JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES

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January-March 2011 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume III., Issue 1. _____________________________________________________________________________________ The author commences her book with a sincere description of her family background rarely seen in academic publications. This provides a natural link to the research undertaken in this region, followed by a very clear goal setting: the core topic is the examination of the small and medium size enterprises (SME) and their owners, their characteristics and their role played in the transformation process since 1991. Ms. Özcan correctly identifies entrepreneurship with its risk-taking nature, witch is more fundamental that the innovative characteristics, in this way allowing for a societal stratum to be considered at all. Later it will become absolutely clear that this assumption was correct. Chapter 1: Introduction: Building States and Markets in Central Asia introduces and clarifies key concepts and sets the framework. Western transition theories are inadequate to analyze and predict the transformation process taking place in Central Asia due to their Western European origin and bias. Hence, a dynamic model (‘Mikado game’) is used, which is sensitive to social stratification and dynamic interaction among groups. Then the geography and history of the region is presented in a nutshell up until the Russian colonial expansion at the beginning of the 19 th century. This is followed by a deeper presentation of the Russian administration followed by the Soviet era, which deeply impacted the region and determined the post-Soviet transition period. An overview of the main characteristics of the Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek economy completes this chapter. Chapter 2: Market Building and Social Stratification highlights first the three main social stratification periods in the USSR, namely the Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev eras. Based on this fundament, the post-Soviet stratification and reallocation process is presented. With case studies the position and role in the Mikado game of the five social strata are shown: 1. The presidents and their families; 2. The oligarchs and courtiers; 3. Protégés and apparatchiks; 4. The middle class; 5. The underprivileged. Chapter 3. Entrepreneurs and their Perceptions contains the main body of the field research: the statistical distribution of the entrepreneurs on each country based on industry, gender, ethnic origin, education, marital status, size of the business, and origins of the business intersected with several case studies. This is followed by the statistical analysis of their perceptions about markets and information, of institutions and governance (legal system, judiciary, customs, police, national assembly and presidency, municipal and other public services). The chapter is concluded with the entrepreneurs’ concerns and demands from the state. Chapter 4. The Political Economy of Bazaars provides an invaluable insight into the realities of bazaars in Central Asia. For an average Western person it might be difficult to grasp the complexity and central status of the oriental bazaar, which is a universe in its own. It has far reaching economic, political and social implications, as proved so many times in the history of oriental countries (one of the most high profile examples was the Tehran Bazaar during the Iranian revolution). The history of bazaars in Central Asia is briefly presented, and then three mega bazaars are introduced in this chapter, one for each country. Chapter 5. The Gendered Economy testifies to the higher resilience rates among women when faced with the collapse of the societal order. The survey data presented shows that women of the Khrushchev era with higher education are those who took up shuttle bus trade to Istanbul, Dubai, Shanghai, etc. and built retail businesses in the 1990s. Several case studies reveal in detail and with personal touch this interesting _____________________________________________________________________________________ © Copyright Mikes International 2001-2011 172
January-March 2011 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume III., Issue 1. _____________________________________________________________________________________ process: the bus trips opened the eyes of those women to the world and from that moment on, there was no return. Chapter 6: Business Interest Representation is another intriguing chapter. It presents the entrepreneurs’ struggle with poor governance. The main conclusion is that most entrepreneurs in Central Asia hide behind their personal ties and social networks when dealing with day-to-day affairs and the judicial system of their country. Four types of formal business interest representation methods are witnessed: the fully or partially co-opted chambers of commerce and industry, business associations, ad-hoc groups, and self governing syndicates. Though the nascent state of interest representation at this point of transformation may be related to the authoritarian character of these countries, in my view the impact of the steppe culture and mentality should be further examined in the extensive use of personal ties and social networks. Chapter 7. International Assistance and Enterprise Development is the topic, for which most hard data is available. The main conclusion is that for several reasons, after two decades of international assistance, most of it is a complete failure. One exception is presented, the tourism sector in Kyrgyzstan, where a small-scale project that took the local customs and realities into account provided encouraging results. Chapter 8. Entrepreneurs as Moral Men examines the implications of the entrepreneurial middle class’ beyond the economic sphere. Sandwiched between the upper classes and the large masses they function as an economic buffer layer and a stratum whose members (should) provide ethical standards for the greater community. The author identified three archetypes of morality among entrepreneurs: 1. men with Soviet rationality; 2. men influenced by Sufism; and 3. men following the traditional Islamic teachings. Several case studies show concrete examples for these archetypes, which are all striving to influence the larger community, whose materialistic attitudes fall in line with the world-wide trends of unrestrained consumerism. Chapter 9. Conclusion provides an extensive and coherent set of conclusions of which the most interesting and topical are the references to the middle stratum’s role in Egypt and Turkey. Looking at the events that have been taking place in February 2011 in Egypt and are still taking place since then, the empirical research carried out in Central Asia may be of great interest for the analysis of those countries as well. All in all, a meticulously researched book, written with academic integrity and much empathy, ‘Building States and Markets — Enterprise Development in Central Asia’ is highly rewarding for all who are interested in the inner workings of the Central Asian states and societies or are planning to do business there. _____________________________________________________________________________________ © Copyright Mikes International 2001-2011 173
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