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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.  

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London

Central Asia

Research 

Network (LCARN)

 

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

 

PREVIOUS & FUTURE EVENTS
PREVIOUS EVENTS

CALL FOR PAPERS

Workshop

27 January 2024

The Twelfth Annual Doctoral Search Workshop on Central Asia

Gender inequalities and women’s rights in Central Asia

Paper Submission Deadline: 15 December 2023

Click here for the details

2023

Workshop

21 January 2023

The Eleventh Annual Doctoral Search Workshop on Central Asia

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and its Implications for Central Asia and the PostSoviet Space

Convened by Dr Dagikhudo Dagiev and Dr Oybek Madiyev 

Click here for the programme

2022

Webinar

11 November 2022

Successful Publication Strategies

Chair: Dr Gulzot Botoeva

Speakers: Dr. Bill Hayton, Editor, Asian Affairs Journal.

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2022

Webinar

03 May 2022

An anthropological approach to theorising from Central Asia

Chair: Dr Gulzot Botoeva

Speakers: Dr. Aksana Ismailbekova, Leibniz-Zentrum-Moderner Orient.

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2022

Webinar

23 March 2022

The impact of the war in Ukraine on Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan

Chair: Huw du Boulay

Speakers: Dr Akram Umarov, Research Fellow University of Pittsburg & Daniyar Kosnazarov, Independent Scholar IR.

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2022

Workshop

29 January 2022

The Tenth Annual Doctoral Search Workshop on Central Asia

The Science and Culture of Climate and Environment in Central Asia

Convened by Sarah Forgesson 

Organising Committee: Dr. Katherine Hughes, Dr. Gai Jorayev, Sofya du Boulay

Click here for the programme

2021

Webinar

20 December 2021

Webinar: IFEAC: Institution for the support of scientific cooperation and research in Central Asian studies

Chair: Hikoyat Salimova 

Speakers: Diana Skiba (Scientific Secretary) and Xavier Hallez (Senior Researcher)

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2021

Webinar

2 July 2021

Talk: Fresh Ph.D. Research on Contesting Kalmak Identity in Kyrgyzstan

Chair: Dr Gulzot Botoeva 

Speaker: Dr Aida Aaly Alymbaeva

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2021

Webinar

26 May 2021

Book Talks with Authors: Hamer and Anvil

Chair Dr Gül Berna Özcan 

Speaker: Prof Pamela Kyle Crossley

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2021

Webinar

21 May 2021

Talk: Fresh Ph.D. Research on Nation Building in Afghanistan 

Chair Dr Harun Yilmaz 

Speaker: Dr Zeynep Tuba Sungur

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2021

Webinar

19 March 2021

Publishing books at Routledge Central Asia Research Forum Book Series 

Convened by Dr Gulzat Botoeva 

Speakers: Dorothea Schaefter, Senior Editor, Asian Studies & Dr Harun Yilmaz Academic Editor

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2021

Webinar

19 March 2021

Making space and time for writing a book 

Convened by Dr Gulzat Botoeva and Dr Diana Kudaibergenova 

Speaker: Dr Madeleine Reeves

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2021

Workshop

5 February 2021

The Ninth Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia

The Social and Cultural Meaning of Money in Central Asia 

Convened by Dr Gulzat Botoeva and Dr Oybek Madiyev

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

Click here for the programme

2020

Webinar

27 November 2020

Reflections on academic fundraising and grant writing - the art of getting there

Convened by Dr Gulzat Botoeva

Speaker:  Dr Abel Polese

Click here to watch on our YouTube channel

2020

Webinar

30 October 2020

Writing from the South: Our subjects, our audience, ourselves

Convened by Dr Gulzat Botoeva and Sofya du Boulay (Omarova)

Speakers:  Dr Erica Marat, Associate Professor and Chair of the Regional and Analytical Studies Department, National Defence University

2020

Webinar

11 September 2020

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)

Click here for the programme

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

Click here for the programme

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

Click here for the programme

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

Click here for the programme

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

Click here for the programme

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

Click here for the programme

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

Click here for the programme

ABOUT US
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 our Twitter and YouTube accounts. On Twitter, we periodically post academic content such as new publications, vacancies, calls for papers & conferences. You can find the videos of our past events on our YouTube account.

