Tomohiko Uyama

Education:

1993 M.A., Area Studies, University of Tokyo
1991 B.A., Russian Studies, University of Tokyo

Field of Study:

I have been studying both history and political science since my years as a student. In the field of history, my main topics include the history of Kazakh intellectuals from the nineteenth century to the early Soviet period, the revolt of 1916, and the revolutions of 1917 in Central Asia, as well as the creation of national histories in the Soviet Union. These topics are partly related to theoretical issues of nationalism, Orientalism, and modernization. In recent years, I have primarily focused on Russian imperial policy from the perspective of comparative imperial history. As a political scientist, I study political changes and conflicts in Central Asia, and more broadly, authoritarianism in post-Soviet states and its interaction with authoritarian politics in other Asian countries and recent illiberal tendencies in Western democracies. I also frequently write on international relations in Eurasia from the viewpoint of imperial studies, as well as on practical matters in Japan–Central Asian relations.

Related Sites:

academia.edu
Researchmap

Recent Publications (Selected):

Edited Books:

Comparing Modern Empires: Imperial Rule and Decolonization in the Changing World Order. Sapporo: Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, 2018.
Empire and After: Essays in Comparative Imperial and Decolonization Studies. Sapporo: Slavic Research Center, 2012.
Asiatic Russia: Imperial Power in Regional and International Contexts. London: Routledge, 2012.
(with Christopher Len and Hirose Tetsuya) Japan’s Silk Road Diplomacy: Paving the Road Ahead. Washington, D.C. and Stockholm: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, 2008.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters:

