Achieving a Career, Becoming a Master: Aspirations in the Lives of Young Uzbek Men

249 Pages·2014·51.321 MB·English

by  Jesko Schmoller

Jesko Schmoller
Achieving a Career, Becoming a Master
Studien zum Modernen Orient
herausgegeben
von Gerd Winkelhane
Studien zum Modernen Orient 26
Jesko Schmoller
Achieving a Career, Becoming a Master
Aspirations in the Lives of Young Uzbek Men
Bibliographic Information of Deutsche Bibliothek
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Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographical data
can be accessed at http://dnb.ddb.de.
Cover: A young Uzbek man on his wedding day.
All pictures by J. Schmoller if not otherwise stated.
This work was accepted on 20 November 2012 by
Prof. Julia von Blumenthal, dean of the Faculty of Philosophy III,
Humboldt University Berlin, as a thesis for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Central Asian Studies.
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Contents
Acknowledgements............................................................................................7
Notes on Orthography.......................................................................................9
List of Subjects.....................................................................................................9
Introduction.......................................................................................................11
1 Objectives and Aspirations.................................................................34
1.1 O’qish (higher learning)......................................................................35
1.2 Ish (work)................................................................................................44
1.2.1 Tirikchilik (subsistence)......................................................................47
1.2.2 Biznes (entrepreneurial work)...........................................................52
1.2.3 Davlat ishi (civil service).....................................................................58
1.3 To’y (marriage)......................................................................................77
1.4 Conclusion..............................................................................................86
Portrait: Ahmad.................................................................................................90
2 Life Experience......................................................................................97
2.1 Competition...........................................................................................98
2.1.1 Competing for obro’ (status)..............................................................98
2.1.2 Causing Damage.................................................................................118
2.1.3 Limited Trust.......................................................................................126
2.2 Volatility...............................................................................................130
2.3 Conclusion............................................................................................141
Portrait: Ali.......................................................................................................143
Portrait: Akrom................................................................................................155
3 Demonstration of Loyalty.................................................................166
3.1 Superior and Subordinate.................................................................167
3.2 Master and Disciple............................................................................172
3.3 Conclusion............................................................................................188
Portrait: Nazar.................................................................................................189
Portrait: Sardor.................................................................................................201
Portrait: Shoqosim ..........................................................................................217
Conclusion.......................................................................................................233
Glossary............................................................................................................237
Bibliography....................................................................................................238
Acknowledgements
Above all, I wish to thank my informants in the field, who were so
trusting and generous as to share their aspirations and objectives,
their ideas about life and their feelings with me. Without them, it
would not have been possible to set out on this project in the first
place.
Next, I would like to thank my host family in Tashkent, who were
not only willing to provide me with somewhere to live, but in whose
company I spent so many summer afternoons and winter nights,
learning an incredible amount about Uzbek family life and neighbour-
hood relations in the process.
My sincerest thanks go to my two supervisors, who helped me
overcome every obstacle on the sometimes rocky road of this under-
taking. Ingeborg Baldauf always made the time to discuss my findings
with me and was a great source of inspiration. Full of insight, Toni
Huber advised me and motivated me when I felt discouraged.
I am much indebted to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and espe-
