Institutional design, informal practices and international conflict: The case of community-based pasture management in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border region
Abstract In the Kyrgyz Region of Ferghana Valley, violent conflict flares repeatedly between the local Kyrgyz majority population and the Tajik ethnic minority. Drawing on a recent qualitative case study conducted in the borderlands of one of the two Tajik enclaves within the Kyrgyz Batken Region, t...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Pastoralism |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0145-9 |
| _version_ | 1827159806236950528 |
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| author | Gulzana Kurmanalieva Wibke Crewett |
| author_facet | Gulzana Kurmanalieva Wibke Crewett |
| author_sort | Gulzana Kurmanalieva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In the Kyrgyz Region of Ferghana Valley, violent conflict flares repeatedly between the local Kyrgyz majority population and the Tajik ethnic minority. Drawing on a recent qualitative case study conducted in the borderlands of one of the two Tajik enclaves within the Kyrgyz Batken Region, this article seeks to identify the causes of pasture-related inter-ethnic conflict in the agro-pastoral Kyrgyz–Tajik border region. The paper employs an institutional perspective and explores the impact of the given institutional setup. We note that a lack of institutional arrangements for transboundary pasture use hinders Tajik herders’ legal access to the region’s sole summer pastures. The Kyrgyz “Pasture Committee” has pragmatically designed local rules on transboundary pasture use in the Kyrgyz–Tajik border region, thereby assuring Tajik herders at least semi-official access to the summer pastures. Yet while these rules limit conflict, they fail to limit overstocking. Locally designed rules also open up business opportunities to Tajik herders, which some of the Kyrgyz herders consider unfair and illegal. In order to achieve sustainable and locally accepted regional pasture management, despite the lack of legislative amendments and international agreements, we propose local-level institutional innovations. We also emphasize that pasture use regulation is paramount for maintaining regional stability and peaceful cooperation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T16:55:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-606029b89b8543a8b56ef51bb6d117ba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-7136 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-21T00:02:59Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pastoralism |
| spelling | doaj.art-606029b89b8543a8b56ef51bb6d117ba2024-08-03T11:21:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Pastoralism2041-71362019-10-019111210.1186/s13570-019-0145-9Institutional design, informal practices and international conflict: The case of community-based pasture management in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border regionGulzana Kurmanalieva0Wibke Crewett1Naryn State University named after S.NaamatovHumboldt-Universität zu BerlinAbstract In the Kyrgyz Region of Ferghana Valley, violent conflict flares repeatedly between the local Kyrgyz majority population and the Tajik ethnic minority. Drawing on a recent qualitative case study conducted in the borderlands of one of the two Tajik enclaves within the Kyrgyz Batken Region, this article seeks to identify the causes of pasture-related inter-ethnic conflict in the agro-pastoral Kyrgyz–Tajik border region. The paper employs an institutional perspective and explores the impact of the given institutional setup. We note that a lack of institutional arrangements for transboundary pasture use hinders Tajik herders’ legal access to the region’s sole summer pastures. The Kyrgyz “Pasture Committee” has pragmatically designed local rules on transboundary pasture use in the Kyrgyz–Tajik border region, thereby assuring Tajik herders at least semi-official access to the summer pastures. Yet while these rules limit conflict, they fail to limit overstocking. Locally designed rules also open up business opportunities to Tajik herders, which some of the Kyrgyz herders consider unfair and illegal. In order to achieve sustainable and locally accepted regional pasture management, despite the lack of legislative amendments and international agreements, we propose local-level institutional innovations. We also emphasize that pasture use regulation is paramount for maintaining regional stability and peaceful cooperation.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0145-9Property rightsPasturesInstitutionsFerghana valleyConflictCommunity-based management |
| spellingShingle | Gulzana Kurmanalieva Wibke Crewett Institutional design, informal practices and international conflict: The case of community-based pasture management in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border region Pastoralism Property rights Pastures Institutions Ferghana valley Conflict Community-based management |
| title | Institutional design, informal practices and international conflict: The case of community-based pasture management in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border region |
| title_full | Institutional design, informal practices and international conflict: The case of community-based pasture management in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border region |
| title_fullStr | Institutional design, informal practices and international conflict: The case of community-based pasture management in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border region |
| title_full_unstemmed | Institutional design, informal practices and international conflict: The case of community-based pasture management in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border region |
| title_short | Institutional design, informal practices and international conflict: The case of community-based pasture management in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border region |
| title_sort | institutional design informal practices and international conflict the case of community based pasture management in the kyrgyz tajik border region |
| topic | Property rights Pastures Institutions Ferghana valley Conflict Community-based management |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0145-9 |
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