KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

Shakhnoza Madaeva,
Candidate of philosophic sciences,
associate professor of the chair of history of philosophy
and logics of the National University of Uzbekistan
under the name of Mirzo Ulugbek
Women’s Religious Identity in the Traditional Makhallas
of Modern Uzbekistan: Problems and Ways to Resolve Them
In the post-Soviet Uzbekistan, as well as in other countries of Central Asia, for
about two decades there have been process of comprehension and justification of
certain directions of state formation, including the process of national identification.
Twenty years is a sufficient period to identify and analyze the outcomes of independent
existence of Central Asian countries. Those outcomes are not only a result of planned
and expected steps of authorities, but also a consequence of those processes that were
quite spontaneous, contrary to the intentions of the government or emerged as a result
of insufficient thinking and consecution in carrying out reforms. Women’s identity is
one such unexpected consequence, which has become an attribute of religious identity
of Uzbekistan population.
Women’s Moslem religiousness, and its transformation in modern Uzbekistan,
is a vital issue, which needs analysis and expert assessment. The topic is important
because it covers all sides of life, from the routine life of people to state policy. It mostcomprehensively
displays a new role of Islam in the region and also one of the most
likely perspectives and tendencies of Uzbek society development in general.
The problem is the fact that the changes that took place during the last decade have
provoked a drastic separation of people into religious and secular groups; whereas,
under the conditions of the transitional period, a separation into the rich and poor was
more expected. Contradictions between the religious and secular parts of the Uzbek
population, with women’s rights and freedoms frequently being central, can lead to
destabilization of the situation and grow into a critical social conflict.
To comprehend the importance and essence of the problem, it is necessary to
consider how women’s religiousness was displayed in makhalla, a traditional space of an
Uzbek society, and the perspectives and dynamics of the phenomenon. In turn, this will
help considering peculiarities of women religious identity, the role of Islam in a social
structure of Uzbek makhalla and, in particular, people’s insight about the Moslem ethics,
the importance of those ideas during the formation of women religious identity.
First, I will provide some general statistical data. In reference to materials of the State
Statistics Center of Uzbekistan, 26 million people now live in Uzbekistan, more than
60 percent are young people from 16 to 29 years old, and women constitute 55 percent
of the population. According to available data, there are 9750 makhalls in Uzbekistan and
2.5 to 10 thousand people live in a makhalla. After independence, makhalla committees
were established – even in modern urban areas in Uzbekistan, where traditions and
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