This dissertation proposes a political reading of the religious revival taking place in Tajikistan following the country’s independence in 1991. It considers the impact of the Soviet legacy on the place of religion in Tajik society and on different modes of religiosity. It also highlights the continuities between the Soviet and post-Soviet eras and the porous boundaries between the religious and secular realms in Tajikistan. First, the thesis describes the specificities of the Soviet secularization process and emphasizes the holistic character of the Soviet ideology. I suggest that the secularization of Central Asia should be understood not as the complete eradication of religion but as the societies’ accommodation to assertive secular policies, which produced a certain understanding of the place of religion in society. The research then looks at the resilience of Soviet values within both institutional and discursive traditions, as well as within individuals’ perspectives on religion. This dissertation avoids reifying the state and accounts for the great diversity of state actors’ strategies and interests as well as within communities. Finally, drawing upon extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Northern Tajikistan, the research depicts the religious revival from a local perspective by addressing the religious experiences of born-again Muslims. I suggest that Islamic values offset the Soviet holistic ideology, which can be explained by the affinities of religious and Soviet moral codes. The research also shows that increasing levels of religiosity contribute to social tensions around the definition of new moral standards in an uncertain socio-economic environment.

No description available.

This paper investigates the impact of receiving microcredit on the economic conditions of urban poor. The change in household income level between the years 2009 and 2011 was measured for a group of survey participants half of whom were microcredit beneficiaries, while the other half were not. The survey was conducted in Dushanbe, the capital city of Tajikistan. A difference-in-differences approach was used for the analysis and various other attributes that influence income such as the level of education, age and gender were taken into account in model formation. The findings indicate that microloans do not significantly affect the income level of the urbn poor in the short run.

This thesis explores two factors that have been instrumental in the evolution of society and ethnic and national identities in southern Central Asia. It is argued that the development of these identities (and the obstacles encountered in the process) are closely linked to the place of Islam in central Asian society, and the delicate ethnic balance between the Turkic and the Iranian cultural spheres -- which also manifested itself as the symbiosis between sedentary-agrarian and nomadic populations. It was the disruption of these two factors under Soviet rule which led to lasting problems that continue to bedevil the region to this day.

Since 2002, the government of post-Soviet Tajikistan has deployed its security apparatus outside of the state’s territorial borders at least 49 times, intimidating, kidnapping and monitoring its citizens. I use the term transnational authoritarian security governance to refer to these border-spanning security practices. Although both secular and religious opponents to the government have been targeted, in this dissertation, I examine how the government of Tajikistan attempts to manage the threat from Islamic ‘extremism.’ I trace the emergence of the securitisation of Islam back to the Soviet Union, explore its consolidation in the years following independence in 1991, and how it has become operationalised in the form of transnational authoritarian security governance. I argue that the regulation of religious life in Tajikistan is based on an assertive form of secularism, which posits that religion is only safe if it is closely controlled by the state. In theorising transnational authoritarian security governance, I draw on the work of Michel Foucault. I argue that security governance is interwoven with relations of power. Governing Islamic ‘extremism’ in Tajikistan does not merely involve repressive life-taking sovereign power, it involves the moulding of obedient, secular subjects through disciplinary power and biopower. But as Foucault argues, where there is power, there is resistance. Those who are made subjects through security governance do have opportunities to resist it. Rather than being transformative and counterhegemonic, however, this resistance is momentary and anti-hegemonic. My findings are based on critical discourse analysis, a database of extraterritorial security incidents, semi-structured interviews, and extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2013 and 2015 in Tajikistan and Russia.

Policy makers in the global development industry in the past two decades have shown increasing interest in engaging diasporas in homeland development. This research aims to address the gap of searching for better practices of engaging diaspora in homeland development, using the case of Tajik diaspora in Russia. The research objective is to identify the most promising areas to effectively engage Tajik diaspora in Russia in homeland development. The research adheres to abductive logic of enquiry, and uses qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews conducted remotely with representatives of Tajik diaspora organizations and Tajik diaspora members in three major Russian cities (Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg). The study uses structuration theory as a theoretical framework to conceptualize diaspora organizations and their practices. For analysing data, pragmatic, administrative, centralized and decentralised approaches to diaspora engagement in homeland development are used as an analytical framework. The scope of this study is not able to generate representative results, but drawn conclusions provide basis for further research. The combination of the theoretical and analytical framework applied within this study allowed to identify gaps between existing diaspora engagement strategy and the actual capabilities present in the diaspora. This study indicates that the most promising areas for effectively engaging Tajik diaspora in Russia in homeland development is bridging said gaps by institutionalizing existing development practices through a decentralized pragmatic approach. The analysis also argues that diversifying channels of administrative approach to diaspora engagement and scaling down the projects to the local level could maximize effectiveness of diaspora engagement strategy.

