practice and maintain rituals and customs that
reflected both their Islamic and ethnic heritages,
without state intrusion (Akiner 1997, 274). They
were therefore key actors in preserving their Islamic
and traditional Central Asian identities, individu-
ally and collectively, under Soviet rule, even as they
were the “objects of emancipation” in the public
sphere.
Post-independence era
The process of defining women’s roles, socially
and politically, is part of the general resurgence of
Islamist and ethnonationalist identities, both of
which serve as contrast to Soviet imperialism. One
manifestation of this sociopolitical dynamic is the
focus on women’s dress as a marker of traditional,
ethnic, and Islamic identities (Tadjbaksh 1998,
175). In Tajikistan, for example, between 1990 and
1992, when nationalist sentiments were at their
peak, the veil and traditional dress (atlas) were
declared a national dress by both Muslim men and
women (Tadjbaksh 1998, 175).
More generally, competing ideals of womanhood
have come to dominate social Islamist discourse in
post-independence Central Asian society. As part
of the backlash against the Soviets, there is a posi-
tive view of the “traditional, Muslim, Central
Asian woman” and a negative perception of the
“emancipated, modern, Russian woman.” In real-
ity, most Central Asian women do not fall easily
into either category. The majority seek to balance
the two, rather than to replace the latter with the
former in a reversal of the Soviet female emancipa-
tion campaign (Akiner 1997, 263). For example, at
a conference on “Islam and the Role of Women” in
September 1992, Central Asian women favored the
domestic role of traditional women in the educa-
tion and upbringing of their children, while assess-
ing the difficulties for modern women to juggle
their professional and domestic responsibilities
(Tadjbaksh 1998, 177).
Women’s responses to Islamist and nationalist
pressures are expressed predominantly in informal
ways, and not exclusively through organized, polit-
ical involvement. For example, Muslim women’s
organizations have not been very successful so far,
partially due to lack of sufficient funding, and there
is not much evidence of a specifically feminist com-
ponent to Islamist movements (Akiner 1997, 294).
In social practice, although many women are
inclined to view Islam favorably, not many choose
to express it by adopting the veil. Most women see
it as a matter of personal commitment and not a
political statement of their identity (Akiner 268).
the caucasus and central asia 601Many Tajik women continue to work outside the
home, if and when they can find work in the midst
of political insecurity, due to financial necessity,
and do not practice female seclusion as part of the
ideal for traditional women (Tadjbaksh 1998, 180).
Yet many Central Asian and Caucasian women
support Islamist-oriented and nationalist political
movements. In Central Asia, during the Tajik civil
war, a significant percentage of Tajik women sup-
ported the United Tajikistani Opposition (UTO),
whose backbone was the Islamic Renaissance Party
(IRP). In 1992, Nazarudin Zuberdulla, com-
mander of the UTO’s military wing, declared that
the UTO’s women supporters were selling their
jewelry to buy arms (Rashid 1994, 180). In the
Caucasus, a study conducted by the Union of
Women of the Don Region (UWDR 1999) about
Chechen women’s attitudes toward making
Chechnya an Islamic state showed that a significant
percentage favored the idea. Two out of three
women looked favorably upon the prospect of
establishing an Islamic state in Chechnya, while
one in four respondents favored the Sharì≠a courts,
which were re-established in Chechnya from 1997
to 1999 (UWDR 1999). This is in addition to
Chechen women’s participation in the war for
“independence” as well as in field-commanding
resistance units (Chechen women 1999).BibliographyPrimary Sources
UWDR (Union Women of the Don Region), Chechen
women’s attitude towards making Chechnya an Is-
lamic state, 1999, <http://home.novoch.ru/~donwomen/
Report_ChechWom&War _09.htm>.Secondary Sources
S. Akiner, Between tradition and modernity. The dilemma
facing contemporary Central Asian women, in M.
Buckley (ed.), Post-Soviet women. From the Baltic to
Central Asia, Cambridge 1997, 261–304.
Chechen women during war, 1999, <www.amina.com/
article/chech_wom.html>.
M. Haghaygehi, Islam and politics in Central Asia, New
York 1995.
A. Rashid, The resurgence in Central Asia. Islam or
nationalism?London 1994.
A. Rorlich, Muslim feminism and nationalism. Crimea,
Middle Volga and Caucasus, in A. Samiuddin and
R. Khanam (eds.), Muslim feminism and feminist
movements, Delhi 2002, 245–67.
S. Tadjbaksh, Between Lenin and Allah. Women and ide-
ology in Tajikistan, in H. L. Bodman and N. Tohidi
(eds.), Women in Muslim societies, Boulder, Colo.
1998, 163–85.Omar Ashour and Uzma Jamil