Beyond Spheres of Influence

The Myth of the State and Russia's Seductive Power in Kyrgyzstan

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3948320
AutoresStefanie Ortmann (University of Sussex, autor de correspondencia)
Año2018
Volumen23
Número2
Páginas404-435
Fecha de publicación2018-04-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2018.1451843
OpenAlexW2788089602
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas56

This article questions the analytical value of “spheres of influence” for understanding power and the state in the post-Soviet region and beyond, based on a critical deconstruction of the ontological and epistemological assumptions inherent in the concept. It proposes an alternative reading of power and the state, drawing on the concept of “seductive power” at a distance and Timothy Mitchell’s “state effect.” Rather than the concept of a sphere of influence, a highly politicized concept that conveys an ontology that flattens and divides space, essentializes the state, and relies on an intentionalist account of power, we need an analytical framework that can help us make sense of the multiple, varied spatialities and historical legacies that produce the state and power. I demonstrate this through an extended discussion of Russian power in Kyrgyzstan, a country often described as a Russian client state. Mobilizing recent re-conceptualizations of state and power in anthropology and political geography, I present an analysis of Russia’s seductive power in Kyrgyzstan and the way it contributes to producing Kyrgyz state-ness. I also show how Russia’s Great Power myth is itself evolving and conclude that the differentiated, relational production of space and power in either Kyrgyz or Russian myths of the state is not captured by a the concept of a return to spheres of influence

Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Literature · Mythology · Ontology · Physics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Computer Science · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance · Soviet and Russian History · Turkey's Politics and Society