Влияние перемен периода перестройки на становление политических систем стран Центральной Азии: чувство угрозы и авторитаризм // Международная аналитика. Том 12, № 1. 2021. С. 55–73.
“Why in Central Asia, Why in 1916? The Revolt as an Interface of the Russian Colonial Crisis and the World War,” in Aminat Chokobaeva, Cloé Drieu, and Alexander Morrison, eds., The Central Asian Revolt of 1916: A Collapsing Empire in the Age of War and Revolution. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2019), pp. 27–44.
Политическая стратегия Алаш-Орды во время гражданской войны: сравнение с национально-культурной автономией тюрко-татар // Личность, общество и власть в истории России: сборник научных статей, посвященный 70-летию д-ра ист. наук, проф. В. И. Шишкина. Новосибирск: Изд-во СО РАН, 2018. С. 260–271.
“Invitation, Adaptation, and Resistance to Empires: Cases of Central Asia,” In: Uyama Tomohiko ed., Comparing Modern Empires: Imperial Rule and Decolonization in the Changing World Order. Sapporo: Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, 2018, pp. 99–118.
“Repression of Kazakh Intellectuals as a Sign of Weakness of Russian Imperial Rule: The Paradoxical Impact of Governor A.N. Troinitskii on the Kazakh National Movement,” Cahiers du Monde russe 56, no. 4 (2016), pp. 681–703.
“The Contribution of Central Eurasian Studies to Russian and (Post-)Soviet Studies and Beyond,” Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 16, no. 2 (2015), pp. 331–344.
“The Changing Religious Orientation of Qazaq Intellectuals in the Tsarist Period: Sharī‘a, Secularism, and Ethics,” In: Niccolò Pianciola and Paolo Sartori, eds., Islam, Society and States across the Qazaq Steppe (18th – Early 20th Centuries). Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2013, pp. 95–118.
“Mutual Relations and Perceptions of Russians and Central Asians: Preliminary Notes for Comparative Imperial Studies,” In: Uyama Tomohiko, ed., Empire and After: Essays in Comparative Imperial and Decolonization Studies. Sapporo: Slavic Research Center, 2012, pp. 19–33.
“Introduction: Asiatic Russia as a Space for Asymmetric Interaction,” In: Uyama Tomohiko, ed., Asiatic Russia: Imperial Power in Regional and International Contexts. London: Routledge, 2012, pp. 1–9.
“The Alash Orda’s Relations with Siberia, the Urals, and Turkestan: The Kazakh National Movement and the Russian Imperial Legacy,” In: Uyama Tomohiko, ed., Asiatic Russia: Imperial Power in Regional and International Contexts. London: Routledge, 2012, pp. 271–287.
Восприятие международной обстановки начала ХХ в. А. Букейханом и его современниками // «Алаш мұраты және тәуелсіз Қазақстан»: Халықаралық ғылыми-практикалық конференцияның материалдарының жинағы. Астана: Беркут-Принт, 2011. С. 13–19.
“The Roles of Small Regions in Intercultural Relations and Conflicts: The Bökey Horde, Gorno-Badakhshan and Abkhazia,” In: Anita Sengupta and Suchandana Chatterjee, eds., Eurasian Perspectives: In Search of Alternatives. Delhi: Shipra Publications, 2010, pp. 64–77.
Взгляды казахской интеллигенции на суд биев, русский суд и шариат (конец XIX—начало XX вв.) // Древний мир права казахов: материалы, документы и исследования в десяти томах. Т. 10. Алматы: Жеті жарғы, 2009. С. 296–301.
“Japan’s Diplomacy towards Central Asia in the Context of Japan’s Asian Diplomacy and Japan-U.S. Relations,” In: Christopher Len, Uyama Tomohiko, and Hirose Tetsuya, eds., Japan’s Silk Road Diplomacy: Paving the Road Ahead. Washington, D.C. and Stockholm: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, 2008, pp. 101–120.
“A Particularist Empire: The Russian Policies of Christianization and Military Conscription in Central Asia,” Empire, Islam, and Politics in Central Eurasia. Sapporo: Slavic Research Center, 2007, pp. 23–63.
Взгляды царских генералов на кочевников и их воинственность (По поводу неосуществленного плана о сформировании конной милиции в Туркестане) // Урбанизация и номадизм в Центральной Азии: история и проблемы. Алматы: Дайк-Пресс, 2004. С. 194–209.
“‘Devotion to the People’ and Paternalistic Authoritarianism among Qazaq Intellectuals, from the Mid-Nineteenth Century to 1917,” In: Stéphane A. Dudoignon, ed., Devout Societies vs. Impious States? Transmitting Islamic Learning in Russia, Central Asia and China, through the Twentieth Century. Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 2004, pp. 19–27.
“Research Trends in the Former Soviet Central Asian Countries,” In: Stéphane A. Dudoignon and Komatsu Hisao, eds., Research Trends in Modern Central Eurasian Studies (18th–20th Centuries): A Selective and Critical Bibliography of Works Published between 1985 and 2000, Part 1. Tokyo: Toyo Bunko, 2003, pp. 48–68.
“A Strategic Alliance between Kazakh Intellectuals and Russian Administrators: Imagined Communities in Dala Walayatïnïng Gazetí (1888–1902),” In: Hayashi Tadayuki, ed., The Construction and Deconstruction of National Histories in Slavic Eurasia. Sapporo: Slavic Research Center, 2003, pp. 237–259.
“Japanese Policy in Relation to Kazakhstan: Is There a ‘Strategy’?” In: Robert Legvold, ed., Thinking Strategically: The Major Powers, Kazakhstan, and the Central Asian Nexus. Cambridge, MA: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2003, pp. 165–186.
“Why Are Social Protest Movements Weak in Central Asia? Relations between the State and People in the Era of Nation-Building and Globalization,” In: Sakai Keiko, ed., Social Protests and Nation-Building in the Middle East and Central Asia. Chiba: Institute of Developing Economies, 2003, pp. 47–56.
“From ‘Bulgharism’ through ‘Marrism’ to Nationalist Myths: Discourses on the Tatar, the Chuvash and the Bashkir Ethnogenesis,” Acta Slavica Iaponica 19 (2002), pp. 163–190.
“Two Attempts at Building a Qazaq State: The Revolt of 1916 and the Alash Movement,” In: Stéphane A. Dudoignon and Komatsu Hisao, eds., Islam in Politics in Russia and Central Asia (Early Eighteenth to Late Twentieth Centuries). London: Kegan Paul, 2001, pp. 77–98.
“The Geography of Civilizations: A Spatial Analysis of the Kazakh Intelligentsia’s Activities, from the Mid-Nineteenth to the Early Twentieth Century,” In: Matsuzato Kimitaka, ed., Regions: A Prism to View the Slavic-Eurasian World: Towards a Discipline of “Regionology”. Sapporo: Slavic Research Center, 2000, pp. 70–99.