Tajikistan is the only post-Soviet republic that went through a civil war after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which negatively impacted all aspects of the country as well as education, particularly girls’ education. The limitations on Tajik girls’ education are due to economics and gender norms that are critical factors. This paper highlights the girls’ education condition in the period from 1995 to 2019, which is the post-war period, in the capital city, Dushanbe, and rural areas of the country. The review answered why girls most likely choose family life (marriage and children) rather than pursuing higher education in their life. In order to study this issue, the study used primary data. This paper studied the traditional culture (gender norms) factor as a barrier to keep girls out of school while providing the context of the social and occurred political changes during the post-war to the present time.

After independence from the Soviet Union Tajikistan fell into civil war in 1992. The armed conflict ended in 1997 after a peace agreement had been signed between the warring parties. Since, Tajikistan has become increasingly authoritarian, and experts have predicted the renewed onset of war. Yet, peace has been kept for over 20 years. Within peace and conflict research, scholars have turned attention to illiberal ways of ending conflict and building peace. Can two of the concepts from this illiberal turn, illiberal peacebuilding and authoritarian conflict management (ACM), explain the Tajik peace? With the ACM framework as the starting point, this thesis introduces the distinction between containment and termination from the illiberal peacebuilding concept to capture variation. Focus is on how the Rahmon regime attempts to (re)establish control over the ACM domains of discourse, space and economics to manage conflict and build peace in the immediate aftermath of civil war. The results demonstrate how ACM functions in the absence of violence, that there is no linear relationship between violence and termination methods, and that containment first, termination second is often opted for. Two improvements are suggested for the ACM framework. First, that a legal domain is introduced, and second, that the distinction between containment and termination is applied to future research, as it has proven useful in capturing variation. The results suggest that the indicators that supposedly point to a failure of peacebuilding in Tajikistan is in fact indicative of how the peace proliferates. However, violence continues to occur, even though the peace has lasted for two decades. Could this present us with a paradox of peace – one that is simultaneously durable and instable?

No description available.

Since Tajikistan’s independence in 1991 the number of rural girls leaving school after grade 9 has been increasing at an alarming rate. In order to improve rural girls’ secondary school attendance and retention, in 2006 Save the Children, local non-governmental organization (NGO) partners, and the Ministry of Education implemented a two-year UNICEF-funded Girls’ Education Project (GEP). This mixed-method study compares rural girls’ secondary school experiences and opportunities at six schools (three GEP schools and three non-GEP schools) in two districts located in regions with the lowest levels of female secondary school participation nationwide. Two research questions guided this study: 1) What factors serve as obstacles or enablers to girls’ secondary school experiences and opportunities in rural Tajikistan? and 2) How did the GEP attempt to overcome factors limiting rural girls’ secondary school experiences and opportunities and which aspects of the project were perceived to be most effective? The study’s theoretical framework contains concepts from two sets of theories: 1) social reproduction (schooling as a means of maintaining and reproducing the status quo) and 2) empowerment (schooling as a means of changing the status quo). Data collected reveals two groups’ perspectives: 1) adult participants (Ministry of Education officials, NGO staff, school administrators and teachers) and 2) rural female upper secondary school students. A multi-level data analysis process was used to compare findings within and across districts. Factors that serve as either an obstacle or an enabler of girls’ educational experiences and opportunities include those relating to the community/society, family, school, and self. Factors related to community/society include the dominant belief that a girl is “grown-up” by 15 and should no longer go to school which intersects with family poverty to create a major barrier to girls’ non-compulsory secondary schooling. Factors affecting girls’ schooling related to the family were the most significant determinant of a girl’s schooling. Of all the GEP activities, participants consistently considered the girls’ overnight camp to be the “best” activity. Findings show how enabling just a few girls to return to school significantly increases the likelihood of other girls being allowed to attend school in these rural communities.