Is there an Islamic Public Administration Legacy in Central Asia? An Ethnographic Study of Mahalla Institutions in Uzbekistan

Announced by the University of Pittsburgh

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Uzbekistan, like other post-Soviet states, were faced with the complex task of rebuilding its nation-state. After independence in 1992 and coming on the heels of the global (Western) good governance and democratization discourse, Uzbekistan adopted a Western-style constitution and proclaimed its strong commitment to ideals of market economy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law. At the same time, Uzbekistan made it clear that its public administration (PA) system, whilst adhering to Western notions of PA (Western PA), would also deploy Uzbekistan’s ancient traditions, rich Islamic heritage and centuries-old administrative traditions as a nation-building project.

The analysis of Uzbekistan’s development trajectories since 1991 shows that the country has made little progress in promoting the rule of law and good governance and that formal institutions merely have attained a showcase quality. One commonly raised argument in these debates is that the public administration system of Uzbekistan, in spite of having incorporated many features of Western PA, still continues to be influenced by its Soviet legacy. However, one highly important variable that has been overlooked in these debates is the legacy and context of Islamic Public Administration. This oversight is somewhat surprising given the fact that Uzbekistan has a Muslim majority and was the ‘heartland‘ of three Sharia law-based independent states (Khiva and Kokand Khanates and the Emirate of Bukhara) until the late nineteenth century. Thus, Islam’s role as a public management system is neither well researched nor understood in the prevailing research on Uzbekistan and Central Asian studies, generally ignoring it in favour of macro-level topics and state-centred approaches.

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