Anatoly Khazanov (born in 1937) is an anthropologist and historian. See Anthropology. ... A historian is a person who studies history. ...

Born in Moscow, Khazanov attended Moscow State University, where he received a B.A. in 1960 and an M.A. in 1966. He earned a Ph.D. degree in 1976 from the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1990, he has been Professor of the Anthropology Department in the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russian: Московский государственный университет имени М.В.Ломоносова, often abbreviated МГУ, MSU, MGU) is the largest and arguably the oldest university in Russia, founded in 1755. ... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate or graduate course of one to three years in duration. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public university located in Madison, Wisconsin. ...

Anatoly M. Khazanov started his professional career as an archaeologist specializing in the nomadic cultures of the Early Iron Age. In the second half of the 1960s he shifted to socio-cultural anthropology. From 1966-1985, his main fields of research were pastoral nomads and the origins of complex societies. His main argument that the nomads were never autarkic and therefore in economic, cultural, and political respects were dependent on their relations with the sedentary world, is shared now by the majority of experts with regard to the emergence of complex societies, Khazanov was trying as much as was possible under Soviet censorship, to demonstrate the fallacy of the Marxist concept of historical process. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... In anthropology and archaeology, a complex society is a social formation that is otherwise described as a formative or developed state (i. ... Communities of nomadic people move from place to place, rather than settling down in one location. ...

After his emigration in 1985 from the Soviet Union, Khazanov continued to study extensive and mobile pastoralists, paying particular attention to the deficiences and shortcomings of their modernization process. He argued that various modernization projects have failed because they did not provide room for the sustained self-development of the pastoralists and denied their participation in decision-making. Modernization is closely linked to classical liberalism. ...

Since the beginning of the 1990s, Khazanov has also become known for his contribution to the study of ethnicity and nationalism, and transitions from communist rule. He was one of the first to argue that in many countries this transition does not guarantee an emergence of liberal democratic order. He also argued that, contrary to widespread opinion, globalization per se is unable to reduce nationalism and ethnic strife, which will remain a salient phenomenon in the foreseeable future. Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix Nationalism is a form of identity that holds that (ethnically or culturally defined) nations are the fundamental units for human social life, and makes certain cultural and political claims based upon that belief; in particular, the claim that the nation is the...

In the last few years, Khazanov has turned to the anthropology of public monuments and symbols, being particularly interested in their role in defining and redefining national and ethnic identities.

Khazanov has written over 10 books and 200 articles dealing with his research interests, primarily in a Central Asian context. These include Animal Husbandry and Pastoralism in Post-Soviet Central Asia (University of Wisconsin Press, 2001), Nomads and the Outside World (Cambridge University Press, 1984), Soviet Nationality Policy During Perestroika (Delphic Associates, 1991), and After the U.S.S.R.: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Politics in the Commonwealth of Independent States (University of Wisconsin Press, 1995). Together with Ofer Bar-Yosef, he also co-edited the volume Pastoralism in the Levant: Archaeological Materials in Anthropological Perspectives (Prehistory Press, 1992) Among his more important journal articles is "Muhammad and Jenghiz Khan Compared: The Religious Factor in World Empire-Building" in the 1993 Comparative Studies in Society and History.

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