentality: technologies of government and the making of
4. subjects. Durham, NC: Duke University Press Books.
5. Allan, J. A. (2002). The Middle East water question: hydropolitics and the global economy.
6. London: I.B. Tauris.
7. Amsler, S. (2007). The politics of knowledge in Central Asia: Science between Marx and the
8. market (p. 205). Abingdon & New York: Routledge.
9. Arsel, M., & Spoor, M. (2010). Water, Environmental Security and Sustainable Rural
10. Development: Conflict and Cooperation in Central Eurasia (p. 284). Abingdon & New York:
11. Routledge.
12. Azrilyan. (1983). Behind the decisions of the 26th CPSU Congress: Taming the Naryn.
13. Current Digest of Post-Soviet Press, 35(19), 23.
14. Cawater-info.net. (n.d.). Syrdarya River basin. ICWC. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from
15. http://cawater-info.net/syrdarya/index_e.htm
16. Cooley, J. K. (1984). The war over water. Foreign Policy, (54), 3–26.
17. Dean, M. (1999). Governmentality: power and rule in modern society (p. 229). London:
18. Sage Publications.
19. Easter, K. W., Rosegrant, M. W., & Dinar, A. (1998). Markets for Water: Potential and Performance.
20. Berlin & Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
21. Feaux De La Croix, J. (2011). Moral Geographies in Kyrgyzstan: how pastures, dams and
22. holy sites matter in striving for a good life. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of St.
23. Andrews: Social Anthropology.
24. Foucault, M. (1991). Governmentality. In G. Burchell, C. Gordon, & P. Miller (Eds.),
25. The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality (pp. 87–104). Chicago: University
26. of Chicago Press.
27. Glantz, M. H. (1998). Creeping Environmental Phenomena in the Aral Sea Basin.
28. In I. Kobori & M. H. Glantz (Eds.), Caspian, Aral, and Dead Seas: Central Eurasian Water Crisis
29. (pp. 25–52). Tokyo: United Nations University Press.
30. Gleason, G. (2001). Europe-Asia Studies Inter-State Cooperation in Central Asia from the
31. CIS to the Shanghai Forum. Europe-Asia Studies, 53(7), 1077–1095.
32. Herrfahrdt-Paehle, E. (2008). Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Institutional Change
33. in Kyrgyz Water Governance. In W. Scheumann, S. Neubert, & M. Kipping (Eds.),
34. Water Politics and Development Cooperation: Local Power Plays and Global
35. Governance. Berlin & Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
36. Herrfarhdt-Paehle, E. (2010). The politics of Kyrgyz water policy. In M Arsel & M. Spoor
37. (Eds.), Water, environmental security and sustainable development. Abingdon & New
38. York: Routledge.
39. Jones-Luong, P. (2002). Institutional Change and Political Continuity in Post-Soviet Central
40. Asia: power, perceptions, and pacts. (M. Levi, Ed.)Science (p. 345). Cambridge: Cambridge
41. University Press.
42. Kemelova, D., & Zhalkubaev, G. (2003). Water, Conflict, and Regional Security in Central Asia
43. Revisited. New York University Environmental Law Journal, 11, 479–502.
44. Kerry, J. F., Boxer, B., Menendez, R., Cardin, B. L., Casey, R. P., Webb, J., Shaheen, J., et al. (2011).
45. Avoiding Water Wars: water scarcity and Central Asia’s growing importance for stability
46. in Afghanistan and Pakistan. (pp. 1–28). Washington D.C.: US Senate.
47. Lewis, R. A. (1966). Early Irrigation in West Turkestan. Annals of the Association of American
48. Geographers, 56(3), 467–491.
49. MacKenzie, D. (1974). Turkestan’s Significance to Russia (1850–1917). Russian Review,
50. (2), 167–188.
51. March, A.F. (2003). From Leninism to Karimovism: Hegemony, Ideology, and Authoritarian
52. Legitimation. Post-Soviet Affairs, 19(4), 307–336.
53. Megoran, N. (2002). The Borders of Eternal Friendship? The politics and pain of nationalism
54. and identity along hte Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan Ferghana Valley boundary, 1999–2000.
55. Unpublished D.Phil thesis, University of Cambridge: Geography.
56. Megoran, N. (2004). The critical geopolitics of the Uzbekistan–Kyrgyzstan Ferghana Valley
57. boundary dispute, 1999–2000. Political Geography, 23(6), 731–764.
58. Micklin, P. (1991). The Water Management Crisis in Soviet Central Asia. The Carl Beck Papers
59. in Russian and East European Studies, No. 905.
