Marriage quandaries in Central Asia

Cleuziou, Juliette; McBrien, Julie

doi:10.1163/22138617-12340246

Cited by 23 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…В частности, важность свадьбы восходит к тому обстоятельству, что статусы, возможности и жизненные практики замужних и незамужних женщин в странах Средней Азии кардинально различаются. Свадьба выступает актом легитимизации нового статуса женщины в родовых отношениях (Cleuziou and McBrien, 2020). Вне широкого феминистского контекста понять значение свадеб в Средней Азии невозможно.…”

Section: Jel: Z13 B52 A13unclassified

Ritual Economy, or How Much Is Spent on A Wedding in Central Asia

Barsukova¹

2022

JIS

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The article describes the rituals that form a complex of wedding traditions in the countries of Central Asia. We are talking about rites (pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding) and related expenses. Observance of traditions imposes heavy financial obligations on the families of the bride and groom, driving them into credit burden and depriving them of economic well-being for many years. Why do families participate in this wasteful excess? What drives them? The article focuses on decoding the institute of Central Asian wedding. The article is based on interviews with students from Central Asian countries studying in Moscow. Arrival in Moscow indicates a willingness to accept values conventionally called "Western". Representatives of the westernized youth critically evaluate the economy of weddings, seeing no sense in following traditions that condemn families to excessive waste. In their opinion, the reproduction of the ritual economy is supported by public opinion and is based on the fear of the family to spoil the reputation. The wedding turns into an act of demonstrative generosity, which confirms the social status of families.Students reconstruct the logic of parents in terms of being forced to follow certain rules under vigilant social control: the rule of the reciprocal exchange of gifts; demonstration of social status and maintaining the prestige of the family; competition between the families of the bride and groom; confirmation of membership in a related clan; showing loyalty within the official hierarchy, investing in a career. Despite the legislative restrictions on the scale of weddings adopted in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan no impressive results have been achieved. The discrepancy between social expectations threaten to turn into reputational losses. People continue to pay tribute to the requirements of the ritual economy, going to all sorts of tricks in order not to fall under the sanctions of the state

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Section: Jel: Z13 B52 A13unclassified

Ritual Economy, or How Much Is Spent on A Wedding in Central Asia

Barsukova¹

2022

JIS

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“…В частности, важность свадьбы восходит к тому обстоятельству, что статусы, возможности и жизненные практики замужних и незамужних женщин в странах Средней Азии кардинально различаются. Свадьба выступает актом легитимизации нового статуса женщины в родовых отношениях (Cleuziou and McBrien, 2021). Расходы на свадьбу являются важнейшим фактором трудовой миграции (Абашин, 2015).…”

Section: общественное мнение как фактор принуждения к тратамunclassified

Bank loans vs debt within social networks: The case of Central Asia

Barsukova

2022

Terra Econ.

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In the countries of Central Asia, rituals of weddings, funerals and other important events play a significant role. Many complex ceremonies impose a financial burden on households, which is alarming for the authorities, who see the ritual economy as a threat of the citizens' impoverishment. The reputation of families and the desire to confirm social status in the eyes of relatives, neighbors and friends doom households to conspicuous extravagance. This article uses empirical evidence collected through interviews with the residents of Central Asian countries in 2021-2022. The ritual economy in the countries of Central Asia is a vivid example of social pressure on the financial behavior of families. Spending during the performance of rituals is a kind of self-presentation of households. A significant part of the inhabitants of the Central Asian region is not able to bear the burden of expenses associated with the performance of rituals without borrowing. Even despite the fact that, for example, for weddings they begin to prepare much in advance. However, own savings, as a rule, are not sufficient. The way out is a formal or informal loan. The article describes how debt obligations are organized under a formal agreement with a bank loan or informal borrowing from friends and relatives, and what drives household choice. The expansion of bank lending is driven by two reasons. The first is the attractiveness of bank loans due to the fact that they are not personalized and do not imply a feeling of personal gratitude to those who lend money. The second reason is the growth in defaults on loans from relatives and friends, which causes a reduction in the practice of using social networks as sources of lending. Non-payments of loans indicate a reduction in the ability of the social environment to control the behavior of its members.

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“…Various social actors, rather than institutions, find new ways to insert religion in public spaces while acknowledging-even when challenging or renegotiatingthe tenets of secularism. Geertz (2005) pointed out the emergence of religious persuasion as an instrument of public identity ("the religious mindedness" of people) already in the 1960s, but we see lately more concerted efforts to reclaim spheres of life that were for a long time the domain of the secular (socialist) state-for example, gender and reproductive politics (Luehrmann 2018a;Mishtal 2015), life-cycle rituals (Cleuziou 2019;Cleuziou and McBrien 2021;McBrien 2020;Roche and Hohmann 2011), education (Köllner 2016;Ladykowska and Tocheva 2013), economy (Botoeva 2018;Fomina 2020;Köllner 2020), and public space (Tateo 2020).…”

Section: Secularism and Religion Between The 'Posts'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropology of Transformation

2022

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This collection of essays is the result of the joint efforts of colleagues and students of the leading social anthropology and post-socialism theorist, Professor Chris Hann. With the thirtieth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 2019 as their catalyst, the authors reflect upon Chris Hann’s lifelong fieldwork in the discipline, spanning regions as diverse as East Central Europe, Turkey, and the Chinese north-west. The collapse of the Berlin Wall naturally triggered a plethora of analysis and scholarly research. Sociocultural anthropology, with its focus on ethnographic study and on the gradual evolution of social relations, sharply contrasted with the emphasis on dramatic rupture brought about by the 1989 transition. Continuing in this tradition, this volume, through micro-level analysis of societal transformation from the post-war years to the present day, provides an alternative perspective to the neoliberalist views often encountered in the scholarship on political and economic modernisation. The more nuanced analysis of social transformations proposed here is a particularly useful tool in the investigation of contemporary issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the refugee ‘crisis’, and the rise of right-wing populism in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Anthropology of Transformation will be of interest to researchers in the fields of socio-cultural anthropology, religion and economics. Moreover, the book’s discussion of issues widely discussed beyond the field of academia such as neoliberalism and the welfare state, and populist and exclusionary politics, will appeal to non-specialist readers.

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Marriage quandaries in Central Asia

Cited by 23 publications

References 49 publications

Ritual Economy, or How Much Is Spent on A Wedding in Central Asia

Ritual Economy, or How Much Is Spent on A Wedding in Central Asia

Bank loans vs debt within social networks: The case of Central Asia

Anthropology of Transformation

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