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Abstract:

Historians looking to understand the global dynamics of decolonization have long underscored the pivotal role played by postcolonial migrations in shaping the socio-economic trajectories of former metropole and colony alike. Today, the presence of millions of post-Soviet migrants from Central Asia in the Russian Federation attests to the lasting impact of unequal connections in a postcolonial era.

Historical accounts of South-North migration during the late Soviet period, however, have yet to fully address how the perceived immobility of a looming surplus population along the southern border of the USSR served as the rationale for differential state policies on employment, education, and resettlement — with lasting implications for the Soviet Union's treatment of its agrarian population in Central Asia.

My paper examines the collaborative efforts of Soviet officials, planners, and scholars in the budding social sciences as they worked to generate knowledge on the excess workforce in the Soviet South and advocate for government interventions to foster greater mobility and, consequently, labor force participation of Central Asian peasants.

Centering on the 1970s and 1980s, my paper draws on state archives in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, academic publications, and specialized journals to track Soviet discussions on the challenges of encouraging greater migration.

I argue that the ongoing failure of state policies prompted a reevaluation of what I term "Soviet ergonomics" — the study of the rational redistribution of surplus labor — by compelling Soviet officials and scholars to engage with the social and economic specificities of the Central Asian countryside. As the perestroika-era economic reforms took hold, the insights derived from this reassessment began to coalesce, marking a departure from Soviet universalist ambitions and ushering in a new consensus on “traditional” Central Asian society at a moment of profound socio-economic dislocation.