Invited Lectures (Selected):

- “Prospects for Sino-Russian Coordination in Central Asia and Implication for U.S. and Japanese Policies,” Russia-China Cooperation & Challenges to the U.S.-Backed Global Order: Policy Implications and Recommendations. The National Bureau of Asian Research, Washington, DC (19 July 2017)
- “Японско-центральноазиатские отношения в глобальном контексте,” Japanese Studies in Central Asia. Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (18 February 2017)
- “Основные интересы Японии и перспективы сотрудничества с Китаем и Россией в Центральной Азии,” Central Asia at the Crossroads: The Interests of Global and Regional Players. Carnegie Moscow Center (1 November 2016)
- “The World Order and Conflicts after Crimea from the Perspective of Imperial Studies” [in Japanese], Annual Convention of the Japan Association of International Relations. Fukuoka (15 November 2014)
- “Towards a New Development of Studies of Authoritarianism: A View from Post-Soviet Area Studies” [in Japanese], Annual Conference of the Japan Association for Comparative Politics. Kobe (23 June 2013)

Courses Taught:

- Politics of Central Eurasia and Russia
- History of Central Eurasia in Comparison
- History of International Relations from the Perspective of Imperial History
- Interaction of Area Studies with International Cooperation

Grants and Fellowships:

- Comparative Study of the Rise of Authoritarianism and Populism (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research A, 2018–2022)
- Comparative Colonial History: Colonial Administration and Center-Periphery Interactions in Modern Empires (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research A, 2013–2018)
- The Collapse and Restructuring of Empires and Transformation of the World System (Group 4 of Comparative Research on Major Regional Powers in Eurasia,” JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, 2008–2013)
- Local Histories of Modern Central Asia: Regional Identities and Interactions (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research C, 2006–2009)
- A Comparative Study of the Role of Intellectuals in the Modernization of Central Eurasia (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research C, 2004–2006)

Awards:

2022 Order of Dostyk, Republic of Kazakhstan
2010 Daido Life Award for Encouragement of Area Studies

- Council Member, Science Council of Japan (2020–present)
- President, The Japan Association for Central Asian Studies (2016–present)
- Member of the International Advisory Board, Central Asian Survey (2015–present)
- Member of the International Editorial Board, Central Asian Affairs (2014–present)
- Editor-at-large, Central Eurasian Studies Review (2007–2009)
- Organizer of the SRC international symposia:
　“Global Crisis of Democracy? The Rise and Evolution of Authoritarianism and Populism” (July 2019);
　“Thirty Years of Crisis: Empire, Violence, and Ideology in Eurasia from the First to the Second World War” (July 2014);
　“Comparing Modern Empires: Imperial Rule and Decolonization in the Changing World Order” (January 2012);
　“Asiatic Russia: Imperial Power in Regional and International Contexts” (December 2007);
　“Regional and Transregional Dynamism in Central Eurasia: Empires, Islam and Politics” (July 2005)
- Adviser to the program “Mobilizing academic communities in Central Asia to produce new knowledge about the 1916 Uprising,” Aigine Cultural Center (Bishkek) (2018–2019)