The digital history landscape in Central Asia: reflections on institutional asymmetries, transregional connectivity, and digital colonialism
Florin M, Gagarina D (2025)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2025
Journal
Book Volume: 44
Pages Range: 628-639
Journal Issue: 4
DOI: 10.1080/02634937.2025.2578474
Abstract
The digital history landscape in Central Asia, focusing on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, presents an interplay of challenges and opportunities for historians and digital humanists. In this note, we explore the institutional asymmetries, limited transregional connectivity and the influence of external academic traditions. By analysing initiatives, we highlight a regional digital history community and the potential for digital methodologies to transform historical research and heritage preservation. Drawing on interviews with local scholars, we underscore their struggles with dependencies on Russian and Western academic frameworks and efforts to decolonize knowledge production. Our aim is to provoke a debate on how to overcome obstacles, foster collaboration and develop region-specific frameworks that address local needs and contexts, while reflecting on the risk of neocolonialism that may be embedded in Western standards themselves. This contribution serves as an intervention in discussions about knowledge production, professional practices and the decolonization of historiography in Central Asia.
Authors with CRIS profile
Dinara Gagarina
Lehrstuhl für Neuere und Neueste Geschichte mit dem Schwerpunkt der Geschichte Osteuropas
Involved external institutions
Georgia (GE)How to cite
APA:
Florin, M., & Gagarina, D. (2025). The digital history landscape in Central Asia: reflections on institutional asymmetries, transregional connectivity, and digital colonialism. Central Asian Survey, 44(4), 628-639. https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2025.2578474
MLA:
Florin, Moritz, and Dinara Gagarina. "The digital history landscape in Central Asia: reflections on institutional asymmetries, transregional connectivity, and digital colonialism." Central Asian Survey 44.4 (2025): 628-639.
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