Rentier Capitalism and Its Discontents

This book explains and evaluates todays economic, political, social and ecological crises through the lens of rentier capitalism and countermovements in Central Asia. Over the last three decades the rich and powerful have increased their wealth and political power to the detriment of social and environmental well-being. But their activities have not gone unchecked. Grassroots activism has resisted the harmful and damaging effects of the neoliberal commodification of things. Providing a much-needed theorisation of the moral economy and politics of rent, this book offers in-depth case studies on finance, real estate and natural resources in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The authors show the mechanisms of rent extraction, their moral justifications and legitimacy, and social struggles against them. This book highlights the importance of class relations, state-countermovement interactions and global capitalism in understanding social and economic dynamics in Central Asia.It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in political economy, development studies, sociology, politics and international relations.

Balihar Sanghera is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Kent. Elmira Satybaldieva is a Senior Research Fellow at the Conflict Analysis Research Centre, University of Kent.

“The book provides a timely examination of neoliberalisation, rentier capitalism and social discontents in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan with great analytical depth and conceptual novelty. It will be of great interest to scholars in a wide range of fields. The empirical materials and approaches of this book can be further mobilised to develop comparative understanding of rentier capitalism and its uneven geographies on a global scale.” (Yunpeng Zhang, Housing Studies, Vol. 38 (1), 2023)

“The volume uses various methodologies … . The book brings together not only an expansive list of stakeholders who control rents from various industries and their political positions but also ethnographic data and multiple interviews collected over a decade with the people on the other side of the barricades. The rich narrative makes the book a valuable guide to rent extraction in various industries such asbanking, extractive industries, real estate and land ownership in Central Asia.” (Assel Tutumlu, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 74 (10), 2022)

“This book offers a comprehensive, coherent, justice-oriented examination of the social, economic, and political processes … specifically in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. … I want to congratulate the authors, the readership, and the ordinary people of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan—who represent the billions around the world who struggle for their dignity, social justice, and peace—on the publication of this brilliant book, which is also a trailblazer for post-socialist and post-Soviet studies.” (Galym Zhussipbek, Peace Research - The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, Vol. 54 (1), 2022)
“Rentier Capitalism and Its Discontents is such a timely and important book. … the book still offers a wonderful structural analysis of the scholarship which is the first to provide an in-depth critical analysis … in Central Asia so much explaining what has happening in other parts of the world. … I certainly recommend Rentier Capitalism and Its Discontents because it is an extremely valuable resource for those studying and rethinking political and socioeconomic dynamics in the Central Asian region.” (Kuat Akizhanov, Eurasian Geography and Economics, January 20, 2022)