Dr. Christine Bichsel

Position

• Senior researcher

Office: 332

Phone: +41 26 300 92 46 / Fax: +41 26 300 97 46

Email: christine DOT bichsel AT unifr DOT ch

Personal Homepage : http://www.unifr.ch/geosciences/geographie/bichsel

Please contact me via email or phone to fix an appointment

• Political Geography
• Development studies
• Peace and conflict research
• Territory and borders
• Water and land management
• Study regions: Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan

Territory in Socialist Central Asia. A Political Geography of Soviet Modernity, 1953-1982

Funded by Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) for 2010-2013

http://www.unifr.ch/geoscience/geographie/territory

• 02/2010-today Senior researcher, University of Fribourg
• 01/2009-12/2009 Postdoctoral researcher, University Priority Research Programme 'Asia and Europe', University of Zürich
• 03/2008-02/2009 Visiting researcher, Department of Geography, University of Singapore
• 06/2002-06/2006 PhD in Geography, Institute of Geography, University of Berne
• 10/1993-03/1999 MSc in Geography, Institute of Geography, University of Berne

• 06-08/2010 Consultancy for German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in programme “Reform of Educational Systems in Central Asiaâ€� (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan)

• 02-05/2007 Consultancy for German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in “Capacity Building Project for Food Security, Regional Cooperation and Conflict Mitigationâ€� (Kyrgyzstan)

GG.0473 Global Change, Development & Ethics (SP 2012)

GG.0305 Politische Geographie (SP 2013)

GG.0747 Project in Human Geography (SP 2013)

GG.0530 Field Course Central Asia (SP 2013)

Andrea Zinzani, University of Verona (PhD candidate)

2009. Conflict transformation in Central Asia. Irrigation disputes in the Ferghana Valley. London: Routledge.

2012. �'The drought does not cause fear'. Irrigation history in Central Asia through James C. Scott's lenses.� Revue d'études comparatives Est-Ouest (RECEO), 44(1-2), pp.73-108

2011. “Liquid challenges. Contested water in Central Asia�. Sustainable Development Law and Policy, XII (1), pp. 24-30.PDF

2005. “In search of harmony: repairing infrastructure and social relations in the Ferghana Valley.� Central Asian Survey, 24 (1), pp. 53-66. PDF

(forthcoming) “In (not so) cold blood. Reflections on ethnography as a methodology for researching conflict in the Ferghana Valley�. Central Asian Review (in 2012).

2011. (with K. Mukhabbatov and L. Sherfidinov). “Land, Water, and Ecology.� In: Starr, F. S. (ed.). Ferghana Valley: The Heart of Central Asia. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe Inc., pp. 253-277.

2010. (with G. Fokou, A. Ibraimova, U. Kasymov, B. Steimann, and S. Thieme). “Natural resource institutions in transformation: tragedy and glory of the private.� In: Hurni H., Wiesmann U., editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 255–269. PDF

2009. (with S. Mason, T. Hagmann, E. Ludi and Y. Arsano). “Linkages between sub-national and international water conflicts: the Eastern Nile Basin.� In: Brauch, HG. et al. (eds). Facing Global Environmental Change. Environmental, Human, Energy, Food, Health and Water Security Concepts. Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, Vol. 4. Berlin: Springer.

(forthcoming) “Trouble on the margins. Peacebuilding in the borderlands of Soviet Central Asia.� In: Korf, B., Goodhand, J. and Raeymaekers, T. (eds). Bringing the Margins Back In: War Making and State-Making in the Borderlands. ABORNE African Borderland Series. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan (in 2012).

2009. “It’s about more water. Natural resource conflicts in Central Asia.� In: Péclard, D. (ed.). Environmental peacebuilding: Managing natural resource conflicts in a changing world. Berne: swisspeace. PDF

2005. (with S. Hostettler and B. Strasser). “Should I buy a cow or a TV?� Reflections on the conceptual framework of the NCCR North-South based on a comparative study of international labour migration in Mexico, India and Kyrgyzstan. NCCR North-South dialogue. Berne: NCCR North-South. PDF

2013. Review of: “Government of Paper. The Materiality of Bureaucracy in Urban Pakistan� (Matthew S. Hull, 2012) Regional Studies, 47 (4), pp.645-646.

2012. Review of: “Making great power identities in Russia. An ethnographic discourse analysis of education at a Russian elite university� (Martin Müller, 2008). Geographica Helvetica (1-2/2012).

