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A sound family for a healthy nation: Motherhood in Tajik national politics and society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Sophie Roche
Sophie Roche*
Affiliation:
Karl Jaspers Centre for Advanced Transcultural Studies, Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg, Voβstraβe 2, Building 4400, Heidelberg 69115, Germany
*
∗ Email: sophie.roche@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de
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Abstract

Since independence in 1991, Central Asian countries have put great effort into creating their respective national narratives, which are often based on an ethnic imagination. In Tajikistan this included the idea of shaping society via the family unit. Increasingly, motherhood became the focus of attention, which was made possible by merging two concepts. On the one hand, women are considered as “cultured” and educated people who the Soviet Union freed from “backward” traditions. On the other hand, traditions were reinvented such that the woman is considered the ultimate mother of the nation and the backbone of tradition. This article examines the changing status of motherhood in society and politics through efforts to create a sound family and a healthy nation.

Keywords

Tajikistanfamilymotherhoodnationalism
Type
Special Section: Gender and Nation in Post Soviet Central Asia
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , March 2016 , pp. 207 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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