Back to Islam? Women's Sexualities and Body-Politics in Muslim Central Asia

Hawwa ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 181-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Droeber
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Anthropological Fieldwork ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Soviet Central Asia ◽  
Political Economic

AbstractIn this paper I examine the commonly held assumption that the developments we witnessed in Central Asian societies since the disintegration of the Soviet Union could be interpreted as a "return to pre-Soviet Islamic traditions". I am specifically concerned with reports about the increasing violations of women's sexual rights and mounting control over their bodies, developments that are accompanied by a "conspiracy of silence" about sexual matters.This essay is based on anthropological fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan, various reports from other Central Asian republics, a review of Soviet sex and gender policies, and analysis of Islamic Scriptures on the issue of sexuality. Even though some Muslim practices regarding sexualities can be seen as having a basis in the Qurān, the interpretations and translations into daily practice are to a major extent influenced by political, economic, and socio-cultural forces. I trace these processes in the case of Soviet and post-Soviet Central Asia and argue that the rhetoric of a "return to Islamic traditions" does not take into account the significant impact on other forces on the current practices of policing women's bodies and silencing discourses on sexualities.

scholarly journals A Great Game in Greater Central Asia

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-243
Author(s):  
M. H. Glantz
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Aral Sea Basin ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Soviet Central Asia ◽  
Great Game ◽  
Central Asian Republics

The region historically referred to as Soviet Central Asia includes the 5 Central Asian Republics (CARs) of the Former Soviet Union (FSU): Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Their political status changed drastically when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and they became independent republics. Since the early 1990s, Central Asian leaders have referred on occasion to neighboring Afghanistan as the sixth CAR. In fact, it does occupy 14% of the Aral Sea Basin and its mountains supply about 15% of streamflow to the region’s mighty Amu Darya River that used to flow into Central Asia’s Aral Sea.

scholarly journals Douglas Northrop. Veiled Empire: Gender & Power in Stalinist Central Asia. Cornell University Press 2004. xvii+1392 pp. ISBN 0801439442.

2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 894-895
Author(s):  
Marianne Kamp
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Cornell University ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Colonial Empire ◽  
Gender Power ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Soviet Central Asia

Central to Douglas Northrop's archivally based study of the Soviet attempt to unveil Uzbek women is the argument that the Soviet Union was a colonial empire, one where Bolsheviks tried to transform daily cultural practices and gender relations against the wishes of most Uzbeks, who responded as colonial subjects by using weapons of the weak. Northrop's use of previously unavailable Communist Party documents allows an exploration of the Party's arguments for and against unveiling, and describes the Party's surprise at the vehemence and violence of anti-unveiling resistance in Uzbekistan. Starting with the 1927 Communist Party initiation of the Hujum—or campaign against veiling in Soviet Uzbekistan—this work's exclusive focus on the unveiling campaign allows Northrop to reveal that resistance to unveiling and other laws concerning “liberation” continued into the 1950s, and to examine the ways that intrusion into family life and cultural practices served the Party as a tool for defining loyalty during the Stalinist period. Northrop far exceeds Gregory Massell's The Surrogate Proletariat: Moslem Women and Revolutionary Strategies in Soviet Central Asia, 1919–1929 (1974) in exploring Party arguments over policies toward Central Asia.

Bobodzhon Gafurovich Gafurov, 1908-1977

Slavic Review ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eden Naby
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Scholarly Research ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
International Attention ◽  
Soviet Central Asia ◽  
Oriental Studies ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

Among Soviet Central Asians who have achieved international attention, Bobodzhon Gafurovich Gafurov, the late director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, stands out as a leading figure. Gafurov was politically the most prominent Tadzhik, if not Central Asian, in the Soviet Union. During the twenty-one years that he served as the Institute's director, he influenced and made decisions which have led to an overall increase in scholarly research and publication about West Asia, and about Soviet Central Asia in particular, emanating from the Soviet Union.

Faith and Culture

2019 ◽  
pp. 303-314
Author(s):  
Atola Longkumer
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Traditional Medicines ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Global Christianity

Of the two Asian regions, socio-economically, South Asia presents both prosperity and abject poverty, embedded in varying traditions. Central Asian states are well-endowed with natural resources and sustain a diverse cultural heritage against a backdrop of Islam. The indigenous shamanic cultures that have sustained myriad indigenous people (often described by terms such as tribals, Adivasis, minorities) for generations across South Asia need to be recognised along with its globalisation. Healing, use of traditional medicines, the position and role of women, caste hierarchy and the relationship with the other are incorporated into South Asian Christianity. ‘Anonymous Christians’ have also contributed to concepts such as ‘insider movements’ to discuss embedded followers of Jesus. In Central Asia, Charismatic Christianity is finding particular resonance. The relative freedom of religious expression has given opportunities for Christians to witness to the gospel. The potential ecumenical relationship with the existing Orthodox Church presents an opportunity for global Christianity. Christianity has received fresh interest in Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the formation of the nation-states of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Theological creativity along with prophetic proclamation will be needed to balance these challenges of culture and faith in the region.

