Suchergebnisse

The fabric of answer ( fabrika javob) refers to the efforts of Tajikistan's State Committee for National Security to respond to discussions in the media as well as among people (rumors). Its primary goal is to shape the outside facade of the country and shut down, ridicule or negate critical and dissident speech. The main goal is to work on the image (imijsoz) of the country, which is done by exploiting the notions of vatan (homeland) and millat (nation). The fabric of answer has become the main agent for deciding who is part of the homeland and nation and who is a traitor and enemy. Based on documents and internet discussions, this article demonstrates how the fabric of answer interferes in human lives and online discussions. The use of homeland and nation serves to emotionalize discussions and divert readers' attention from social problems and criticism.

For migrants coming from Central Asia to Moscow, the Cathedral Mosque functions as a central hub to organise their life in the Russian capital. The reason for this is not predominantly their faith or religion. Rather, this place of worship opens a space in which these mostly Tajik people translate their status from that of a stranger exposed to xenophobia and distrust to the respected position of a proper Muslim.

At the core of area studies lies the idea that studying discrete regions in terms of their political, linguistic, and cultural differentiations is a valid approach. However, there can be a tendency towards inconsistency in the definition of certain areas. Furthermore, there can be an inclination towards the peripherization of certain regions when being treated as part of a wider "area" whose core lies elsewhere. Central Asia is a prominent example of both. Firstly, there is much variance in the spatial use of the term. Depending on who is writing, the term "Central Asia" might refer to the area from Afghanistan to Mongolia and from Xinjiang to the Black Sea, or it might be used to refer to the five post-Soviet republics Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, at times including Afghanistan. Secondly, it is rarely studied of itself, rather it is often treated as peripheral to a perceived core lying elsewhere. Thus, the task of the field of Central Asian studies is to subvert this, placing the people in the region, their history, culture, practices, and politics as the centre of focus. Transcultural approaches have criticized treating discrete areas as bounded units of study, suggesting instead to look for relationships, interconnectivities, and entanglements across regions. Therefore, there is no reason why Central Asia should be treated as peripheral to more established disciplines, ignoring its internal complexity, language diversity, history, political distinct paths, global relationships, and cultural productions. Transcultural methods go beyond monolingual research and political boundaries, their strength is to zoom into micro-processes and out to address larger entanglements, to look at the sudden events and long-term processes. This demands an in-depth knowledge of the subject and of several regions, a challenge that is time and resource consuming. Historically, Central Asia remains relevant to all area studies in Asia but contemporary approaches are not the simple continuation of former empires. Rather, political ruptures, religious orientations, and economic relationships require different approaches for Central Asia since the twentieth century. Transcultural approaches have criticized treating areas as discrete units of study and suggested to look for relationships, interconnectivities, and entanglements across regions. Therefore, there is no reason why Central Asia should be treated as peripheral to more established disciplines, ignoring its internal complexity, language diversity, history, political distinct paths, global relationships and cultural productions. Transcultural methods go beyond monolingual research and political boundaries, their strength is to zoom into micro-processes and out to address larger entanglements, to look at the sudden events and long-term processes. This demands an in-depth knowledge of the subject and of several regions, a challenge that is time and resource consuming. Historically, Central Asia remains relevant to all area studies in Asia but contemporary approaches are not the simple continuation of former empires. Rather, political ruptures, religious orientations, economic relationships require different approaches for Central Asia since the twentieth century.

Since independence in 1991, Central Asian countries have put great effort into creating their respective national narratives, which are often based on an ethnic imagination. In Tajikistan this included the idea of shaping society via the family unit. Increasingly, motherhood became the focus of attention, which was made possible by merging two concepts. On the one hand, women are considered as "cultured" and educated people who the Soviet Union freed from "backward" traditions. On the other hand, traditions were reinvented such that the woman is considered the ultimate mother of the nation and the backbone of tradition. This article examines the changing status of motherhood in society and politics through efforts to create a sound family and a healthy nation.

In Tajikistan the concept of "womanhood" developed in the Soviet period remains at odds with local conceptions of gender roles. These competing forms of female agency force young women to creatively shape their future, drawing on the paradigm of womanhood that befits their life-world. Here, we see how young women take their future into their own hands, in a society that scrutinizes female behavior and seems to restrict women's agency. Recognizing that an encounter between two people can change the life course of one of them, this article employs a cross-biographic approach to understand women's agency in Tajikistan. Based on the biographies of a bakhshi (fortune teller) and two young women who visit her, I explore how these two women of marriageable age deal with their emotional world and a society where failure to marry stigmatizes the whole family. The conscious decision of these young women to meet a bakhshi, to actively allow the bakhshi to influence their life course, offers insight on female agency and young women's strategies in managing their emotions, controlling their futures, and securing good luck (bakht).

Placing the field sites in their context : a demographic history -- Why didn't you take a side? : the emergence of youth categories, institutions and groups -- Siblings are as different as the five fingers of a hand? : developmental cycle of domestic groups and siblingship -- The gift of youth? : workers, religious actors and migrants -- The only thing in life that makes you feel like a king? : marriage as an indicator of social and demographic changes -- Youth are our future? : the state's youth categories challenged by youth -- The dynamics of youth bulge as a question of domestication

This article engages with post-civil war Tajikistan and the way that lo­cal narrative memories have developed over the past two decades. It argues that Soviet practices of commemoration as a political concern have been taken over by the independent Tajik regime, thus shaping the way civil war narrative memories have been articulated. While the state monopolizes the official narrative about the civil war, alternate ways of narrative memories do exist, although they do not necessarily challenge the official version. This article focuses on the role of gender in commemoration practices and narrative memories. В статье рассмотрены нарративы памяти о Гражданской войне в постсоветском Таджикистане. Софи Роше показывает, как правящий режим в Таджикистане использует советские коммеморативные прак­тики для создания официальной версии памяти о гражданском противо­стоянии. Однако основное внимание автор уделяет альтернативным версиям памяти, которые не обязательно противостоят официальному нарративу, но связаны с локальными событиями и личной травмой. Центральной проблемой авторской деконструкции этих нарративов памяти является роль гендера в их оформлении и функционировании.

SUMMARY:
Дружба как форма социальных отношений практически не изучалась применительно к контексту Средней Азии. Исследователей обычно интересовали отношения родства и политические сети, что не просто способствовало маргинализации тематики дружбы, но и заставляло усомниться в ее существовании как особой формы отношений в регионе. Настоящая статья, основанная на многочисленных интервью, включенном наблюдении и анализе социальной структуры таджикского общества, рассматривает отношения дружбы в современном Таджикистане. В таджикском языке наличествует более десяти терминов, выражающих отношения дружбы, что позволяет предполагать наличие за ними развитой и сложной социальной системы. Как показано в статье, дружеские сети часто выступают как основа для межэтнических контактов. В частности, они создали структурную возможность для процесса примирения внутри местных общин после гражданской войны 1990-х годов.