Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This paper argues that the destruction of the Aral Sea was, and remains, a structural act of environmental injustice. The paper employs a tripartite framework. It contrasts the indigenous “Traditional Nature Management” with the colonial “Ideologies of Domination” and critiques the modern aftermath through the lens of “Data Colonialism.” A closer examination of the archaeological, political, and economic record reveals a profound continuity. The Soviet fixation on cotton (“white gold”) has given way to a dual contemporary extraction: carbon, through natural gas drilling on the exposed seabed, and data, through the systematic harvesting of knowledge by international institutions. This paper demonstrates that the Aral Sea is not deteriorating through neglect; it is being actively maintained in a state of crisis to serve the interests of distant centers of power. Environmental justice in the Aral Sea basin demands the restoration of local sovereignty.
Authors: Laziza Abdullaeva, James Strick
Institution: Franklin & Marshall College
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W7224997644