Identity Politics in Central Asia and the Muslim World : Nationalism, Ethnicity and Labour in the Twentieth Century ISBN: 9780857713391 Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited Digital rights:Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time Subjects: History; Political Science;
Nationalist models of state-development are of great interest to academics and of intense practical relevance to policy-makers. Nationalism was regarded as a positive force shaping 'modern' societies and states but in Europe it has been overshadowed by the disasters of two world wars. Outside Europe, however, it has continued to flourish throughout the 20th century. Covering Turkey, Iran, Abkhazia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afganistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, this study lays bare the counter-forces unleashed by the project of nationalist modernisation, and the stimulation of identity politics as the result of ruthless repression of minority languages, culture, traditions and religion - the life-blood of minority ethnicity. The study examines how these policies, which include Islam as the basis of nation-building in, for example, Pakistan and the post-Pahlavi Iran, have strengthened identity politics and the movements for opting out of the nation.
