The Family in the History of Central Asia: Understanding Cultural and Demographic Changes in the Central Asian Region through the Family
In pre-Soviet Central Asia, the main distinction in family types went along economic niches. While Turkic nomadic populations maintained large clan structures, families in urban centres in the Ferghana Valley and the Bukharan Emirate were organised hierarchically with some of them holding a strong sense of lineage belonging and others referring to concepts of belonging based primarily on territorial identification or profession. In the Soviet era, new notions of family and kinship were introduced, mainly from Russian and German ethnographic traditions. Since the 1990s, however, Central Asia (including northern Afghanistan and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) has developed into a dynamic site of migration. In fact, refugees, economic migrants and have turned the region into a global network of cultural entanglements where not only people but also commodities and concepts are on the move. Migration from Central Asia has also diversified geographically as apart from Russia, other Muslim countries have increasingly attracted young migrants in search of work (most importantly the UAE) and education (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, the US, Europe, etc.). Mobility is, however, not restricted to the recent period: over centuries periods of high mobility have alternated with periods of low mobility, affecting cultural and demographic forms of families.
This workshop takes an interdisciplinary approach to the family in the history of Central Asia by bringing together new research and old theories and experiences on the concept of family. On the one hand, we intend to recall how Soviet scholars interpreted changes in the family in Central Asia and contrast this with research on the family before and after the Soviet Union, ranging from inquiries in history, political science, philosophy/Islamic studies, ethnology, medicine/public health/sociology and the GIS (Geographic Information System) methodology to measure population movements and changes. On the other hand, we aim to adopt a whole range of diverse methodological approaches to investigate family-related issues in Central Asia, including the state-family interface in terms of state interventions into the domestic sphere, reproduction, the status of women and the impact on the family of larger politico-security developments; family in migration and resulting changes or lack thereof in family concepts (e.g., descent) and practices (e.g., dowry, bride price); adaptations in family to changing conditions such as nutrition and religion; and the evolution and globalisation of family forms and relationships across time and space. Through these various methodologies we intend to access and study the dynamic changes that have shaped the region over several centuries. The family, in this context, opens concrete and flexible perspectives to address these questions.
Kontakt:
Dr. Sophie Roche und die Forschungsgruppe "The demographic turn in the junction of cultures"
Asia and Europe in a Global Context
Universität Heidelberg
Voßstr. 2, Gebäude 4400
69115 Heidelberg
Tel.: +49 (0) 6221 54 4344
