ABSTRACT Since 2013, there have been multiple fires in bazaars in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Most of these fires have occurred in Barakholka, the largest bazaar in Central Asia, known for wholesaling in apparel, shoes and low-quality household and office supplies. Ownership of Barakholka is opaque. Using recurrent Barakholka fires as my point of departure, this article contributes to scholarship by describing how the clearing of old bazaars is followed by new property developments and the imposition of new rent regimes. In doing so, I argue that fire – a form of ruination that not only destroys property but also severs networks and people's relationship to a place – is illustrative of how the bazaar, as a new institution within an emerging post-Soviet market economy, was moulded by private interests, and repeated, often ruinous assertions of control over property. I also argue that this process was embedded in a larger political economy that sought to ‘civilize’ the earlier marketplaces. This article is based on ethnographic interviews and repeated visits to the Barakhola between 2016 and 2018, and media accounts of the fires.

中文翻译：

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废墟中的集市：阿拉木图 Barakholka 的租金和火灾

摘要 2013 年以来，哈萨克斯坦阿拉木图市集市发生多起火灾。大多数火灾发生在中亚最大的集市巴拉克霍尔卡（Barakholka），该集市以批发服装、鞋子以及低质量的家庭和办公用品而闻名。Barakholka 的所有权是不透明的。这篇文章以经常发生的 Barakholka 火灾作为我的出发点，通过描述旧集市的清理如何伴随着新的房地产开发和新租金制度的实施，为学术做出了贡献。在这样做的过程中，我认为火——一种不仅摧毁财产，而且切断网络和人们与一个地方的关系的破坏形式——说明了集市作为新兴的后苏联市场经济中的一个新机构，是如何被私人利益塑造，并反复，对财产的控制往往是毁灭性的断言。我还认为，这个过程植根于一个更大的政治经济，它试图“文明化”早期的市场。本文基于民族志采访和 2016 年至 2018 年间对 Barakhola 的反复访问，以及媒体对火灾的报道。