Hello!

We are a London-UK based group. Our interdisciplinary research network aims to showcase early career researchers working on Central Asia and its wider region. We believe in collective learning and have built a dedicated group of scholars since 2012 through doctoral workshops.

London

Central Asia

Research

Network (LCARN)

An interdisciplinary network for early-career research on Central Asia and its wider region.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Webinar

Writing from the South:

Our subjects, our audience, ourselves

Dr. Erica Marat

Associate Professor and Chair of the Regional and Analytical Studies Department, National Defence University.

Friday, 30 October 2020

10 am (DC), 2 pm (London), 4 pm (Berlin), 8 pm (Almaty-Bishkek), 7 pm (Tashkent and Dushanbe)

Call for Papers

The Ninth Annual Doctoral Research Workshop:

The Social and Cultural Meaning of Money in Central Asia

Webinar

23rd January 2021

9 am to 3 pm (UK Time)

Convened by Dr Gulzat Botoeva and Dr Oybek Madiyev.

LEARN MORE

PREVIOUS EVENTS

2020

Webinar

11 September 2020

LCARN Early Career Research Webinar

How to pursue a successful PhD research

Convened by Dr Gulzat Botoeva

Speakers: Dr Zhanar Sekerbayeva and Dr Syinat Sultanalieva

2020

Workshop

25 January 2020

The Eighth Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

History and Historiography of Central Asia

Convened by Dr Harun Yilmaz and Dr Gai Jorayev

Review of the Workshop by CAAL at UCL

2019

Workshop

26 January 2019

The Seventh Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

Art and Culture – Actors or Representatives?

Convened by Dr Gül Berna Özcan, Dr Aliya de Tiesenhausen, Dr Gulzat Botoeva and Ms Rosa Vercoe (MA, MSc)

2018

Workshop

27 January 2018

The Sixth Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

“Il/legal” and informal practices in the Eurasian region

Convened by Dr. Gulzat Botoeva and Dr. Gül Berna Özcan

2017

Workshop

28 January 2017

The Fifth Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

Central Asia’s Evolving Relations with China

Convened by Dr. Gulzat Botoeva and Dr. Gül Berna Özcan

2016

Workshop

30 January 2016

The Fourth Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

Reflections on post-Soviet Development in Central Asia: A Multi-disciplinary Perspective

Convened by Dr. Gül Berna Özcan and Dr. Gulzat Botoeva

2015

Workshop

24 January 2015

The Third Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

Publishing, Grants and Policy Engagement

Convened by Dr. Gül Berna Özcan and Diana T. Kudaibergenova

2014

Workshop

25 January 2014

The Second Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

Social and Economic Development in Central Asia: Theory and Practice

Convened by Dr. Gül Berna Özcan and Diana T. Kudaibergenova

2012

Workshop

24 November 2012

The First Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

Building Theories and Methodologies in the Third Decade

Convened by Dr. Gül Berna Özcan

ABOUT US

We are a group of friends with a sincere passion for the Central Asian region, who have collaborated on academic workshops and linked social events for a decade. Our hub is open to anyone interested in Central Asia who self-identifies as “Early-Career”. This is a supportive, informal peer-to-peer network, promoting engagement and professional development.

Aims:

Connect early career researchers and PhD students with eminent scholars and practitioners through annual London-based thematic workshops and webinars.
Promote rigorous interdisciplinary and broad-ranging scholarship with a strong application of theory and methodologies, showcasing Central Asian themes to the broader academic community.
Contribute to academic capacity building in Central Asia and support economic development, social well-being and environmental justice agendas in the region.

Please follow us on social media for updates.

Dr. Gulzat Botoeva, University of Roehampton, UK.

Personal website

Dr Gulzat Botoeva is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Roehampton. Her recent research project focuses on illegal gold mining in Kyrgyzstan, criminalisation and de-legitimation of mining protests. Her previous research project was focused on small-scale hashish harvesting in Kyrgyzstan. In general, Gulzat is interested in studying illegal and informal economies (drug production, illegal gold mining and illegal monies) in a post-Soviet context; mainly using qualitative research methods and ethnographies of crime. She has published with Theoretical Criminology, The International Journal of Drug Policy, and Central Asian Survey journals. She contributed a paper on local protests around gold mining in Kyrgyzstan to a forthcoming publication Central Asian World.

Dr Katherine Hughes

transfixediana@gmail.com

Personal website

Katherine Hughes is a museum professional and independent researcher focusing on the ontology of objects, critical heritage of museums and how monuments shape space around them. Her doctoral research focused on the feedback loop between Samanid material culture and how it was used to negotiate their identity, together with how the Samanids are referenced by Tajikistan’s identity programme today. She has written for Central Asian Survey and Cambridge Central Asia Reviews. She contributed a paper on Early Islamic carved wood in the National Museum of Tajikistan to a forthcoming publication, Tajiks: History, Religion, Culture and People.

Dr Gai Jorayev, UCL, UK

Personal website

Gai Jorayev works at UCL Institute of Archaeology where he is a Degree Co-ordinator for MA in Managing Archaeological Sites and conducts research in two main areas: modern-day heritage management and digital heritage. His doctoral research focused on Nation-building and Heritage in Central Asia and he has previously worked on development initiatives with the EU and UN in the region. He recently carried out projects in post-Soviet space, Africa and European Union, and he currently collaborates closely with organisations such as UNESCO and UNWTO on Silk Roads related research and development projects.

