Breadwinning, migration, and nation-building: a critical scoping review of men, masculinities, and social change in post-Soviet Uzbekistan

ABSTRACT

Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, is currently experiencing dramatic social changes as a result of both Western and Eastern influences. Notions of masculinity and what it means to be a man continue to change for Uzbek men. However, research theorizing gender and social change in Uzbekistan tends to focus on women, and as a result we know very little about the historical and contemporary identities, experiences, and subjectivities of men in Uzbekistan. The aim of this scoping review is to provide an overview of Uzbek masculinities and systematically examine how Uzbek masculinities have been studied locally and internationally in order to further enhance our understanding of post-Soviet transitions. This review identified 27 research publications in English and Russian between 1991 and 2020 focusing on Uzbek masculinities. Drawing from a wide range of disciplines, the review finds that overall, research has sought to make connections between two ideas: Uzbek masculinities and men's responsibilities in relation to breadwinning and labor migration, and the role of the nation-state in shaping a gendered nationalism as a result of post-colonial influences. The article concludes by highlighting the underrepresentation of neo-coloniality's role in shaping research culture in Uzbekistan and influencing our understanding of post-Soviet transitions.

KEYWORDS:

• Uzbek men
• masculinity
• social change
• Uzbekistan
• post-coloniality
• neo-coloniality

Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without the support and help of Associate Prof. Garth Stahl. I also sincerely thank Dr. Jenny Munro, Prof. Peter Finke, Mr. Cameron Evans, Mr. Alibek Kuanyshbek, and Ms. Huajing Yang, for their helpful feedback and comments. Furthermore, I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers. This work was supported by the University of Queensland under the University of Queensland Research Training Scholarship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 CNKI is the largest and most accessed academic online library in China. CyberLeninka is a Russian scientific electronic library with a vast collection of written scientific works.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The University of Queensland: [Grant Number: The University of Queensland Research Training Scholarship].

Notes on contributors

Yang Zhao

Yang Zhao is a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of Queensland, Australia. His current doctoral project, based on twelve months of fieldwork in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, focuses on changing masculinities and everyday moralities among Uzbek men in post-Soviet spaces.

Yang Zhao holds two master’s degrees in anthropology from Taiwan and Hong Kong and two bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and journalism from mainland China.