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" Silk Road mafias : "
De Danieli, Filippo
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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1098540
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TLets545920
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| Main Entry
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De Danieli, Filippo
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| Title & Author
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Silk Road mafias :\ De Danieli, Filippo
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| College
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School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)
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| Date
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2010
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| student score
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2010
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Abstract
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This study looks at the role of drug-related mafias in Tajikistan -a country that hasundergone a `double transition' as a result of the break up of the Soviet Union and aprotracted civil war -, and examines why they emerged as political, economic and socialactors after 1991 and how they influenced the processes of state breakdown and postconflict state-building.The existing literature on drug trafficking in Central Asia focuses almost exclusively onthe connections between "criminal" and "terrorist" networks. This study, based uponfield work conducted in Tajikstan between March-December 2007, critically challengesthe arguments, concepts and assumptions that are usually associated with the "narcoterror"discourse. It seeks to adopt a broader historical, political economy perspective,and draws upon the growing literature on the role of non-state actors in shapingprocesses of state building.The study explores the complex interactions between transnational crime, shadoweconomy activities and the emerging political structures and institutions. It is argued thatthe negotiations between political actors and mafias over the control of resources arecentral to processes of state consolidation and state crises. The specificity of mafia, as aparticular type of criminal organization, consists precisely in its ability to establishstrategic partnerships with political elites.The expansion of mafias in Tajikistan has been shaped by a particular set of structuralconditions and contingent events that can develop alongside modern state buildingprocess. Mafia-style organizations flourished in isolated and peripheral regions. In theseareas central state elites were forced to mediate with local elites and former warlords soas to gain access to economic resources and build local legitimacy. Revenues from drugtrafficking were central to this "conversation", and drug mafias fulfilled the role ofmediating between central and peripheral elites. Mafias' disposition to make deals withthe ruling elite has represented a key factor both for peace and post-conflict stability.Thus the case of Tajikistan shows that mafias are not an anti-state entity, and that, on thecontrary, under certain conditions, they can actively contribute to political order
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School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)
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