Cotton Diplomacy in Central Asia: Dr. Irna Hofman on China in Tajikistan and Beyond

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 we cover in this episode, listen in!

Read more of Dr. Hofman's work: Chinese Cotton Diplomacy in Tajikistan: Greasing the Ties by Reviving the Cotton EconomyIn the Interstices of Patriarchal Order: Spaces of Female Agency in Chinese-Tajik Labour EncountersTowards a geography of window dressing and benign neglect: The state, donors and elites in Tajikistan's trajectories of post-Soviet agrarian change

Recommendations

IrnaThe People's MapHost an event bringing together all the podcast interviewees!ErikEmbrace home design DIY!Listen to MeatLoaf Bat Outta Hell 2 album especiallyJulietThe Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop (2010) The Power and Business of Hip-Hop: A Reading List on an American Art Form. Stories of hi-hop’s genius, influence, struggle, and enduranceOvercoming Challenges to the Research Environment in China, Harvard Fairbank Center with YuenYuen Ang, Liz Perry, Denise Ho and Rob Weller (Summary)This Tik Tok that Erik sent me making fun of podcast hosts that do recommendations at the end lol