Security and gendered national identity in Uzbekistan

Abstract

Contributing to the growing literature on feminist geopolitics, this article addresses the security discourses employed by the Karimov regime in Uzbekistan's post-independence nation-building process. It examines the ways in which militarism and the ‘culture of war’ are productive of gendered national identities in Uzbekistan, focusing on how the ‘protector–protected’ relationship figures prominently in the Karimov regime's anti-terrorist rhetoric. It does so through a textual analysis of the Andijon uprising and the ‘Day of Memory and Honor’ holiday. It argues that the terrorist threat has been a driving factor in the pervasive militarization of society, but that official responses to state violence in Andijon obscure alternative security concerns of the general population in Uzbekistan – and more specifically those of women. It adds to existing feminist geopolitics literature by expanding it into a new empirical context, while rejecting the assertion that a ‘geopolitical’ analysis necessarily entails a ‘global’ approach.

Contribuyendo a la cada vez más abundante literatura sobre geopolítica feminista, este artículo aborda el tema de los discursos de seguridad utilizados por el régimen de Karimov en el proceso de construcción de la nación post independencia en Uzbekistán. Examina las formas en las que el militarismo y la ‘cultura de la guerra’ producen identidades nacionales generizadas en Uzbekistán, centrándose en cómo la relación ‘protector-protegido’ aparece en forma prominente en la retórica antiterrorista del régimen de Karimov. Lo hace a través de un análisis textual del levantamiento de Andijon y la conmemoración del ‘Día de la memoria y el honor’. Propone que la amenaza terrorista ha sido un factor impulsor de la militarización generalizada de la sociedad, pero que las respuestas oficiales a la violencia estatal en Andijon ocultan preocupaciones alternativas sobre la seguridad de la población general en Uzbekistán – y más específicamente la de las mujeres. Contribuye a la literatura existente en geopolítica feminista al extenderla a un nuevo contexto empírico, mientras rechaza la afirmación de que el análisis ‘geopolítico’ necesariamente implica un enfoque ‘global’.

Keywords:

• feminist geopolitics
• nation-building
• militarism
• Uzbekistan
• Andijon

Keywords:

• geopolítica feminista
• construcción de la nación
• militarismo
• Uzbekistán
• Andijon

Acknowledgements

This article has benefited greatly from the generous comments of anonymous reviewers. I am also indebted to Deborah Dixon for her patient and constant assistance in improving this article. Thanks also to Ingrid Nelson, Jenn Dinaburg and Martin Müller for their useful comments along the way. All remaining errors are, of course, my own.

Notes

1. Bearing in mind Sharp's (2000a) important critique of critical geopolitics, we must remember that every researcher, whether navigating the ‘field’ abroad or sifting through texts at home, is necessarily situated. As a young, white, American scholar, this identity has in large part determined the shape of this research project, in terms of both the questions I am able to ask and the methods I am able to employ. This project's broader focus on the Andijon massacre deals with a highly sensitive subject and local fieldwork (although not impossible) would most likely expose potential informants to undue danger of state persecution. In addition to ethical considerations, this study is limited to textual analysis because of pragmatics (financial and time constraints).

2. For a more complete presentation of these data see Koch (2009).

3. In my case study, pragmatically, this required systematically coding the content and structure of the data in order to discern patterns. It also required analyzing the form of the text (e.g. speech, newspaper article) and its intended audience (e.g. attendees of a national holiday celebration, readers of a particular newspaper), in order to assess government strategies for monopolizing (geo)political discourse and setting the parameters of discussion.

4. Specifically, notions of, for example, ‘international terrorism’, ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ and ‘religious extremism’, all entered popular media (in the west and elsewhere) with increasing intensity. Most significantly, they became the central defining features of a dramatic global imaginary in which western-style ‘freedom’ was seen as under assault. The heightened western focus on Islamist terrorism introduced a Cold War-style worldview of ‘us’ versus ‘them’, full of tropes and narratives that discursively defined its new moral geography, all of which Karimov could draw upon in order to situate Uzbekistan as a relevant actor in the ‘War on Terror’.

5. In post-independence Uzbekistan, the Soviet-era Muslim Spiritual Board was nationalized. It presently monitors religious practice, education, provides sermons for imams, etc. (for more, see Khalid 2007).

6. In my discussion of the Andijon events here, I rely primarily on reports from the International Crisis Group, which I deem among the most credible and best substantiated. The interpretation of the events is, of course, disputed even among western observers. For a contrasting and controversial alternative interpretation (not elaborated here), see Akiner (2005).

7. This had a particularly strong effect in Central Asia even after World War II, with 33% of conscripts in the Red Army coming from the region by the end of the 1980s (Kennedy-Pipe 2004, 101).

8. Many young men can, however, evade the draft – for example, through using bribes and/or personal connections to purchase certificates of poor health. This, however, also demands certain resources.

9. A notable exception is the daughter of President Karimov, Gulnora Karimova, who has held various diplomatic posts, including serving the Uzbekistan Mission to the UN, Uzbekistan's Embassy in Moscow, was Uzbekistan's Permanent Representative to the UN and is currently Uzbekistan's Ambassador to Spain. Dubbed the ‘Uzbek princess’, Karimova has lived a life of luxury and now even produces luxury jewelry and apparel (see guli.uz). Although there has been some speculation that she could be Karimov's successor, she too has been generally excluded from the workings of the security apparatus and family turmoil in recent years suggests this is an unlikely scenario.