1st Edition

Islam and Colonialism Western Perspectives on Soviet Asia

By Will Myer Copyright 2002
    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    Tracing the development of western thought about Central Asia, this book argues that for historical and political reasons, Central Asia was seen as being in a colonial relationship with Russia. Consequently, an anti-colonial revolution in Asia was seen as the greatest threat to the USSR. The book questions the suitability of the colonial model for understanding the region's recent political history and challenges many of the assumptions which underlay the adoption of such a model, and examines how this one interpretation came to dominate western discourse to the virtual exclusion of all others.

    Introduction; Chapter 1 HISTORICAL CONTEXTS; Chapter 2 COLONIALISM AND CENTRAL ASIA; Chapter 3 ANTI-COLONIALISM IN CENTRAL ASIA; Chapter 4 WRITING ON ISLAM; Chapter 5 WRITING ON ISLAM; Chapter 6 ISLAM AND OPPOSITION; Chapter 7 CONTEXTS AND OUTCOMES; epilogue EPILOGUE: CENTRAL ASIA AND THE WEST; BIBLIOGRAPHY; Index;

    Biography

    Will Myer read philosophy and religious studies at Leeds University before completing an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies and a PhD at SOAS, University of London. He has travelled widely in Eastern Europe, the Middle east and the former Soviet Union.