92 Sophie Roche
poor families (Luli), 23 in order for them to build homes. In addition to the
argument of bodily adaptation, such stories document that the perception of
pollution exists but are integrated into a history of social hierarchy.
In order to understand how Tajikistan was integrated into the wider Soviet
and post-Soviet debate, we need to look at the tension between the classification of a country that mines uranium minerals and a nuclear country:
“The nuclearity of a nation, a program, a technology, or a material – that is,
the degree to which any of these things counts as ‘nuclear’ – can never be
defined in simple, clear-cut, scientific terms. Rather, nuclearity is a technopolitical spectrum that shifts in time and space.” 24 Similar to the way in
which Gabrielle Hecht has identified “Africa as the dark continent” that
provides the raw material to its former colonizers, 25 Central Asia has been
the periphery to Moscow from which raw material was exported. However,
unlike in the work of Hecht, Tajikistan and the other Central Asian republics
were integrated into a Soviet project of modernization, which accorded the
periphery strategic military importance. From this emerges the integration
of the production of uranium ore into local perceptions as an investment
for the future and a step toward modernity. Central Asian society followed
a Soviet modernity for which urbanization, electrification, and technological developments were important markers. The uranium plants were key
to this progress, a promise recently (2015) renewed by Russian President
Vladimir Putin, who promised considerable help in building a nuclear reactor for research purposes in Tajikistan. 26 The new nuclear reactor will elevate
Tajikistan from a uranium producing country to a country of nuclear capacities. To a certain degree, this secures the financially and politically weak
government a respected position among world politicians.
The Central Asian societies have formed independent nation states for the
first time in the 1990s. Despite the asymmetric relationship under which
the Central Asian societies lived during the Soviet Union, they have rejected
the notion of considering themselves as simply vulnerable or exploited populations but rather conceptualize their position within the Soviet Union
within ethnic debates. Possessing a nuclear power reactor means to participate in the most powerful global discourse today. 27
Khujand and Its Environment
Khujand is an ancient city, the center of which was organized into mahalla
neighborhoods. 28 The aristocracy of Khujand from around the sixteenth century until the Soviet era is referred to as khuja or tura. Before the Soviet
Union, much of the aristocracy were rich landowners living in urban centers
and among their farmer dependents (muruds, murids), from whom they collected taxes. The farmers provided cities with agricultural products. The
relationship between this aristocracy and the rural farmers was further
strengthened through religious ties. The khuja were the religious tabaqa
(caste) to those farmers. Until today, elderly farmers come to their bond khuja
poor families (Luli), 23 in order for them to build homes. In addition to the
argument of bodily adaptation, such stories document that the perception of
pollution exists but are integrated into a history of social hierarchy.
In order to understand how Tajikistan was integrated into the wider Soviet
and post-Soviet debate, we need to look at the tension between the classification of a country that mines uranium minerals and a nuclear country:
“The nuclearity of a nation, a program, a technology, or a material – that is,
the degree to which any of these things counts as ‘nuclear’ – can never be
defined in simple, clear-cut, scientific terms. Rather, nuclearity is a technopolitical spectrum that shifts in time and space.” 24 Similar to the way in
which Gabrielle Hecht has identified “Africa as the dark continent” that
provides the raw material to its former colonizers, 25 Central Asia has been
the periphery to Moscow from which raw material was exported. However,
unlike in the work of Hecht, Tajikistan and the other Central Asian republics
were integrated into a Soviet project of modernization, which accorded the
periphery strategic military importance. From this emerges the integration
of the production of uranium ore into local perceptions as an investment
for the future and a step toward modernity. Central Asian society followed
a Soviet modernity for which urbanization, electrification, and technological developments were important markers. The uranium plants were key
to this progress, a promise recently (2015) renewed by Russian President
Vladimir Putin, who promised considerable help in building a nuclear reactor for research purposes in Tajikistan. 26 The new nuclear reactor will elevate
Tajikistan from a uranium producing country to a country of nuclear capacities. To a certain degree, this secures the financially and politically weak
government a respected position among world politicians.
The Central Asian societies have formed independent nation states for the
first time in the 1990s. Despite the asymmetric relationship under which
the Central Asian societies lived during the Soviet Union, they have rejected
the notion of considering themselves as simply vulnerable or exploited populations but rather conceptualize their position within the Soviet Union
within ethnic debates. Possessing a nuclear power reactor means to participate in the most powerful global discourse today. 27
Khujand and Its Environment
Khujand is an ancient city, the center of which was organized into mahalla
neighborhoods. 28 The aristocracy of Khujand from around the sixteenth century until the Soviet era is referred to as khuja or tura. Before the Soviet
Union, much of the aristocracy were rich landowners living in urban centers
and among their farmer dependents (muruds, murids), from whom they collected taxes. The farmers provided cities with agricultural products. The
relationship between this aristocracy and the rural farmers was further
strengthened through religious ties. The khuja were the religious tabaqa
(caste) to those farmers. Until today, elderly farmers come to their bond khuja