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Abstract

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, outward migration has become structurally

embedded in Central Asian societies. Existing scholarship has largely interpreted these

movements through remittance economies and labor market differentials, while paying

comparatively limited attention to the symbolic and relational conditions that render migration

economically viable. In particular, the role of historically grounded narratives of cultural

affinity and gendered constructions of care in shaping processes of economic incorporation

remains underexamined.

This paper conceptualizes migration among Central Asian women to Türkiye as a strategic and

relational process of capital conversion. Shared linguistic, religious, and historical ties,

amplified through post-1991 discourses of Turkic affinity, intersect with the gendered

organization of domestic and care work to constitute a distinct field of opportunity and

constraint. Within intimate household labor settings, perceived cultural proximity mitigates

social distance and facilitates trust-based employment relations. At the same time, care work

is structured around the naturalization of women’s emotional labor, which is treated as inherent

rather than socially produced and cultivated.

Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, the paper demonstrates that migrant women are neither

passive recipients of these narratives nor merely positioned by gendered expectations. Through

experience, peer exchange, and ongoing relational negotiation, they develop practical

repertoires for mobilizing culturally legible forms of familiarity while regulating the scope and

intensity of emotional engagement. Boundary-setting, recalibration of affective investment,

and selective withdrawal emerge as learned practices. Capital conversion, understood as the

transformation of cultural, social, and emotional resources into economic stability, therefore

unfolds as a temporally evolving and dialectical process in which women participate in both

the reproduction and subtle transformation of gendered labor regimes.

By foregrounding agency within historically constituted and relationally enacted structures,

this paper contributes to scholarship on migration as social strategy, affective labor, and the

reconfiguration of mobility systems in Central Eurasia.

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Abstract

This paper examines the shifting linguistic landscape within contemporary Mountain Jewish communities, exploring how migration patterns and socio-economic transformations shape language strategies and intergenerational transmission. The study is based on a series of anthropological expeditions conducted in Pyatigorsk, supplemented by field data collected in Moscow, Perm, and Quba (Azerbaijan). This geographic diversity allows for a comparative perspective on how different local contexts—from traditional compact settlements to new urban centers of attraction—influence language practices.

The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with statistical data processing. This methodology aims to test the presence and nature of correlations between socio-economic factors and stresses, migration strategies (including completed, ongoing, or hypothetical future relocation), and the linguistic choices made by members of Mountain Jewish communities. The core question is whether specific socio-economic statuses or migration plans predictably correlate with the use of Russian, Azerbaijani, Juhuri, or the growing institutional role of Hebrew.

Unlike traditional Mountain Jewish settlements, where multigenerational families fostered daily use of Juhuri, contemporary communities increasingly feature nuclear families and dispersed urban living. Field materials from Pyatigorsk suggest that this structural shift has disrupted intergenerational transmission, with a notable gender dimension: the primary space for Juhuri usage remains the predominantly male domain of the synagogue and intra-community business. Meanwhile, with post-Soviet religious revival, Hebrew is gaining status as the community's ancestral language through institutional education, aligning with both religious identity and the migration aspirations of families with ties to Israel.

By incorporating data from multiple locations, this study seeks to contribute to the understanding of the changing linguistic landscape in post-Soviet spaces and the complex interplay of gender, migration, and tradition in minority language communities facing rapid socio-economic change.

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Abstract

This paper examines how ethnic Kazak migrants from China’s Xinjiang region navigate social marginalization in Kazakhstan, challenging dominant frameworks that interpret return migration primarily through transnationalism and dual place attachment. Drawing on 30 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Astana (2023–2026), including participant observation and in-depth interviews, the study analyzes the everyday practices, identity constructions, and adaptive strategies of Xinjiang-origin migrants within the broader context of Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet repatriation policy.

The paper argues that, unlike Kazak migrants from Mongolia—whose adaptation is often characterized by strong transnational networks and dual homeland attachment—Xinjiang migrants exhibit a distinct pattern: many of them treat migration to Kazakhstan as a final destination rather than part of an ongoing transnational lifecycle. While they experience similar forms of marginalization (e.g., exclusion from Russian-speaking labor markets and stigmatization as culturally “backward”), their primary adaptive strategy is not the maintenance of cross-border ties. Instead, they mobilize what this paper conceptualizes as “Chinese modernity”—a repertoire of linguistic skills, technological familiarity (e.g., WeChat usage), and market-oriented practices acquired in China—as a cultural resource.

Empirically, the study demonstrates that these “Chinese” cultural practices serve both practical and symbolic functions: they facilitate everyday communication and economic activity, while simultaneously enabling migrants to construct an alternative identity that combines “authentic” Kazak tradition with a competing form of modernity distinct from the Russian-influenced norms of local society. This dual positioning allows Xinjiang migrants to counter local hierarchies that label them as inferior, even as it paradoxically reinforces their othering.

By foregrounding intra-ethnic heterogeneity and the role of non-territorial cultural resources, this paper contributes to broader debates in migration studies, in particular, territorially bounded notions of identity and nationalism. It suggests that return migration cannot be fully understood through transnationalism alone and calls for greater attention to how migrants selectively appropriate multiple modernities in negotiating belonging within “homelands” that are themselves culturally fragmented.