2015/12/26　Islam and Gender in Central Asia:Soviet Modernization and Today’s Society

《International Workshop》
Islam and Gender in Central Asia:
Soviet Modernization and Today’s Society

Date : Dec. 26, 2015
Time: 10:00-17:00
Venue: Middle sized conference room, Inamori Center, Kyoto University
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Language: English

Organizer:
OBIYA Chika (Center for Integrated Area Studies, Kyoto University, Japan)
Moderator:
KOMATSU Hisao (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan)
Speakers:
Nodira AZIMOVA (Institute of History, Academy of Sciences, Uzbekistan)
Bakhtiyar BABADJANOV (Center for the Study of Oriental Manuscripts,
Uzbekistan)
OBIYA Chika
SONO Fumoto (National Museum of Ethnology)
WAZAKI Seika (Chubu University)
Commentators:
Bakhtiyar ISLAMOV (Tashkent Branch of Russian University of Economics named after G. V. Plekhanov, Uzbekistan)
Shakhzoda KARIMOVA (Sharkh va Tavsiya Sociology Center, Uzekistan)
KIKUTA Haruka (Center for Slavic-Euroasian Studies, Hokkaido University, Japan)
MURAKAMI Kaoru (Instutute of Developing Economies, Japan)

Aim of the workshop:
This workshop focuses on Uzbekistan, one of the former Soviet Central Asian countries, where Soviet socialist modernization and Islam crossed over. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and independence of Central Asian countries, we have observed general difficulty of dialogue between those who had internalized Soviet secularism together with scientific atheism even now, and those who were influenced by Islamic revivalism and now try to live a better Muslim way of life. Such a situation may deepen serious social cleavages in the society in a new nation state.
In the early days of Sovietization, in 1920s, according to the Soviet ideology Islam and patriarchy in Central Asia were regarded as “bad tradition” to be liquidated for the construction of socialism. In this discourse, women became the subject of Soviet authority’s interest. The existence of “liberated” (unveiled, educated, working, mothering children…) women became a symbol of a progressive socialistic Soviet nation (natsiia). But generally, as many academic works have proved already, Soviet policies could not change “traditional” gender and family norms deeply, and in turn, this “tradition” became a good thing, one of the most important pillar of the nation-building after the independence.
From such standpoints, the aim of this workshop is, firstly, to examine the ideals and realities of Soviet modernization regarding Islam and gender relations, and secondly, to discuss what kind of influences Soviet modernization brought to today’s Uzbek society, and finally, getting over emotional negative attitude toward Soviet regime, to try to find out a reasonable discussion ground for the question of Islam and gender for Uzbek society in contemporary local and global context.

*This workshop is organized by the Center for Integrated Area Studies (CIAS), Kyoto University, Research Unit “Socialist Modernization and Today’s Society in Central Asia” (CIAS Joint Usage/Research Project) , and KAKENHI Grant-in-aid Project “Islam, Gender and Family in Central Asia” (Kiban (B), 24310184).

**If you are interested in coming to the workshop, please let us know by e-mail to: obiya[AT]cias.kyoto-u.ac.jp (Please replace [AT] with @.) We need information just to prepare the conference room.