@misc{LinYangAlffetal.2021, author = {Lin, Shaun and Yang, Yang and Alff, Henryk and Frost, Mark R. and Kaneti, Marina and Oakes, Tim and Rigg, Jonathan and Rippa, Alessandro and Wang, June and Winter, Tim}, title = {Review forum reading Tim Winter's Geocultural Power: China's Quest to Revive the Silk Roads for the Twenty-First Century, University of Chicago Press, Chicago (2019). 304 pp.; bibliog.; index. ISBN: 978-0-226-65835-3 US \$27.50 (paperback).}, series = {Political Geography}, volume = {84}, journal = {Political Geography}, publisher = {Elsevier}, isbn = {978-0-226-65835-3}, issn = {0962-6298}, doi = {10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102297}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-6040}, pages = {10}, year = {2021}, language = {en} } @misc{Alff2022, author = {Alff, Henryk}, title = {Book review to: Borderland Infrastructures: Trade, Development, and Control in Western China. - by Alessandro Rippa, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2020, 282 pp., ISBN 978-94-6372-560-6}, series = {Journal of Borderlands Studies}, volume = {37}, journal = {Journal of Borderlands Studies}, number = {3}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis}, isbn = {978-94-6372-560-6}, issn = {0886-5655}, doi = {10.1080/08865655.2022.2046485}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-6055}, pages = {659 -- 660}, year = {2022}, language = {en} } @misc{Alff2022, author = {Alff, Henryk}, title = {Book review to: Beyond the Steppe Frontier. A History of the Sino-Russian Border. - S{\"o}ren Urbansky, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020, xiii + 367pp.}, series = {Europe-Asia Studies}, volume = {74}, journal = {Europe-Asia Studies}, number = {3}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis}, isbn = {9780691181684}, issn = {0966-8136}, doi = {10.1080/09668136.2022.2050559}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-6067}, pages = {508 -- 510}, year = {2022}, language = {en} } @book{SpiesZakirovaZuberietal.2025, author = {Spies, Michael and Zakirova, Aksana and Zuberi, Mehwish and Schick, Axel and Alff, Henryk}, title = {Participatory Strategy Development for Sustainable Biomass Production (PARSCO): A Practical Guide Using the MARISCO Toolbox}, address = {Eberswalde}, doi = {10.57741/opus4-992}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-9928}, publisher = {Hochschule f{\"u}r nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde}, pages = {96}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This guide provides a structured methodology for developing and critically assessing strategies for sustainable food and biomass production through a participatory and systemic approach. It responds to the limitations of mainstream policies and strategies in agriculture and bioeconomy, which often prioritize technological solutions and lack bottom-up engagement of local stakeholders in knowledge-building and decision-making. The PARSCO methodology presented in this guidebook is an adaptation of the MARISCO toolbox (Adaptive MAnagement of vulnerability and RISk at COnservation sites) developed at the Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management. It has been tailored to assess and improve food and biomass production systems based on local knowledge, diverse stakeholder perspectives, and a systemic situation analysis using knowledge mapping and multi-criteria analysis tools. PARSCO is a landscape-based method primarily designed for application in local or regional settings, involving a series of participatory workshops with local stakeholders. It was developed over a period of five years at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development and tested in workshops with smallholder farmers and other local actors in rural Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan. The guidebook serves as a step-by-step manual for practitioners, planners, and transdisciplinary researchers applying PARSCO in project planning, policy evaluation, and sustainable land management. It emphasizes the importance of systemic thinking—understanding the interconnectedness and complex dynamics of social-ecological systems—and participatory decision-making to ensure inclusive, effective, and context-specific solutions. As a standalone guidebook, it can also be used as a complementary resource to existing MARISCO guides by offering more detailed guidance on the facilitation of participatory processes.}, language = {en} } @article{ZakirovaAlffSchmidt, author = {Zakirova, Aksana and Alff, Henryk and Schmidt, Matthias}, title = {Unequal fields: Political ecology perspective on organic cotton production in Tajikistan}, series = {Organic Agriculture}, volume = {15}, journal = {Organic Agriculture}, number = {2}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, address = {Dordrecht}, issn = {1879-4238}, doi = {10.1007/s13165-025-00491-y}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-10242}, pages = {183 -- 198}, abstract = {Abstract The paper explores the adoption of organic cotton production by smallholder farmers in Tajikistan's northern Sughd and southwestern Khatlon regions through the lens of political ecology. The research focuses on the complex interactions among socio-economic, environmental and political variables that influence the decision-making processes of Tajikistani smallholders as they navigate the transition towards adopting organic farming practices. This transition, initiated and guided by the external actors, largely from high-income nations, emphasizes broader power dynamics and asymmetries inherent within the global agricultural system. In addition to illuminating the pivotal role of smallholder farmers in sustainable agriculture and rural development, we ask how power relations, institutional frameworks, and market dynamics impacts the adoption of organic cotton by smallholders in Tajikistan, and the implications this has for local communities. By exploring these dimensions, we emphasize the need for supportive policies and the development of inclusive market mechanisms. This study acknowledges the vulnerability of smallholders to the volatility of the global organic cotton markets, influenced by external shocks such as pandemics, wars, and natural hazards. Considering the absence of domestic markets for organic produce in Tajikistan, we stress the reliance of smallholders on turbulent external markets, highlighting the urgent need for resilient and diversified market linkages to safeguard their livelihoods.}, subject = {-}, language = {en} }