60. Micklin, P. (2007). The Aral Sea Disaster. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences,
61. (1), 47–72.
62. Micklin, P.P. (1988). Desiccation of the Aral Sea: A Water Management Disaster in the Soviet
63. Union. Science, 241(4870), 1170–1176.
64. Molle, F., Mollinga, P. P., & Wester, P. (2009). Hydraulic bureaucracies and the hydraulic
65. mission: flows of water, flows of power. Water Alternatives, 2(3), 328–349.
66. Murphy, J., Hoover, P., & Thornton, D. (2011). Preliminary Findings: PHASE 1 of Management
67. Diagnostic of Distribution, NESK & Generation Companies. Presentation to the Jogorky
68. Kensesh (p. 19). Bishkek.
69. Nezlin, N.P., Kostianoy, A.G., Lebedev, S.A. (2004). Interannual variations of the discharge
70. of Amu Darya and Syr Darya estimated from global atmospheric precipitation. Journal of
71. Marine Systems, 47(1–4), 67–75.
72. O'Tuathail, G., Agnew, J. (1992). Geopolitics and Discourse: Practical Geopolitical Reasoning
73. in American Foreign Policy. Political Geography, 11, 190–204.
74. O’Hara, S. (2000). Lessons from the past: water management in Central Asia. Water Policy,
75. (4–5), 365–384.
76. Petrov, N. (1894). Ob irrigatsiia I ee znachenie v Turkestane. Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
77. Rutherford, S. (2007). Green governmentality: insights and opportunities in the study of
78. nature’s rule. Progress in human geography, 31(3), 291–307.
79. Sharma, R., Markandya, A., Ahmad, M., Isakov, M., & Krishnaswamy, V. (2004). Water and
80. Energy Nexus in Central Asia: Improving regional cooperation in the Syr Darya basin
81. (p. 59). Washington D.C.
82. Sharp, J. P. (1993). Publishing American identity: popular geopolitics, myth and the
83. Reader’s Digest. Political Geography, 12(6), 491–503.
84. Sievers, E. W. (2001). Water, conflict and regional security in Central Asia. New York
85. University Environmental Law Journal, 10, 356.
86. Spechler, M. C. (2002). Regional Cooperation in Central Asia. Problems of Post-Communism,
87. (5), 42–47.
88. Spechler, M. C. (2008). The Political Economy of Reform in Central Asia: Uzbekistan under
89. Authoritarianism. (p. 193). Abingdon & New York: Routledge.
90. Spoor, M, & Krutov, P. (2003). The power of water in a divided Central Asia. Perspectivces
91. on Global Development and Technology, 2(3), 593.
92. Starr, J. R. (1991). Water wars. Foreign Policy, (82), 17–36.
93. Torjesen. (2007). Understanding Regional Co-operation in Central Asia 1991–2004.
94. Unpublished D.Phil thesis, (Oxford University), 214–265.
95. UNEP. (2005). Water management in Central Asia: state and impact. UNEP/GRID-Arendal
96. Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved from: http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/waterwithdrawal-
97. and-availability-in-aral-sea-basin
98. Wegerich, K. (2002). Natural Drought or Human Made Water Scarcity in Uzbekistan. Central
99. asia and the Caucasus, 14(2).
100. Wegerich, K. (2004). Coping with disintegration of a river-basin management system:
101. multi-dimensional issues in Central Asia. Water Policy, 6, 335–344.
102. Wegerich, K. (2008). Hydro-hegemony in the Amu Darya Basin. Water Policy, 10(supplement 2),
103. –88.
104. Wolf, A.T. (1998). Conflict and cooperation along international waterways. Water Policy,
105. (2), 251–265.
106. Yoffe, S., Fiske, G., Giordano, M., Giordano, M., Larson, K., Stahl, K., & Wolf, A. T. (2004).
107. Geography of international water conflict and cooperation: Data sets and applications.
108. Water Resources Research, 40.
109. Zeitoun, M., & Warner, J. (2006). Hydro-hegemony – a framework for analysis of transboundary
110. water conflicts. Water Policy, 8, 435–460.
111. Zonn, I. S. (1999). The Impact of Political Ideology on Creeping Environmental Changes
112. in the Aral Sea Basin. In M.H. Glantz (Ed.), Sustainable Development and Creeping
113. Environmental Problems in the Aral Sea Region. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
For citation:
Kraak E. DIVERGING DISCOURSES ON THE SYR DARYA. GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY. 2012;5(2):36-50. https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2012-5-2-36-50
Views: 362
Email this article 