Zusammenfassung:
According to the media and some journal articles, powerful state actors and institutions play an exclusive role in maintaining cotton economy which is the dominant agricultural sector in Tajikistan. This understanding shapes a binary division and opposition between central and local actors and between imported and indigenous knowledge. The current article discusses the case of agricultural knowledge in the cotton sector to show how the existing personal networks of people influence the institutional rules and norms of knowledge transfer and exchange. These personal networks shape the interactions and alliances of agricultural actors, including masters, elders, religious notables, state authorities and international specialists. They also dominate development missions in the agricultural sector and determine the institutional performance of the state.