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Dr Gulzat Botoeva, University of Roehampton, UK 
Gulzat.botoeva@roehampton.ac.uk 

Personal website

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.

Sofya du Boulay

omsofi@gmail.com

 

Sofya du Boulay is a Marie Curie Fellow and PhD candidate in Political Science at Oxford Brookes University. Her main research interests are related to the study of authoritarian regimes, including their political stability and legitimation in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Her research has been published in Problems of Post-Communism and Theorizing Central Asian Politics: The State, Ideology and Power (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

Dr Dagi Dagiev

ddagiev@iis.ac.uk

Dagikhudo Dagiev is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Academic Research and Publications at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. He obtained his PhD in the Department of Political Science at University College London (UCL) and an MPhil in Eurasian Studies from Oxford University. His research interests include regime transitions in post-Communist Central Asian countries, the process of democratisation, and the re-emergence of nationalism and Islam. His recent publications edited volume with Carole Faucher, Identity, History and Trans-Nationality in Central Asia: The Mountain Communities of Pamir (London, 2019); Monography, Regime Transition in Central Asia: Stateness, Nationalism and Political Change in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (London, 2014). Forthcoming publications; The Ismailis of Central Asia: A Bibliographical Survey (2021).

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
g.jorayev@ucl.ac.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 Madiyev is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent. His interdisciplinary research combines areas such as comparative political economy, political history, international relations, and international political economy. His recently published book titled Uzbekistan’s International Relations (Routledge, 2020) evaluates the country’s foreign policy and concentration of power since the end of the Soviet Union. 

Dr Gül Berna Özcan, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
g.ozcan@rhul.ac.uk
Personal website

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.

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Botoeva, Gulzat. ‘Multiple narratives of il/legality and im/morality: The case of small-scale hashish harvesting in Kyrgyzstan’. Theoretical Criminology 25, issue 2 (2019): 268-283.


Botoeva, Gulzat. ‘Use of language in blurring the lines between legal and illegal'. In Governance Beyond the Law: The Illegal, the immoral and the criminal, edited by A. Polese, A. Russo, F. Strazzari. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

Du Boulay, Sofya and du Boulay, Huw. ‘New Alphabets, Old Rules: Latinization, Legacy, and Liberation in Central Asia’. Problems of Post-Communism 68, issue 2 (2021): 135-149.


Du Boulay Sofya and Isaacs, R. ‘Legitimacy and Legitimation in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan’. In Theorizing Central Asian Politics, International Political Theory, edited by R. Isaacs, A. Frigerio, 17-41. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.


Du Boulay, Sofya. Why Authoritarian Legitimation Matters? Around the Caspian Policy Paper, 2019

Hughes, Katherine. ‘From the Achaemenids to Somoni: national identity and iconicity in the landscape of Dushanbe’s capitol complex’. Central Asian Survey 36, issue 4 (2017): 511-533.


Hughes, Katherine. ‘Sacred Trees: Pre-Islamic to Post-Soviet Ritual Imagery in the Upper Zarafshan Valley, Tajikistan’. Cambridge Central Asia Reviews 1, issue 2 (2016): 1–12. 

Jorayev, Gai. ‘Archaeology, Nationalism and Politics: The Need for Tourism’. In Archaeology and Tourism: Touring the Past, edited by D. J. Timothy & L. G. Tahan, 186–204. Bristol: Channel View Publications, 2020.


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

Madiyev, Oybek. 'The Eurasian Economic Union: Repaving Central Asia’s Road to Russia?'. Migration Information Source, 03 February 2021.

Madiyev, Oybek. Uzbekistan’s International Relations. London: Routledge, 2020.  
 

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

Özcan, Gül Berna. ‘Entrepreneurial Growth Strategies in Central Asia: A Mid-Transition Typology of 4S’. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 42, issues 1/2 (2021): 232-258.

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

Özcan, Gül Berna, ed. Diverging Paths of Development in Central Asia. London: Routledge, 2017.

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

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

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

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