TY - GEN
T1 - Gender and ethnicity in the Soviet Muslim peripheries
T2 - a feminist postcolonial geography of women’s work in the Tajik SSR (1950–1991)
AU - Behzadi, Negar Elodie
AU - Direnberger, Lucia
PY - 2020/4/2
Y1 - 2020/4/2
N2 - This article explores the articulation and experience of Soviet gendered ideology regarding work in the Tajik SSR, one of the Muslim Soviet peripheries, during the post-war period ending with Perestroika. Central Asian women’s work was used for economic purposes, as well as being a key driver for fulfilling the ideological objective of emancipating Central Asian women from religion and tradition. Through a feminist postcolonial geography approach, attentive to questions of discourse and material lived experiences, this article explores the ways in which gender and ethnicity were co-produced by Soviet ideology. Analysis of scientific publications produced by Tajikistani female researchers, and of women’s magazines from the 1950s, is contrasted with ethnographic data on workers from various collective farms and semi-urban places, including ‘work heroines’ (peshqadam). Our findings illustrate the hybrid nature of the Soviet regime, advancing theoretical debates on the use of postcolonial theory in Soviet Central Asia.
AB - This article explores the articulation and experience of Soviet gendered ideology regarding work in the Tajik SSR, one of the Muslim Soviet peripheries, during the post-war period ending with Perestroika. Central Asian women’s work was used for economic purposes, as well as being a key driver for fulfilling the ideological objective of emancipating Central Asian women from religion and tradition. Through a feminist postcolonial geography approach, attentive to questions of discourse and material lived experiences, this article explores the ways in which gender and ethnicity were co-produced by Soviet ideology. Analysis of scientific publications produced by Tajikistani female researchers, and of women’s magazines from the 1950s, is contrasted with ethnographic data on workers from various collective farms and semi-urban places, including ‘work heroines’ (peshqadam). Our findings illustrate the hybrid nature of the Soviet regime, advancing theoretical debates on the use of postcolonial theory in Soviet Central Asia.
KW - ethnicity
KW - feminist postcolonial geography
KW - Gender
KW - Soviet women
KW - Tajikistan
KW - work
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086086585&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02634937.2019.1699777
DO - 10.1080/02634937.2019.1699777
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85086086585
SN - 0263-4937
VL - 39
SP - 202
EP - 219
JO - Central Asian Survey
JF - Central Asian Survey
ER -