2012. Review of: “Along the Archival Grain. Epistemic Anxieties and Colonial Common Sense� (Ann Laura Stoler, 2009). Journal of Historical Geography, 38 (2), pp. 198-199.

2011. Review of: “Space, Place, and Power in Modern Russia. Essays in the New Spatial History� (Mark Bassin, Christopher Ely and Melissa K. Stockdale, 2010). Ab Imperio, 2, pp. 372-377.

2010. Review of: “Argorods of Western Uzbekistan. Knowledge Control and Agriculture in Khorezm� (Caleeb Wall, 2008). Central Asian Survey, 29 (4), pp. 566-569.

2006. “Zaghafte Neuorientierung in Kadamschai. Niedergang und Nostalgie in einer südkirgisischen Kleinstadt.� Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 25 March 2006. PDF

2005 Hallo Taxi - Mit schönen Frauen spreche ich über die Liebe, NZZ Folio, 11/5. Link

2012

2012. „Migrants“. Settlers from mountain areas to the steppe in a documentary film made in Soviet Tajikistan (1968). Invited presentation at workshop “Mobility and Identity in Central Asia�, 25 – 27 May 2012, Zürich, Switzerland.

2012. Water, Politics and Conflict in Central Asia. Invited talk at roundtable “Water, Politics, and Conflict�, breakout session on International Relations & Politics, Annual Munk School of Global Affairs Graduate Student Conference “Not a Drop To Drink: Water Scarcity and Politics in the 21st Century�, 31 March 2012, Toronto, Canada.

2012. Problemy razvitia Srednei Azii v postsovetskii period. Vsgliady iz Shveitsarii (na primere Ferganskoi doliny i Golodnoi stepi). Invited talk at Mountain Seminar, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 16 February 2012, Moscow, Russian Federation.

2011

2011. Lost objects. In the realm of the Soviet archive. Presented at RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2011, panel “Me, myself and the archive. Reflecting on encounters and enchantments�, 31 August - 2 September 2011, London, Great Britain.

2011. Von der Hungersteppe zum Neuland. Überlegungen zum Begriff “tselina� in der Tadschikischen SSR (1959-1979). Presented at workshop “Zentralasien: Auf dem Weg in die Moderne? Internationaler Workshop zur Untersuchung einer Konflikt- und Zukunftsregion�, Universität Basel, 26-27 May 2011, Basel.

2011. In the Name of Victory. Turning the Hungry Steppe into “New Land� in Zafarabad, Tajikistan (1959-1979). Public Lecture at University of Central Asia, 17 May 2011, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

2011. In (not so) cold blood. Reflections on ethnography as a methodology for researching conflict. Keynote speech at conference “Studying Conflict and Violence in Central Asia: Academic Traditions and Interdisciplinary Challenges�, American University of Central Asia, 14 May 2011, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

2011. On the territory of the Hungry Steppe. Presented at Geocolloquium, Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, 19 April 2011, Fribourg.

2010

2010. Spatial trialectics. Taking Henri Lefebvre to Soviet Central Asia. Presented at 42th Annual Convention for the Association of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), panel “Contact Zones and Border Zones: Central Asia in the Post-Stalin Soviet Union�, 18-21 November 2010, Los Angeles, USA.

2010. Wasserkonflikte in Zentralasien. Knappe Ressourcen oder umstrittene Grenzen? Invited talk at Tagung „Klimawandel und Konflikte“ of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (AFK), panel „Wasserverknappung als Medium von Konflikt und Kooperation“, 26-28 February 2010, Hamburg, Germany.

2010. Trouble on the Margins. Peace-building in the Borderlands of Post-Soviet Central Asia. Presented at International Workshop ‘Bringing the Margins Back In: War Making and State Making in the Borderlands, 12-14 February 2010, Ghent, Belgium.

2009

2009. Dangerous Divisions: Revisiting Peace-building in the Ferghana Valley. Invited talk at the Seminar of the Centre for Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus, School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), 22 October 2009, London, Great Britain.

2008

2008. Geographies of aid. Peace-building in Central Asia. Presented at Geography Seminar Series of the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 3 October 2008, Singapore.

2008. Catching the sunlight. Aid workers and moral reasoning in southern Kyrgyzstan. Presented at First Regional Conference of the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS), panel “Ethnographies of Moral Reasoning in Kyrgyzstan�, 4 – 7 August 2008, Choq Tal, Kyrgyzstan.

