[Bilimsel Haber] CALL FOR PAPERS.- 2nd Call, Journal of Power Inst. in Post-Soviet Societies

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CALL FOR PAPERS.- 2nd Call, Journal of Power Inst. in Post-Soviet Societies

Posted by: Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski <contact at pipss.org

The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies #6, June 2007

An electronic journal of social sciences, www.pipss.org

Call for Contributors:

Pipss.org is a new electronic journal of social sciences devoted to
the armed forces and power institutions of post-Soviet societies.
Pipss.org is a multi-disciplinary journal, which addresses issues
across a broad field of disciplines including sociology, anthropology,
political science, psychology, economics, history, legal science. Its
main objective is to study changes and their underlying mechanisms in
post-Soviet republics, through the analysis of the institutions that
remain most hidden from the public eye: armies and power institutions.
As an electronic journal, pipss.org also aims to promote scholarly
debate across as broad an audience as possible, and make CIS research
available to Western scholars. Thanks to its international scientific
board drawn from a large pool of leading academics and experts in
their respective fields, it is in a position to become a leading
source of analysis on post-Soviet societies. Pipss.org is a principal
partner of the International Security Network and a member of the
CNRS/EHESS scientific journal network Revues.org.

Sixth Issue:

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian Republics
found themselves bound to build their own national armies and more
recently, because of the changing security environment, they were
compelled to new military reforms.

A lot has been written on Central Asian military reform and the
influence of the West, but very little is known about those men who
leads the Central Asian armies, about the bodies in charge of the
defence implementation.... Who are the Central Asian officers today.
What do they read, what do they have in mind?  How do they position
themselves in the struggle between Soviet heritage, western influence
and Central Asian heritage? These questions (among others) remain
unanswered.

That is why the issue editors of volume 6 would like to invite
sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, political scientists,
military analysts etc.... to submit their papers for publication in a
special issue on Defence Reform in Central Asia.

This volume aims to cover (but does not to limit itself to) the
following issues:

1 - The Soviet heritage: the endurance of military networks belonging
to the Soviet period; dedovshchina in Central Asian Armies; The image
of Soviet armed forces in Central Asian societies

2 - Building the new national soldier:
A. The role of national epic heroes in building the national soldier;
Is Central Asian military ethos fundamentally different from Soviet
and (post-Soviet) Russian military culture?; What role do national
epic heroes play in the building of the national soldier in Central
Asian armies?

B - The Central Asian officer: a sociological portrait; The renewal of
military elites, their sociological composition, the changes in
recruitment; Changes in the ethnic composition of the armed forces of
the Central Asia Republics due to the massive departure of Russian
officers (who returned mainly to Russia and the Ukraine); Professional
military staff preparation and training: the training of a specialist
corps whose members are recruited among a population with a low level
of instruction, and which was not allowed to occupy positions of
responsibility during the Soviet regime; The difficult interaction of
Russian officers with local officers due to language problems
affecting the chain of command; Military personnel's wives / Women in
the military in Central Asian societies.

3 - Military/society relations'; The role of solidarities and
loyalties in Central Asian armies: minorities in the military; kinship
networks in the military; The action of military elites as lobby
groups and the perceptions they generate. Are these elites no more
than interest group(s) competing with others for the ownership and use
of resources, power, etc.... or does their state function (defense,
public order) confer upon them a specific role and modus operandi?;
How the contradictions affecting Central Asian societies  (tribal and
clan divisions, ethnic tension, regional disparities, urban-rural
differences, social inequalities etc) affects the national armies?;
The Central Asian armies in Central Asian public opinion.

4 - Central Asian defence reform and defence strategy A - Military
reform; Implementation of state measures, military reform: the bodies
in charge; Military reform and structural changes: how military
reforms have affected Soviet-style regimental structures; Central
Asian military legislation and military justice

B - Defense strategy and territorial division; What are the actors in
charge of building and maintaining national security structures and
infrastructure in the different Republics of Central Asia?; What are
their current role and mission?; Are they wholly independent of their
national centres or symbiotically related to a variety of regional,
local or national actors?; Territorial division and security policy
in Central Asian Republics: assessing the impact of the regions'
(districts) contribution to national security policies; Non state
security actors operating in the regions (the role of local militias);
Non governmental actors and assistance to the military?; Corruption
and regional security

C - Other security forces; Very often literature on Post-Soviet armed
forces fails to cover police forces and security services. Therefore
the issue editors would like to assess the role and the importance
given to other security forces (Interior troops, border troops,
security services...) in Central Asian Republics. Are Central Asian
Republics following the Russian model? Have military reforms been
severely limited by the role given to these forces as they have in
post-Soviet Russia? Or have Central Asian Republics escaped this
phenomenon? Are their any linkage between defence reform and security
sector reform?

5 - What Russia and the West can learn from Central Asian armies.

The issue editors welcome studies of original experiences conducted in
Central Asian countries such as the creation of army unit councils in
Uzbekistan (these councils of five - seven people are formed at
general meetings of privates and sergeants by open ballot for a
one-year term and aim to help forming a healthy spiritual and moral
atmosphere in military communities, or of a similar body in
Kyrgyzstan: the garrison public council. Could Russia learn from these
experiences and specificities (Uzbekistan broke new ground when a
civilian was appointed defence minister)?

What about the West?  One cannot help but look or even hope for a
specificity in Central Asian countries as an alternative to modernity.

Papers dealing with other issues related to armies and power
institutions in the CIS, as well as book review  proposals are also
welcome.

REVIEWS

Publishers interested in publicizing their editions, please send
review copies to:

Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski
15 rue Charlot
75003 Paris, France




Distrib. by: Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian
Studies




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