Migration and Identity in Central Asia: The Uzbek Experience

"Who are the Others? Who are We? What is the difference between Them and Us?" Rano Turaeva ponders this question early in the first chapter of Migration and Identity in Central Asia: The Uzbek Experience, a book concerned with the social construction and maintenance of collective difference.

Turaeva considers these questions with reference to the specific circumstances of the Khorezmi, an Uzbekistani ethnic sub-group hailing from the country's northwest Khorezm Region, and their experiences as internal migrants moving to the capital city of Tashkent. The Khorezmi share a common ethnicity with those whose families have resided in Tashkent for generations, with differences between the two groups boiling down to differences in dialect and some cultural practices. Despite this, government restrictions on internal migration to Tashkent have contributed to the construction of new social divisions within the country and exacerbated the splintering of Uzbek ethnic identity.