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Paper abstract:

Tajikistan is one of the main migrant origin countries in the post-Soviet space, with approximately ten to twelve percent of its population living and working in Russia (Mahmadbekov, 2012; Pettinger, 2013; MPI, 2019). In the midst of such mass labour migration, the social fabric, family dynamics and gender relations are transformed in different ways.

Drawing on the stories of migrant workers from Tajikistan in Russia, through the narrative inquiry research approach, this paper illustrates how gender relations are transforming in a complex subtle way. Specifically, I discuss how migrant workers are gradually becoming different in performing their gender roles in public and in private. I demonstrate the transformative potential of ‘becoming different’ through everyday practices that create change in gender relations. I discuss how migrant workers are 1) becoming different in household chores; 2) in public spaces, and how it all contributes to 3) familial tensions.

In this paper, I argue that transformation of gender relations happens in the struggle between moving forward towards more egalitarian gender relations and coming back to more traditional gender relations. These findings make us reconsider how gender roles and gender relations are transforming in a complex way in the context of labour mobility.