The author sheds a crude light on “the dearth of sociological research” on Central Eurasia in the 1990s.  Deploring that sociology as it was then practiced in Central Eurasia continued to fall below international standards, Laura Adams also denounces, as far as North America is concerned, a flow of generalisation based on secondary sources.  About research trends in the early 2000s, the author underlines the contribution of several recent volumes on how people are coping with the everyday aspects of transition from socialism, and investigations of the intersection between local networks and the international aid community.  Finally, Laura Adams devotes some paragraphs to research on national identity that relate to broader sociological literatures: transnationalism and the institutionalisation of “imagined” communities.  An exception to the overall lack of major trends is the application of theoretical literature on social movements and globalisation to issues such as environment and nationalism.