Traveling Policies: Hijacked in Central Asia

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iveta Silova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
The Way

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asian education reform discourses have become increasingly similar to distinctive Western policy discourses traveling globally across national boundaries. Tracing the trajectory of ‘traveling policies' in Central Asia, this article discusses the way Western education discourses have been hybridized in the encounter with collectivist and centralist cultures within post-socialist environments in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. In the context of international aid relationships, the article considers different motivations and driving forces for reforms, the way pre-Soviet and Soviet traditions are affirmed within the reforms, as well as how these reforms speak back to Western reform agenda. Emphasizing the historical legacy of Soviet centralist traditions, this article reveals how traveling policies have been ‘hijacked’ by local policy makers and used for their own purposes nationally.

The Current State of the Monetary Sphere of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan within the Framework of Changes in the Legislation

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1708
Author(s):  
Malik Rsbaevich MUKANOV ◽  
Ernar Nurlanovich BEGALIEV
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Monetary System ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Emission Activity ◽  
Second Tier

The article discusses the current state of the monetary – credit sphere in the former states of the Soviet Union. The authors note that, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which led to the defragmentation of the monetary system, is an important event in the formation of the financial sector in Central Asia. The single monetary and financial system, which was adapted to the conditions of the planned economy, had started rapidly falling apart. The result was a break of the traditionally existing economic ties. It is important to note that the monetary policy has a direct impact on the major macro-economic indicators such as GDP, employment and the level of prices. It is thus important to have a solid legal base. The accelerated formation of national monetary systems in Central Asian states has required the creation of genuinely independent emission center as the Central Banks of Central Asia. Since 1994, Central Asian governments have begun to carry out macroeconomic regulation, mutual settlement in the economy and emission activity. The next step was a reform of the banking system in Central Asia. At the beginning of the independence of the Central Asian states a legal framework was created and a transition was made to a two-tier banking system. According to the adopted laws in the countries of Central Asia, a two-tier banking system was formed, where the upper level was represented by the State Bank of the region (with emission rights), and the bottom were - commercial and government specialized. Creating second tier banks was a response to the needs of the Central Asian countries.

Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 802-804
Author(s):  
Nilgun Onder
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Regime Transition ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Independent States ◽  
Central Asian Republics

Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia, Kathleen Collins, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 376.The long isolation of Central Asia finally ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Five new independent states emerged from the ashes of the Soviet Union, the very first time in history that the peoples of Central Asia gained their own independent states modelled on the modern state. This development caught the world, including Central Asians themselves, by surprise. It changed the geopolitics of the entire Eurasia. In the ensuing years, the Central Asian republics have undergone simultaneous multiple transformations: state building; political regime transformation; and transition from Soviet communism. Thus the new states in Central Asia have provided scholars with new cases of multiple economic and political transitions to study and compare. In recent years, there has been a significant proliferation of English-language publications on Central Asia. Kathleen Collin's book, a comparative historical study of political development in Central Asia, is a major contribution. While its focus is on Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, it often provides examples from the other two Central Asian republics, namely Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It is thoroughly researched and rich in information and details. It also makes a significant contribution to the political science literature on democratization, regime transition and consolidation.

scholarly journals Bilingualism and Maintenance of the Mother Tongue in Soviet Central Asia

Slavic Review ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 406-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Silver
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Linguistic Behavior ◽  
Soviet Central Asia ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Relationship

The linguistic behavior of the titular nationalities of the five Central Asian union republics of the Soviet Union illustrates that when groups with distinctive languages and cultural traditions come into contact with one another, very complex linguistic adjustments can occur. This essay examines the relationship between the continued use of the non-Russian languages as mother tongues and the spread of Russian as a second language among Central Asians. Central Asians display an interesting response to the conflicting pressures to learn Russian as an aid to upward social mobility and to maintain traditional languages as a sign of identity with the ethnic group. While remaining strongly attached to their national languages, they are simultaneously moderately attracted to Russian as a second language.

From Soviet Republics to Independent Countries: Challenges of Transition in Central Asia

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 291-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirzohid Rahimov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Economic Regulation ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Creation

AbstractIn the twentieth century, the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan passed through a complex historical period. They were originally founded as republics of the Soviet Union in the 1920s-30s as a result of national and territorial state delimitation. The process of the creation of new national state formations began after the Soviet Union disintegrated and these republics achieved independence. At the same time, the region's nations are facing complex problems of transition and the creation of new societies. Nevertheless, these countries have to continue the process of political and economic reforms, as well as development of civic institutions. The Central Asian nations established contacts with foreign states and international organizations and started to form a system of interstate relations between the countries of the region. There are potentials for development of regional integration of Central Asia. Future integration will depend on the readiness of the nations to carry out political and economic reforms, introduce forms and methods of economic regulation compatible with global norms, and most important, international support of political reforms and regional integration.

scholarly journals Being Muslim in Soviet Central Asia, or an Alternative History of Muslim Modernity

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeeb Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Soviet Central Asia

Abstract The literature on Muslim modernity takes little account of the experience of the Muslim societies of the Soviet Union, even though they might have undergone some of the most radical transitions to modernity. The Soviet sought a different kind of modernity, one without markets and liberalism, and one with little place for religion in it. I argue that the Soviet project succeeded to a great extent. This article explores some of the implications for our understanding of Muslim modernity if we are to take the experience of Soviet Muslim societies seriously.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document