Migration and Identity in Central Asia The Uzbek Experience [Hardcover]

This book is an ethnographic and sociolinguistic study of Uzbek migrants in the capital city of Uzbekistan. The ethnographic details of the book represent post-Soviet urban realities on the ground where various forms of belonging clash and kinship ties are reinforced within social safety networks. Theoretically, it challenges the existing theories of identity and identification which often considered the relations between We and Them taking the We for granted. The book offers in-depth insights into the communication strategies of migrants, the formation of collective consciousness and the relations within the We domain.

Constructed around contradictions regarding Uzbek identity and how various groups relate to one another as different ethnic groups, the theoretical argument of the book is built through such methods and analytical tools as strategic rhetoric and discourse analysis, communication and identity theories, and the analysis of power and dependence.

The book will be of interest to students and scholars of Central Asian Studies, Migration Studies, and Central Asian Culture and Society.

1. Unmaking Uzbek Identity and Language Part I: Uzbek Identity2. Making of Uzbek Nationality 3. De JureBoundary Among Uzbeks; De Facto PropiskaPart II: Identification and Communication4. Linguistic Means and Rhetorical Strategies in Identification Processes Part III: Identification and Belonging5. Who Is a Negro and Who Is Not? Sub-Ethnic Groups of Uzbeks: Khorezmians and Others in Tashkent 6. Networking Strategies of Migrants: Khorezmian Community in Tashkent PART IV: Identification and Interdependence7. Ipsiz boglanib qalmaq or Bound Without Ropes: Interdependence in Khorezmian Migrant Communities in Tashkent 8. Identity Theories Revisited: Relations of I and the We vs the We and Them

Rano Turaeva is an Afls(