Despite overwhelming interest in the role of social capital in international development, attenti... more Despite overwhelming interest in the role of social capital in international development, attention to the interplay of community-based development aid with local collective-action dynamics in Central Asia and particularly Tajikistan has remained limited. This paper investigates donor-induced local institutions for collective action in rural Tajikistan with a focus on the introduction of a community-based health insurance. Social capital and collective-action theories are used to interpret results from qualitative research in two Rushan District villages in the Gorno-Badakhshan region. By highlighting the role of donor embeddedness, and the perceived legitimacy of different decision-making structures, the article contends that the perception of such externally-induced change depends on the community’s capacity to reach beyond the intra-communal solidarity network through bridging and linking capital. The findings suggest this can be fostered by addressing trust, and the role of effective development brokers, with due attention to power relations within communities and towards external agents.
This paper examines China's overseas land-based investments in agriculture. Our h... more This paper examines China's overseas land-based investments in agriculture. Our hypothesis is that – despite extensive media, NGO and scholarly attention to China'sglobal resource-seeking activities – the discourse on Chinese ‘land grabs’ is insufficiently informed by the available data. Moreover, we argue that China's overseas land-based investments are part of what can be termed ‘developmental outsourcing’. Different from a conventional interpretation of outsourcing, this
Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Oct 2, 2021
ABSTRACT Post-socialist Tajikistan has experienced ongoing agrarian reforms since the 1990s. In t... more ABSTRACT Post-socialist Tajikistan has experienced ongoing agrarian reforms since the 1990s. In this paper, I firstly characterise recent agrarian political economic dynamics in the country and address domestic elites’ tenacious control over the rural economy, which signifies “control grabbing” (and with which the countryside retains feudal features). I then turn to Chinese farmland investments in Tajikistan’s southwestern region. Secondly, I analyse forms of contention and argue that these are shaped by: (a) legacies of the civil war and deepening authoritarianism; (b) migration; and (c) agricultural labour relations and rural marginalisation. Finally, I contend that Chinese investors benefit from, rather than drive, dispossession.
Despite overwhelming interest in the role of social capital in international development, attenti... more Despite overwhelming interest in the role of social capital in international development, attention to the interplay of community-based development aid with local collective-action dynamics in Central Asia and particularly Tajikistan has remained limited. This paper investigates donor-induced local institutions for collective action in rural Tajikistan with a focus on the introduction of a community-based health insurance. Social capital and collective-action theories are used to interpret results from qualitative research in two Rushan District villages in the Gorno-Badakhshan region. By highlighting the role of donor embeddedness, and the perceived legitimacy of different decision-making structures, the article contends that the perception of such externally-induced change depends on the community’s capacity to reach beyond the intra-communal solidarity network through bridging and linking capital. The findings suggest this can be fostered by addressing trust, and the role of effective development brokers, with due attention to power relations within communities and towards external agents.
This paper examines China's overseas land-based investments in agriculture. Our h... more This paper examines China's overseas land-based investments in agriculture. Our hypothesis is that – despite extensive media, NGO and scholarly attention to China'sglobal resource-seeking activities – the discourse on Chinese ‘land grabs’ is insufficiently informed by the available data. Moreover, we argue that China's overseas land-based investments are part of what can be termed ‘developmental outsourcing’. Different from a conventional interpretation of outsourcing, this
Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Oct 2, 2021
ABSTRACT Post-socialist Tajikistan has experienced ongoing agrarian reforms since the 1990s. In t... more ABSTRACT Post-socialist Tajikistan has experienced ongoing agrarian reforms since the 1990s. In this paper, I firstly characterise recent agrarian political economic dynamics in the country and address domestic elites’ tenacious control over the rural economy, which signifies “control grabbing” (and with which the countryside retains feudal features). I then turn to Chinese farmland investments in Tajikistan’s southwestern region. Secondly, I analyse forms of contention and argue that these are shaped by: (a) legacies of the civil war and deepening authoritarianism; (b) migration; and (c) agricultural labour relations and rural marginalisation. Finally, I contend that Chinese investors benefit from, rather than drive, dispossession.
Just across the Xinjiang border, China is investing in a range of sectors. Infrastructure and roa... more Just across the Xinjiang border, China is investing in a range of sectors. Infrastructure and road construction are booming as in many other places, but cotton investments dominate and are seen as a distinct type. Cotton is considered a strategic crop both to China and Tajikistan and is embedded in a range of elite networks and state power. Cotton diplomacy is one of many things covered in this episode.
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Papers by Irna Hofman