cially to Wulf Lapins, former project coordinator for the Central Asian
region, for inviting me to Uzbekistan time after time and mentoring
me in the development stages of this dissertation. My thanks also go
to the staff at the Tashkent office—Nailya Rezyapova, Nargiz Madali-
yeva and Regina Safarova—for their enlightening explanations and
comments in regard to different aspects of Uzbek society.
I wish to say thank you to IFEAC, and particularly to Bayram
Balci, its former director, for inviting me to Uzbekistan in 2008. For
the advice I received from Nicolas Gosset, Jeanine Dağyeli and several
other PhD researchers there, I am most thankful. The fact that IFEAC
had to terminate its activities in Tashkent is a serious loss for the aca-
demic culture in Uzbekistan and beyond.
Marianne Kamp convinced me of the significance of gender for
the discussion of work and helped me to better contextualise my em-
pirical data, for which I am profoundly grateful. With their input from
the disciplines of history and anthropology, François-Xavier Nérard
7
and Nathan Light helped me fine-tune the presentation of my materi-
al.
I am furthermore much obliged to Andreas Eckert, director of the
international research centre “Work and Human Lifecycle in Global
History”, for inviting me to the research centre’s first summer acad-
emy in Mali in 2010. The programme was a truly educative experience
and seriously improved the analysis of my data. Along with Mr Eck-
ert, I must thank Vincent Houben, Babacar Fall, Jamie Monson and
Mamoudou Sy for their advice.
Many thanks go also to Anna Colin Lebedev and Dominique Arel,
the initiators of the “International Social Science Summer School in
Ukraine” programme, in which I participated in 2012. The well-rea-
soned remarks of Sophie Lambroschini, Mykhailo Minakov, Ioulia
Shukan, Mychailo Wynnyckyj and Alissa Klots further broadened my
perspective.
For their invaluable criticism and suggestions, I want to thank my
proofreaders Melanie Krebs, Carolina Franke and Christian Guksch.
Jeanne Féaux de la Croix, Thomas Loy and Kishimjan Osmonova like-
wise read the manuscript and directed my attention to aspects I had
overlooked. Jonathan Styles did a magnificent job in polishing up the
phrasing of my manuscript. Binobar Shoykulova helped me greatly in
getting a handle on the Uzbek language. The comments of Stefan Han-
isch, Sebastian Schiek, Jonathan Silberstein-Loeb, Thorsten Heimann
and Inga Bergmann further improved the quality of my work.
My love goes to my family for their unceasing support. Finally,
I must convey my gratitude to the cemetery foxes, just for being there.
8
Notes on Orthography
Terms from Uzbek are written according to the current rules for
Uzbek in Latin script. I have, however, made exceptions for toponyms
and personal names that occasionally turn up in the Western media
(e.g. Bukhara instead of Buxoro, Ferghana instead of Farg’ona, Islam
Karimov instead of Islom Karimov).
Russian-language terms were written according to the Library of
Congress Russian transliteration standards. The same applies to per-
sonal names of people from former Soviet states other than Uzbeki-
stan (e.g. Kurmanbek Bakiev).
List of Subjects
For their protection, the names of all informants have been chang-
ed. The names of those informants portrayed in detail are shown in
bold type.
Ahmad – Ethnic Uzbek, born in Tajikistan. Experiences difficulties
registering in Tashkent.
Akrom – Former accountant in one of the operational units of Cara-
van Bazaar. Student at Tashkent Financial Institute (TFI).
Ali – Owner of a copy shop in Chilonzor district. Aspires to become a
successful entrepreneur.
Alisher – Younger brother of Umar and Anvar.
Anvar – The second oldest of my host-brothers. Works as a courier
for Ipoteka Bank.
Ashraf – Younger brother of Shomil. Takes English language classes
from Ali.
Asror – Cousin of Shomil and Ashraf.
Azamat – Friend of Ahmad. Responsible for running the pool hall at
Shanghai restaurant.
Bahrom – Student at TFI. Plans to continue his education in Germany.
9
Notes on Orthography
Terms from Uzbek are written according to the current rules for
Uzbek in Latin script. I have, however, made exceptions for toponyms
and personal names that occasionally turn up in the Western media
(e.g. Bukhara instead of Buxoro, Ferghana instead of Farg’ona, Islam
Karimov instead of Islom Karimov).
Russian-language terms were written according to the Library of
Congress Russian transliteration standards. The same applies to per-
sonal names of people from former Soviet states other than Uzbeki-
stan (e.g. Kurmanbek Bakiev).
List of Subjects
For their protection, the names of all informants have been chang-
ed. The names of those informants portrayed in detail are shown in
bold type.
Ahmad – Ethnic Uzbek, born in Tajikistan. Experiences difficulties
registering in Tashkent.
Akrom – Former accountant in one of the operational units of Cara-
van Bazaar. Student at Tashkent Financial Institute (TFI).
Ali – Owner of a copy shop in Chilonzor district. Aspires to become a
successful entrepreneur.
Alisher – Younger brother of Umar and Anvar.
Anvar – The second oldest of my host-brothers. Works as a courier
for Ipoteka Bank.
Ashraf – Younger brother of Shomil. Takes English language classes
from Ali.
Asror – Cousin of Shomil and Ashraf.
Azamat – Friend of Ahmad. Responsible for running the pool hall at
Shanghai restaurant.
Bahrom – Student at TFI. Plans to continue his education in Germany.
9