nationalist writings of the Turkic ethnic groups of
the area when they were colonized by Russia (Ror-
lich 2000), in the new states, in contrast, national-
ist efforts often involve a rejection of anything
associated with Soviet colonialism, and hence pose
problems for women. As compared to the early
Turkic nationalists, contemporary nationalists of
the post-Soviet Caucasus have adopted more con-
servative interpretations of Islam, which has come
to represent an opposition to the Soviet-imposed
communism and Westernization. Patriarchal rela-
tions and traditional gender division of labor are
increasing as part of such nation-building efforts;
for example, the tendency to marry at a younger
age and bear many children is held up as the sacred
duty of women to their nations; many women do
not object to this because of their feeling of having
been worn down by the “double burden” of the
Soviet era (Tohidi 2000). Thus Caucasian women
face the major burden of the current difficulties of
the economic transformation of the socialist states;
these indirectly influence women’s family status by
reinforcing gender-based traditional division of labor
and hampering their public participation (Shami
2000).
Thus, in spite of some progressive changes, issues
involving gender and family are so closely identi-
fied with the Islamic cultural traditions that they
continue to elicit conservative political reactions,
even today. The strong family traditions and reli-
gion of the people of this region, who have recently
been exposed to the widespread tensions of rapid
change in different areas of life, have been impor-
tant sources of support and meaning as well as a
means of restriction. Still, the more liberal and
democratic trends among the progressive segments
of the area may pave the way toward promoting
more egalitarian, gender-sensitive relationships in
these societies, as suggested by the Turkish urban
trends.
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A. Güneç-Ayata (eds.),Gender and identity construc-
tion. Women of Central Asia, the Caucasus and
Turkey, Leiden 2000, 249–92.E. Olcay Imamo(luThe United StatesIt is helpful to characterize Islamic discourses on
family in the United States by distinguishing four
social constellations: early migration followed by
adaptation; the rise of African-American Islam; the
developments attending the feminist agenda; and
the reactions to the rise of Islamism (fundamental-
ism). While each has its own trajectory, none oper-
ates without interaction with the others. Despite
attending complexities, the constellations do pro-
vide structures through which the Islamic experi-
ence can be understood.Early migration followed by
adaptation
The stage was set for Islam in the Unites States to
be gendered in a specific way by migration pat-
terns. The earliest Muslim migrants were males
who came to work. They came without spouses. It
is important to note this fact because one of the ide-
ological bases of traditional Islam has been the crit-
ical role of family in defining Muslim life. Family is
essential to umma(community) formation, which
itself is a kind of family writ large, but it is also sig-
nificant because of the theologically-sanctioned
relationship of the sexes, which is gendered while
being cohesive. This theological ideology began
with the Qur±àn, and it has remained a central fea-
ture of Islamic societies ever since.
In effect, then, the beginnings of Islam in the
United States arose without Muslim women being
present, a situation unnatural from a religious point
of view. Furthermore, restricted by laws that cur-
tailed the immigration of certain nationalities (such