The Political Economy of Central Asia: Agriculture and Land
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
12:00 pm
- Venue
- Online
- Event type
- Seminar
About this event
Examining the political economy of agriculture and land in Central Asia, with particular attention to agrarian transformation, land access, and gendered relations of production.
The session explores how state policies, foreign investment, and global agricultural markets reshape rural livelihoods and relations of labour and social reproduction. It considers how agrarian change reproduces or challenges existing inequalities and dependencies, and what these transformations reveal about the region's position within processes of uneven development.
The Political Economy of Central Asia Seminar Series
Central Asia is undergoing significant political-economic transformations, shaped by shifting geopolitical relationships, changing patterns of production and investment, energy transitions, and the movement of people and capital. Yet the regions' political economy is often examined primarily through the lenses of great-power competition, resource dependence, and geopolitical rivalry, leaving less room for critical perspectives on the social relations, institutions, and everyday practices that underpin these transformations.
The Political Economy of Central Asia is a five-part thematic seminar series bringing together scholars working on the region to explore these dynamics through critical political economy perspectives. The series aims to foster dialogue across disciplinary and geographical boundaries, connecting research on Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang/East Turkestan and beyond) to broader debates in international political economy, development studies, and critical social sciences.
About the speakers
Pengshan Pan is Research Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research examines development, environmental governance, foreign investment and resource management, with a particular focus on Central Asia and Afghanistan.
Irna Hofman is a rural development sociologist at Leiden University. Her research examines agrarian transformation, land relations, rural labour and Chinese agricultural investment in Central Asia, particularly Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Meeting details
This seminar will take place online via Microsoft Teams.
Join the seminar: Join via Microsoft Teams
Meeting ID: 375 233 500 794 074 5
Passcode: 8Nk7bP96