2008. Water rights in southern Kyrgyzstan. Legal provision and social practices for access to water. Presented at workshop on “Water rights in Central Asia and South Asia�, 24 January 2008, Centre for Development and Environment (ZEF), Bonn, Germany.

2007

2007. Bright future blues: development aid workers and technologies of the self in southern Kyrgyzstan. Presented at 106. Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association “Difference, (In)equality and Justice�, panel “Development of the Developed Second World, 27 November – 5 December 2007, Washington DC, USA.

2007. Wasser ausser Kontrolle? Reflexionen über Bewässerung und postsowjetische Transformation in Kirgistan. [Water beyond control? Reflections on irrigation and post-Soviet transformation in Kyrgyzstan]. Presented at Deutscher Geographentag, panel „Transformationsprozesse in Zentralasien“, 29 September – 5 October 2007, Bayreuth, Germany.

2007. It’s about more water. Natural resource conflicts in Central Asia. Presented at swisspeace Annual Conference “Environmental Peacebuilding: Managing Natural Resource Conflicts in a Changing World�, 13 November 2007, Berne, Switzerland.

2007. Water linking people: examples from the Ferghana Valley. Presented at Centre for Peacebuilding (KOFF) event “Water linking People: The Potential of Water for Cooperation�, swisspeace, 13 June 2007, Berne, Switzerland.

2007. Water and conflict: conceptual and empirical links from the Ferghana Valley. Presented at workshop “Environmental Conflicts: Experiences from Africa and Central Asia�, Europainstitut of the University of Basel, 8 June 2007, Basel, Switzerland.

2007. Poverty, conflict, and water. Guest lecture at OSCE Academy, module “Development Economics, Policy and Practice in Central Asia�, 20 March 2007, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

2006

2006. Managing competing demands for water: case study from Central Asia. Presented at International Symposium “Desertification and Global Change�, 31 May 2006, Berne, Switzerland.

2006. “The secret service is looking for you� – Researching conflict in Central Asia. Presented at workshop “Personal Security as a Challenge for Field Research: Experiences and Strategies�, swisspeace, 12 April 2006, Berne, Switzerland.

2005

2005. Transboundary water conflicts and their management at community level. Experiences from the Ferghana Valley. Presented at workshop “Transboundary Management of Natural Resources in Transition Countries. Challenges, Potential and Constraints for Swiss Agency of Development Cooperation (SDC) and Partner Organisations�, 17 November 2005, Berne, Switzerland.

2005. White Beards or active citizens? Institutional approaches of the state and international organizations to mitigate conflicts in local southern Kyrgyzstan. Presented at workshop “Civil Society in the South Caucasus and Central Asia: Bridging Research and Practice�, 20 October 2005, London School of Economics (LSE), London, Great Britain.

2005. Conflict transformation and civil society in southern Kyrgyzstan. Presented at 9th European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) Conference “Central Asia: The Local, the Regional and the Global�, 12 – 14 September 2005, Krakow, Poland.

2005. Weisse Bärte und aktive Frauen: Institutionelle Ansätze von Staat und internationalen Organisationen zur Konfliktlösung in Südkirgistan [White beards and active women: institutional approaches of the state and international organisations for conflict mitigation in southern Kyrgyzstan]. Presented at Forum Entwicklung und Umwelt, University of Berne, 13 March 2005, Berne, Switzerland.

2004

2004. “Repairing canals� – water conflicts & the politics of infrastructure in Batken province, Kyrgyzstan. Presented at Annual Conference of the Swiss Political Science Association, Working Group “Security Policy�, 18 – 19 November 2004, Balsthal, Switzerland.

2004. Ressourcenkonflikte um Wasser auf dem blauen Planeten – ein Paradoxon? [Resource conflicts over water on the blue planet – a paradox?]. Guest lecture at Spring Academy “Wasser – Konfliktstoff des 21. Jahrhunderts� of Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, 21 March 2004, Lambrecht, Germany.

2003

2003. Wasserkonflikte im Ferghana-Tal: Der Fall des Kanals Nourgaziev [Water conflicts in the Ferghana Valley: the case of the canal Nourgaziev]. Presented at Forum Entwicklung und Umwelt, University of Berne, 26 November 2003, Berne, Switzerland.