In 1924, the Bolshevik regime began an unprecedented campaign to forcibly emancipate the Muslim women of Tajikistan. The emancipatory reforms included unveiling women, passing progressive family code laws, and educating women. By the 1950s, the Soviet regime largely succeeded in putting an end to veiling, child marriage, polygamy, and bride payments. Yet today there is a resurgence in these practices the Bolsheviks claimed to have eliminated. Coerced Liberation reveals that the Soviet regime transformed the lives of urban women within a single generation but without lasting effect.
Drawing on unique primary sources, the book examines why this occurred. It addresses questions that are pertinent to ongoing debates in the international arena: What happens when an outside force attempts to modernize a society deeply rooted in centuries of patriarchal norms and values? In what ways can a devout religious rural community respond to, survive, and adapt to such interventions? And how does a state-centred, top-down approach towards women's emancipation work?
Coerced Liberation presents critical insights for readers interested in gender dynamics within Muslim communities, the roles of women in Islam, the resurgence of Islam in former colonial territories, the effectiveness of a top-down approach towards women's movements, and more.
By:
Zamira Abman
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 13mm
Weight: 300g
ISBN: 9781487553180
ISBN 10: 1487553188
Pages: 234
Publication Date: 18 July 2024
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Attack: The Soviet Campaign to “Liberate” Muslim Women of Central Asia, 1924–1935 2. The Retreat: The Stalinist Approach to the Muslim Woman Question, 1935–1953 3. The Triple Burden: Soviet Reforms in Post-war Rural Tajikistan, 1953–1982 4. The Beneficiaries: Urban Women Professionals and Their Legacy, 1953–1982 5. The Thaw Era: Women’s Organizations (Zhensovety) in Post-war Tajikistan, 1953–1982 6. “I Am Muslim and Soviet”: The Soviet Anti-religious Campaign Aimed at Muslim Women, 1953–1982 Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index
Zamira Abmanis an assistant professor in the Departments of History and European Studies at San Diego State University.
Reviews for Coerced Liberation: Muslim Women in Soviet Tajikistan
""Based upon extensive, original archival work and dozens of oral histories, Coerced Liberation is a significant contribution to our understanding of the complexities, paradoxes, and contradictory results of the Soviet 'liberation' of women in Tajikistan. In this remarkable book, Zamira Abman elevates the voices and recognizes the dignity of Tajik women. With empathy and grace, she tells a nuanced story - both about the back-breaking burdens and inequality suffered by rural women for the advancement of the Soviet state, and also about the select urban women who benefitted from education and careers. Abman further demonstrates the persistence of a patriarchal culture that ultimately prevented educated and professional women from improving the lives of Tajik women more broadly.""--Kathleen Collins, Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota ""Zamira Abman delivers a very engaging social history of women in Tajikistan. Combining research in archives, Soviet-era periodicals, and oral histories, Coerced Liberation offers those who study gender in the Soviet Union a welcome focus on the 1950s to 1980s in one republic, differentiating Tajik women by their lived experiences of opportunity or limitations.""--Marianne Kamp, Associate Professor of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University