Dr Oybek Madiyev, University of Kent, UK
o.madiyev-204@kent.ac.uk
Personal website

Oybek Madiyevis a Postdoctoral Research Associate, GCRF project at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent. His doctoral research involved analysis of the major power rivalries in post-Soviet Central Asia. His interdisciplinary research combined areas such as comparative political economy, political history, international relations, and international political economy. His forthcoming book titled Uzbekistan’s International Relations will be published by Routledge in July 2020.

Dr Gül Berna Özcan, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Personal website

Dr Gül Berna Özcan is a Reader in International Business and Entrepreneurship at Royal Holloway. Gül Berna investigates the spatial, moral and political character of the enterprise and business actors through an interdisciplinary approach in diverse settings. Her work on Central Asian entrepreneurship explores business growth patterns and how social stratification, ideological transformations and class relocation shape the development of post-Soviet businesses. In addition to numerous journal articles, her books include: Diverging Paths of Development in Central Asia (Ed. Routledge, 2017); Building States and Markets: Enterprise Development in Central Asia (Palgrave, 2010).

Rosa Vercoe, UCL, UK
r.vercoe@ucl.ac.uk
Personal website

Rosa Vercoe works at UCL Institute for Global Health in an administrative role. She is an independent researcher of Central Asian dance and culture. Her articles were published by BBC Uzbek, Voices on Central Asia (a platform for scholars, authors, and journalists interested in Central Asia), Jahon News (Uzbekistan), CAAN (Central Asia Analytical Network). Rosa is also a co-Director of British-Uzbek Society based in London. She is responsible for organising cultural events and communications with members.

Dr Harun Yilmaz

Personal website

Dr Harun Yilmaz is Central Asia Research Forum Series editor at Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. He is a regional expert on history, politics, national identities and political propaganda. His academic and popular publications cover Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. He has published with Central Asian Survey, Iranian Studies, and Revolutionary Russia. His latest publication, entitled National Identities in Soviet Historiography: The Rise of Nations under Stalin (Routledge, 2015) covers Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. He is working on another book on the Soviet construction of modern national identities.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Botoeva, G. 2019 Multiple narratives of il/legality and im/morality: The case of small-scale hashish harvesting in Kyrgyzstan, Theoretical Criminology.

Botoeva, G. 2019 Use of language in blurring the lines between legal and illegal, In: A. Polese, A. Russo, F. Strazzari, eds. Governance beyond the law: The Illegal, the immoral and the criminal. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hughes, K. 2017 From the Achaemenids to Somoni: national identity and iconicity in the landscape of Dushanbe’s capitol complex in Central Asian Survey Volume 36, 2017 - Issue 4, Taylor & Francis

Hughes, K. 2016 Sacred Trees: Pre-Islamic to Post-Soviet Ritual Imagery in the Upper Zarafshan Valley, Tajikistan In Cambridge Central Asia Reviews, 2016, Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp.1–12, Cambridge Scientiﬁc Publishers

Jorayev, G. 2020 Archaeology, Nationalism and Politics: The Need for Tourism. In D. J. Timothy & L. G. Tahan (eds) Archaeology and Tourism: Touring the Past, 186–204. Bristol: Channel View Publications

Jorayev, G. A comparative study of the role of heritage in Post-Soviet Central Asian nation-building, forthcoming

Madiyev, O. 2021 Uzbekistan’s International Relations, London: Routledge
(eBook, published in July 2020)

Madiyev, O. 2017 Why have China and Russia become Uzbekistan’s biggest energy partners? Exploring the role of exogenous and endogenous factors, Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies, Vol 1

Özcan, G.B. Entrepreneurial Growth Strategies in Central Asia: A Mid-Transition Typology of 4S, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, forthcoming

Özcan, G.B. 2020 China’s Business in Central Asia: Power and Anxiety, Wilson Centre

Özcan, G.B. Ed. 2017 Diverging Paths of Development in Central Asia, London: Routledge

Vercoe, R. 2019 How they met Tamara Khanum in London and the secret of Usto Olim Komilov’s turban, Voices on Central Asia, 22 October 2019

Vercoe, R. 2018 Saule Suleimenova: A Journey to Find True Kazakhness, Voices on Central Asia, 1 November 2018:

Vercoe, R. 2018 Uzbek Dance Art: Past and Present – In the Wake of Tashkent Encounters, Voices on Central Asia, 13 December 2018

Yilmaz, H. 2015 National Identities in Soviet Historiography: The rise of nations under Stalin, London and New York: Routledge

Yilmaz, H. 2014 Soviet Construction of Kazakh Batyrs. In by S. Akyildiz and R. Carlson, eds. Social and Cultural Change in Central Asia: The Soviet Legacy, 45-62. London & New York: Routledge

Yilmaz, H. 2012 History writing as agitation and propaganda: Kazakh history book of 1943, Central Asian Survey, Volume 31, Issue 4, pp.409-423.