Performance, Representation and the Economics of Border Control in Uzbekistan

This article explores the contradictions and intersections between the performative and economic aspects of state boundary control. From 1999 onwards, Uzbekistan's formal trade with its neighbours declined dramatically, whilst cross-border smuggling mushroomed. This article examines these devel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geopolitics 2005-12, Vol.10 (4), p.712-740
Main Authors: Megoran, Nick, Raballand, Gaël, Bouyjou, Jerome
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Borders
Boundaries
Case studies
Discourse analysis
Donors
Economic analysis
Economic decline
Economic factors
Economics
Ethnography
International relations
International Trade
National identity
Perpetuation
Political geography
Public officials
Representation
Smuggling
Trade
Transport costs
Transportation
Transportation policy
Unilateralism
Uzbekistan
Value
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Summary:This article explores the contradictions and intersections between the performative and economic aspects of state boundary control. From 1999 onwards, Uzbekistan's formal trade with its neighbours declined dramatically, whilst cross-border smuggling mushroomed. This article examines these developments, using both an economic analysis, and a theoretical approach to the study of international boundaries derived from political geography, anthropology and 'borders theory'. Methodologically, it employs trade-flow analysis, discourse study and ethnography to construct an account of how an apparently economically counterproductive policy has symbolic and performative value to the state. The changes in trade patterns were largely due to the unilateral introduction of a new and highly disruptive border and customs control policy, which dramatically increased transportation costs, precipitating a growth in smuggling in which some state officials themselves colluded. Economically, whilst this policy would thus appear harmful to the state, the article suggests that border control policies also had a theatrical function related to the performance of national identity and the perpetuation of the incumbent regime. It concludes with policy recommendations addressed to both Central Asian states and international donors.
ISSN:1465-0045
1557-3028
DOI:10.1080/14650040500318498