Economic and Social Change in Post-Soviet Rural Uzbekistan

Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2012 Economic and social change in Post-Soviet rural Uzbekistan Sancak, Meltem Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-76101 Dissertation Published Version Originally published at: Sancak, Meltem. Economic and social change in Post-Soviet rural Uzbekistan. 2012, University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts. Economic and Social Change in Post-Soviet Rural Uzbekistan Th e s i s presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Zurich for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Meltem Sancak February Contents Introduction . Searching for the Field Site .................... . Objective of the Study ....................... . The Uzbek Way of Transformation ................ . Theoretical Considerations ..................... . Methods ............................... Ecological Setting and Historical Background . The State of Uzbekistan ...................... . The Oasis of Bukhara ........................ . The Ferghana Valley ........................ Changes in Property Rights . Introduction ............................. . Collectivisation and the Socialist Organisation of Agriculture .. . The Founding of Shirkat: from Engels to Guliston ........ . Fermer : Privatising the Uzbek Way ................ . Different Types of Private Plots .................. . Access to Water ........................... Economic Strategies: How to make a Living in Rural Uzbek- istan . Introduction ............................. . Production ............................. . Plans and Procedures ........................ . Technology and Labour Organisation ............... Diversification of Income Sources ................. Consumption Patterns and Household Budgets .......... i Social Strategies: Networks, Identity and Solidarity . Introduction ............................. The Local Community ....................... Kinship and Marriage ........................ Ethnic Identity and Inter-ethnic Relations ............ Social Networks and Solidarity Groups .............. Political Strategies: Social Stratification and the Meaning of Borders . Introduction ............................. Social Stratification ......................... Local Elites ............................. State Interference and Perceptions ................. The Uzbek State and its Borders ................. Making Use of Borders: Legally and Illegally ........... Ideological Strategies: Views on Modernity, the State and Re- ligion . Introduction ............................. Discourses on State, Modernity and the Ideological Vacuum .. Religious Revival and State Control ................ The Role and Status of Religious Authorities ........... Religious Practices and Understandings .............. Views on Modernity and Future Perspectives ........... Conclusion ii Foreword This thesis is an account of rural life in post-socialist Uzbekistan in two settings, namely the oasis of Bukhara and the Ferghana Valley. It is about a post-socialist context where continuity and change exist at the same time and in sometimes puzzling forms. What has changed is missed strongly, while that what has taken over is challenged by many. Both sides, continuity and change, determine the lives that people have to face and deal with as a result of in- dependence. In the centre of this are the former collective enterprises, the kolkhozes and sovkhozes of the socialist period, and their modern successors, the shirkat. They embody the economic continuity and change in the country. While the socialist collectives were dissolved as secure employment units, in a way they continue to exist under new Uzbek labels and still attached to a plan economy. This facet is the starting point of this study. The question is what has changed, to what extent and how rural residents deal with these changes in their everyday lives. The radical changes in agrarian structures have brought a handful of new actors to the field, in one site semi-private fermer (land leaser) and in the other the heads of the new shirkat enterprises. Both have often been part of the elite already in the past. The changes have also created numerous dependents to the fermer and shirkat in form of the formal kolkhoz workers who became a reservoir of unpaid labor force. In some way, the rural population of Uzbekistan can thus be differentiated in those who have access to lease agrarian land and those who have not (or only very precarious). These different groups of actors shape the agrarian landscape and make the focus of this study. Besides the more narrowly economic aspects of the restructuring of rural economy and of how people try to secure their livelihoods, there are other dimensions closely related to this. The main part of the thesis is structured along these dimensions, which have been labelled as economic, social, political and ideological strategies. Obviously, this is simplifying reality and none iii of these are easy to demarcate. But they serve their purpose as analytical categories. Social relations and their transformation are of key importance in this regard. As a sedentary population, Uzbeks have a strong local identity, which units them with other local groups while creating rivalry towards other places within the country. This rivalry can be in any aspect, from success in cotton plan fulfilment to being a proper Muslim or being more civilized. In daily life, when talking with an anthropologist, these differentiating aspects are very often mentioned. They thus also build an important part of the data and a secondary focus of the study, ranging from kinship and (inter-)ethnic relations to the local community and the meaning of religion. Actors’ economic strategies and interests are not decoupled from their community life and interaction with others. Trust between actors but also trust towards the state and its institutions, social networks and solidarity groups are important fac- tors that shape the decision-making processes and determine the possibilities of actors. In that respect, related with the location of the two field sites, not only the process of rural restructuring are different but also how actors deal with problems and with which kind of solutions they respond. This work has its limits. These limits are to a large extend related with the focus of the study. Rural economy is not an easy-going subject in Uzbekistan since many things are organized either illegally, behind closed doors or people do not feel free to talk about it because of strong state surveillance. The reason behind choosing two field sites has also been related with the peculiarities of doing fieldwork in Uzbekistan. Having all necessary documents and permis- sions does not mean that one can stay until the necessary data is collected or all questions are answered. Two field sites were chosen in order to relieve the host families and the others as interlocutors. In this thesis, I also do not organize my data along two separate sections according to two settings. The anonymity of interlocutors was one of the reasons but also the variability of the data; therefore it is organized along subjects, namely the variety of strategies that actors employ. It was also necessary to have thematic variation during fieldwork to ease my interaction with the people. The consequence is a rather broad and ethnographic approach covering different aspects from everyday life. Retrospectively, I believe that these aspects complement the works that others have done in Central Asia but also reveals and challenges their findings. Two institutions and many people provided support during the lengthy and often interrupted period of writing this dissertation. The Max Planck Institute iv for Social Anthropology Halle/Saale enabled me to realize the fieldwork and provided me with many other (material as well as non-material) resources. Fieldwork and data analysis would not have been possible without this support. One of my supervisors, Günther Schlee, is part of this support and he waited and waited with patience and generosity at every stage of this work. The work started in Halle and travelled with my husband and me to other places to end up in Zürich. Mareile Flitsch to whom I am equally grateful not only for her support and criticism but also encouraging me to think about things in a way Ihadnotdonebefore.Iconsidermyselfmorethanfortunetohaveboththese supervisors without whom this work would not have start and without whom it would not have been finished. I am deeply indebted to both of them. There are many more people to whom I am thankful. Unfortunately, I feel unable to name those people in person that would deserve it most, my hosts, friends and acquaintances in the two field sites. While using pseudonyms is a common practise in anthropology, there are few places where they are as necessary than in a place like Uzbekistan. They provided me with everything and accepted me as a member of their family. Their generosity and eloquence, trust and patience made it possible for me to put those stories on paper. People in different places and at different stages of this work gave their readiness to help and support. In Halle, Anett Kirchof, Lale Yalçın-Heckmann, Kathrin Niehuus, Viktoria Zeng are among those. In Zürich, this includes Anna Racca de Oliveira Lima, Miriam Wohlgemuth, Buzz, Georg Winter- berger, Ilona Möwe and Baktygul Karimova, in Luzern Mahide Aslan, and in Berlin Hale Deceli-Holzwarth.

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