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Celia E. RothenbergThe Caucasus and Central AsiaAmong the values preserved by the various eth-
nic groups living in the Caucasus and Central Asia
are the maintenance of gendered space and the con-
cept of family honor. Women maintain family rep-
utation and honor by demurely staying in the
background and exercising restraint. This often
means that women’s friendships are primarily forged
within the extended family structure, as women of
conservative Muslim and Orthodox Christian fam-
ilies traditionally were/are enjoined not to socialize
with those unrelated to them. While conservatism
is not solely found in rural areas, village life is
somewhat more prone to keep within traditional
norms due to the intimate living conditions of small
settlements. Urban life allows more flexibility and
openness because of the anonymity cities provide.
This makes it easier for women to create bonds of
friendship outside the family circle and widen their
webs of social relationships.
How significant friendships between women are
when viewed from a socioeconomic and political
perspective is difficult to ascertain and represent in
numbers and statistics. Currently, there is little if
any research material available that specifically
addresses the role of friendships in Central Asia
or the Caucasus. This may reflect a disinterest of
scholars to investigate the importance of informal
relationships in general, or women’s private lives in
particular. It may also indicate a lack of available
funding for research that does not translate into
economic or political applications. Then again, it
may simply be a matter of the difficulty encoun-
tered when scholars try to enter into personal
discourse with informants who wish to remain
anonymous, or mistrust foreigners who apparently
represent institutional entities, or – even worse –
governments.
the caucasus and central asia 191Friendships are an integral part of the social net-
work that facilitates local micro-economies and
makes survival possible in severely distressed eco-
nomies of the slowly developing civil societies.
Hence, women’s friendships are of immense impor-
tance as they not only represent an emotional and
social outlet for them, but also because they pro-
vide access to networks that help pool and redis-
tribute scant resources in areas devastated by Soviet
economic policies that created an ecological disas-
ter zone across the vast expanse of Central Asia.
As can be gleaned from numerous scholars of the
region whose work originates in different disci-
plines, women’s friendships are essential for the
survival of all social groups. Attempts at creating
civil societies in the independent states have made
the role of friendship among women in given neigh-
borhoods and with women from foreign non-gov-
ernmental agencies more visible in recent years.
Within grassroots organizations run by and for
women, friendship between women of different
ethnical, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds
are opening channels of communication as well as
venues for political agency.
Still, popular religion is often the only acceptable
social outlet for many women. Rituals and cere-
monies are fertile grounds for renewal, mainte-
nance, and creation of friendships. Unlike most
men, women venture past class and professional
boundaries in search of social connections. They
cast their nets wider in forming friendships and use
religious and religiously sanctioned gatherings,
especially when sponsored by the ma™alla – the
traditional community based on patrilineal clan
organization – to build networks.
The social life of the community centers on the
ma™alla, a bastion of traditionalism that situates
women in a “safe” and (usually) unassailable dis-
cursive space. Within that framework, women’s
friendships are articulated according to traditional-
ist sensibilities. In this context, religious instruction
by an otin, a woman who teaches Islam to girls and
women, festivals, rituals, and prayer meetings are
welcome diversions and present additional oppor-
tunities to connect with the world outside family
boundaries.
Most women depend on their friends for emo-
tional support, especially as many of the younger
women often find themselves utterly powerless and
isolated as junior wives at the mercy of their
mother-in-law. A “good wife” is silent, does not
leave her house without her husband, and subordi-
nates herself completely to her mother-in-law. This
translates into high suicide rates for young brides