Livelihood, Empowerment and Conflict Resolution in the Lives of Indigenous Women in Uzbekistan by Zulfiya Tursunova A Thesis submitted to The Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Peace and Conflict Studies University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2012 by Zulfiya Tursunova ABSTRACT This dissertation examines women’s and their household members’ livelihood constraints and the choices they make, diversification in response to land tenure changes in rural development, and resilience mechanisms of the newly emerging livelihood activities of dehqons,1 farmers, and traders in rural areas in Tashkent oblast2 in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. Women’s coping, preserving, and accumulating resilience demonstrate their capabilities for transforming and mobilizing assets to develop livelihood activities and meet basic needs; and the ways in which people are able to diversify livelihood activities by intensifying current livelihood activities and expanding them through social networks with the state and markets. The livelihood analysis is complemented by the examination of two types of women’s savings networks: (1) indigenous3 saving networks such as gap, and (2) savings networks that are local and emerged during Soviet times such as chernaya kassa. These savings networks serve as a livelihood resilience mechanism for social and economic empowerment in the Tashkent region. These networks represent a collective movement and action against the economic dependency of women on men and the state micro-loan bank system to which women at the grassroots level do not resort to. These social and economic networks that do not require external donor 1 Dehqon [Uz.] is a peasant. Peasants lease the land from farmers. 2 Oblast [Russ.] is a province. In Uzbek it is viloyat. 3 The UN (2004) defines “Indigenous communities, peoples, and nations as “those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system” (p. 2). I identify indigenous or native peoples who have been historically living in a given region prior to colonization and have their own distinctive ways of living and knowledge systems. In this case, they constitute a majority who were marginalized and oppressed and thus, had a minority status in their own country. In Central Asia, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kazaks, Kyrgyz, and Turkmen lived prior to the Russian conquest that began in the 1700s. These peoples have strong links to land, nature, and cosmologies. Their knowledge systems encompass language; culture; beliefs; and social, economic, and political systems. i interventions and function outside the mainstream economic assessment, have been able to empower women for social justice, redistribution of resources, knowledge, voice, and conflict resolution in ways that are vital for community development. Using in-depth interviews and narrative methodology, this study examines such ceremonies as mavlud, ihson, Bibi Seshanba (Lady Tuesday) and Mushkul Kushod (Solver of Difficulties), and healing practices, grassroots peacebuilding methods. Many local healers and otins4 understand the structural roots of inequalities which decrease women’s access to resources and consequently their fair distribution and women’s choices. These religious leaders use their discursive knowledge, based on Islam, Sufism, shamanism, and animism to challenge and transform women’s subordination, abuse, limited property rights, unemployment, domestic violence, and other practices that impinge on women’s needs and rights. These female religious leaders, through different ceremonial practices, create space for raising the critical consciousness of women which transforms the social order to remake power relations, identities, and gender ideologies in families and communities. This research shows how women’s approach to community development is built on knowledge, power, and action achieved through (1) livelihood mobilisation and gap and chernaya kassa; (2) healing; (3) reclaiming sacred space and action; (4) ecological peacebuilding; and (5) agency. This system of community development shows how women’s agency can reorganise male dominated gendered space as an alternative to the hierarchical elite-driven Women’s Committees and state court systems established in Soviet times. Women’s discursive knowledge, inner authority, and agency help households move from poverty to multidimensional empowerment: spiritual, economic, social, cultural, human, financial, ecological, and psychological. 4 The otin [Uz.] is a religious teacher who teachers Qur’anic classes to girls and women. The otin is also a religious leader who holds the ceremony in Muslim female gatherings. There are very many terms for these women. For example, otin oyi. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis came to birth because of the enormous support and guidance of many people. I wish to acknowledge the contributions of my dissertation committee. Dr. Senehi’s love for storytelling and peacebuilding helped me to acknowledge that I came to Winnipeg for a right reason. My first class with Dr. Senehi, “Storytelling: Identity, Power and Transformation,” which I took in winter 2007 set my methodological framework. As storytelling is part of my culture, I embraced narrative methods in fieldwork. Dr. Senehi has worked extensively with mixed methods of social research and action in North America, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East. Dr. Senehi’s research and community outreach activities promote innovative ways of using story-based methods for conflict resolution, peace-making and community building. As my advisor, she encouraged my endeavours to examine women’s indigenous conflict resolution methods. I wish to submit my gratitude to Dr. Marianne Kamp for her enormous input into my dissertation. I admired her book The New Woman in Uzbekistan: Islam, Modernity and Unveiling under Communism. In my first conversation by telephone with her, I said that I fell in love with her book. I felt that she depicted women’s lives so truly as if she was an Uzbek woman. I feel privileged to have her on my committee. Her detailed knowledge of Central Asia – its history, women issues, and current socio-economic developments – helped me to gain insights into nuances. Dr. Kamp’s reading of all my draft chapters and comments encouraged me to improve historical aspects and to question the notions of resistance and empowerment. I wish to thank Dr. Anna Snyder, Dr. Pauline Greenhill, and Dr. Emdad Haque for their feedback, support, and encouragement. Our discussions about empowerment, iii research methods, livelihood choices, and opportunities provided me with valuable insight into my research topic. Their support was crucial in moving from research preparation to research implementation. This Ph.D. would not have possible without the support of women in Uzbekistan. I spent hours talking to them and participated in their daily routines. I went to the bazaar to sell herbs at five o’clock in the morning, planted seeds from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. with an afternoon break, attended baking classes, cleaned, and served in life cycle events. They all worked hard but also we had great moments of relaxation with a cup of tea and putting usma5 on our eyebrows. During our conversations I asked them what they needed and what they expected from me. Women were interested to know what people plant in Canada and how they plant. Some women asked me to bring potato, carrot, or any other seeds from Canada. Some women asked about baking recipes, and information about fashion, clothes, and shoes. In other words, they were looking for knowledge to improve their income-generating activities. I hope one day I can fulfil their expectations and bring this knowledge to Uzbekistan. This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. Information on the Centre is available on the web at www.idrc.ca. I want to thank the Centre for funding my fieldwork and acknowledging the importance of this study. I also want to express my appreciation to several institutions and individuals that provided financial assistance to my Ph.D. study at the University of Manitoba. The Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice provided a St. Paul’s College Foundation Scholarship, the University of Manitoba provided a University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship, and 5 Usma [Uz.] is a local herb that women grow in their gardens, collect, roll in their hands, squeeze to take juice out, and put on their eyebrows to enhance their beauty. iv the province of Manitoba offered a Manitoba Graduate Scholarship, and a Janice Filmon Dissertation Award. Finally, I want to submit my gratitude to my family who care about my health, well-being, education, and work. Home is where people think about you. My home is where the soul is “soul at peace,” where I could rest and rely on others in case of hardships, difficulties, sorrow, and grief. I wish to honour my grandmother, my oye, by dedicating this dissertation to her.