Abstract:

Within the administrative-territorial structure of Kazakhstan, Aral is a rayonnyi tsentr. Situated at the bottom of the largest dried sea, Aral is an abandoned periphery (Koch, 2018). Depending on the perspective of a larger city dweller, an Aral resident, or a resident of one of Aral’s remote villages, Aral transitions between rural and urban identities. This paper aims to illustrate how identities of mid-sized towns in Kazakhstan are nuanced using changes in Aral’s identity as a prime example.

Data collected through participant observation, online surveys, structured interviews and archival work show that, for Aral, issues of identity stem from historical, geographical, and socio-economic factors. Historically Aral transformed from a port city of nation-wide importance to a zone of ecological catastrophe. In the present Aral, economic dynamics directed at urban consumerist culture of cities coexist with rural ways of informally exchanging favors and cash between kin and neighbors. The way remote village dwellers take small trips to Aral for better medical service, job opportunities, entertainment and grocery runs contradicts to how Aral residents describe the ‘safety’ of Aral as that of a village compared to the ‘coldness’ of such large cities and use this to navigate their migratory decisions.

Building on this data collected as part of pilot study for doctoral dissertation, the paper argues that grasping the ambiguity of mid-sized towns is important for more informed understanding of patterns related to rural-urban division, migration between the two, rural-urban economic dependency, and explores whether these understandings have implications for understanding development issues of the region and evaluating policies that address them.

Abstract:

Afghanistan’s Uzbek minority have been an under-researched community with tremendous insights to be offered for the role different aspects of identity formation, such as politics, religion, and ethnicity, play in a community’s self-understanding.This study, conducted from 2018-2019 in a provincial capital of Northern Afghanistan, involved twenty participants, from ages 25 to 65, different economic statuses, and association with nine different cities or villages. The study used an ethnographic framework that was supplemented by the analytical tools of grounded theory. The primary research question for the broader study was, “How do members of an Uzbek Muslim community in Afghanistan negotiate their identity?” The study found that Uzbek participants of the study formed their identity through the tension between being a distinct ethnic group on the one hand, and sharing religion, geography, and traditions with other groups in Afghanistan on the other - all the while aspiring to legitimacy or “partnership” within Afghanistan as Uzbeks. This paper presents aspects of the study concerning the assertion for legitimacy within the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2002-2021) and the way it related to identity formation. In addition to the general findings, two particular aspects of this assertion are explored in the paper. The first is the way participants resisted what they perceived as outsider attempts to divide their community through different ethnic labeling. This prompted a perception of threat to attempts at a unified assertion of legitimacy within the Pashtun-dominated politics and culture of the country. Secondly, participants expressed an ambivalence in their support of General Dostem, an Afghan Uzbek leader, even as his role in asserting Uzbek legitimacy within the country was perceived as essential. Both of these aspects interact with theories on revitalization movements but are particularly salient for exploring how “figured roles” (Holland, et. al.) support social movements, the role of “cultural intimacy” (Herzfeld) in identity formation, and the challenges of multiculturalism within Afghanistan (Sadr). Furthermore, the study provides indications of how regional definitions of Uzbek identity interplay with the minority populations outside of Uzbekistan.

Abstract:

Urban infrastructures do not figure prominent among the topics in Central Asia studies. My research on public transport in Uzbekistan targets this gap. My presentation focuses on the infrastructure of the tramway system in Samarkand and on working conditions and coping strategies of those who bring it into the movement.

The system consisting of only two lines was built from scratch in 2017-2018 after an order by president Mirziyoyev and utilized the remnants of a larger tram system that shortly before was closed in the capital Tashkent. The fact itself was celebrated among public transport enthusiasts while also criticized for the bad quality of the frenzy works. Yet today, only some years after its inception, the overall condition of the system is close to dilapidation and its workers experience exploitative working conditions.

In the presentation I first describe the working conditions of the tram drivers and argue that the burden of financial profit and maintenance responsibility that is carried by the drivers, forces them to become involuntary entrepreneurs. Further, the informal practices and rent-seeking attitude of its administration resembles the features of the marshrutka-systems. Secondly, I present the tram case as an illustration for a particular sort of urban development trajectory that we can observe in today’s Uzbekistan public transport policy. I argue, that global imaginaries of urban modernity create an urge and impatience to create such kind of modernity as soon as possible, bypassing the necessity of long-term planning. Together with the authoritarian condition, short-term thinking and ignorance regarding the necessity of technical expertise and necessity of maintenance on the side of the decision-makers this leads to situation, where after initial funding and construction many comparable projects suffer neglection in maintenance and operation.

The presentation is part of a PhD project, and the data draws upon multi-sited ethnographic research about ongoing transport reforms in Uzbekistan and the political system as it shows itself through urban governance in post-soviet Central Asia.

Abstract:

There are certain difficulties in applying classical and modern studies of the phenomenon of national identity using the example of Uzbekistan. The global crisis of identity is particularly evident in traditional societies like Uzbekistan, which has its own unique characteristics. The modern identity crisis, influenced by Islam, is fundamentally altering the historical statehood of Uzbekistan, which was traditionally based on a strong relationship between religious and national identity.

The culture of the Uzbeks has been shaped for over thousand years under the influence of the Hanafi tradition. Despite societal modernization, the economic, spiritual, and political structures are still based on a mental program formed from the harmony of faith and religion. It's important to note that in Uzbekistan, the religious phenomenon dominates over the national identity. While religion itself remains unchanged, the cultural elements influenced by its principles evolve over time. Modern Islam is transforming the lifestyle, dress, customs, public administration, and even the mindset of the population. Therefore, the topic of Hanafism is not just a religious or historical matter, but also a modern one.

In the early and middle ages, religious and national identity had a proportional correlation in Central Asia. However, there are significant differences between the secular traditions of national statehood and those influenced by global Islam. Due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Uzbekistan's geopolitical position is increasing in the new policy directed towards Central Asia by global powers. As a result, state administration systems are promoting religious identity based on traditions such as jurisprudence of Islam, Sufism, and rational Islamic theology while rejecting those influenced by Islamic cosmopolitanism. The new constitution adopted in 2023 includes principles of a social and secular state aimed at strengthening national statehood and managing the Islamic factor through state laws.

The Third Renaissance policy, implemented since 2022, aims to restore historical identity elements and preserve the national context. This is particularly important given that around 60% of the population is youth whose religious consciousness is different from historical mental elements. This could pose challenges for integrating youth into the national state policy of religious identity in the future.

In general, the society of Uzbekistan is experiencing a process of identity crisis in managing and maintaining statehood in the era of complex social chaos. This problem has been understood today during the years of independence of Uzbekistan and is a topic that is being seriously considered as a matter of social consciousness.