SUMMARY:

In 1927 the Aim canton, which the national delimitation of 1924 had assigned to Kyrgyz Republic, was split in two parts, the larger of which was assigned to the Uzbek SSR. Besides the intrinsic interest of such a redefinition of the frontier, this had the important consequence of precipitating a sort of micro-land reform for this handful of villages only (as Fergana had already undergone) on the basis of a specific decree. First, by projecting the petitions and decisions on the “correction” of the border against this socioeconomic background, the article demonstrates the spread of discursive tropes pertaining to Soviet-style economic development in shaping the “nationalist” rhetoric of a variety of local actors, and argues that such tropes were decisive in making this rhetoric acceptable. Second, by exploring the special case of Aim, which generated abundant documentation, this article reveals the decision-making process at the basis of the land reform, both in general and in this specific locality. In particular, the author highlights the distance between the initial plans and achievements, and manipulations with social categories.