Svetlana Peshkova | University of New Hampshire (original) (raw)

Papers, articles, books by Svetlana Peshkova

Central Asian Survey , 2024

The Russian word Imperskost', which can be translated into English as 'imperiality', is a useful ... more The Russian word Imperskost', which can be translated into English as 'imperiality', is a useful theoretical concept for scholarly writing in English that addresses individuals' and countries' imperial ambitions. In this note, I explore the meaning and relevance of this concept to our daily lives. Contrary to some existing definitions of Imperskost' in terms of political economy, history, psychology (as an unconscious bias) and its primordial origins, I argue that this feeling is primarily personal and located in the human body. Imperskost' is thus embodied as an emotion articulated and expressed as a sense of privilege, superiority and/ or entitlement. Confronting Imperskost'-whether one is a Russian citizen, a Russian speaker or not-is essential for overcoming it. Since scholarly works, including Central (Eur)Asian ethnography, can be sites for the formation and maintenance of Imperskost', internal disciplinary criticism and reflection are necessary for its undoing. However, this process begins with the individual.

ANTHROPOLOGIES RAN, 2022

Central Asian Affairs Journal, 2022

Gender-based violence, (geo)politics, and Islam continue to dominate the production of knowledge ... more Gender-based violence, (geo)politics, and Islam continue to dominate the production of knowledge about Central Asia. While using a gender lens, this Special Issue offers a different perspective on the region. The authors link historical analyses of imperial and Soviet gendered modernities to contemporary Central Asians' daily lives and local nationalisms to shed light on often overlooked areas in the literature, such as a systematic screening out of historical and contemporary gender diversity, sex work, virginity tests, in-bodiment (as in corporeality, not just the performance of social norms,) queer activism, and the use and abuse of discourse on traditions. As a platform for a conversation about negotiating gender in Central Asia and indigenizing gender theory from within other than Euro-American contexts, this Issue is an example of knowledge production by and with Central Asians. This Issue is also an invitation to continue using a gender lens, as there are still several research areas that remain unexplored and would, we believe, benefit from such an approach. central asian affairs 9 (2022) 149-175

Central Asian Affairs , 2022

Current attempts by local national/ist governments to impose a rigid binary gender order on local... more Current attempts by local national/ist governments to impose a rigid binary gender order on local populations are as colonial as the Russian and Soviet colonial attempts to remake Central Asian communities; these efforts are deemed to fail. Bach[ch]a (adolescent feminine male performers), as a gender position and socio-cultural institution not reduced to sexuality, is but one example of such efforts' futility. By adapting to a changing socio-political context, bacha did not disappear; overtime, this institution prevratilos' (has transformed) into something else.

Voices on Central Asia, 2022

Антропологии/Anthropologies. , 2022

Между этнографией/антропологией Центральной (Евр)Азии и колониализмом существуют сложные и на пер... more Между этнографией/антропологией Центральной (Евр)Азии и колониализмом существуют сложные и на первый взгляд парадоксальные связи. Имперские амбиции России и завоевание региона помогли наделили этнографию законным статусом как научную дисциплину. В то же время, описывая различия между людьми и бытом (образом жизни), чувствами и ценностями этих периферийных населений, этнография Центральной (Евр)Азии всегда противоречила, даже если и не намеренно, предположению об универсальности, когда речь шла о европейских, российских или советских ценностях и соответствующих цивилизаторских миссиях. Хотя такие ученые, как Франсин Хирш (2005), рассматривают роль дисциплины в формировании СССР и проек-те государственного объединения, нам еще предстоит провести критический анализ влияния этнографии/антропологии Центральной (Евр)Азии на создание постколониальных наций и на-ционализма. Изучение отношений между этнографией/антропологией и российским/русским имперским проектом является непростой задачей. Ниже я привожу общий обзор этой пробле-матики и критически рассматриваю связи и отношения между этой дисциплиной и органами власти и контроля. Внутренняя критика этнографии/антропологии необходима, если мы хо-тим, чтобы наши исследования были важны для жителей Центральной (Евр)Азии, а не толь-ко для правителей стран региона и России – правопреемницы СССР. Для пересмотра и пере-осмысления этнографии/антропологии будущего необходимо считаться с ее прошлым. Ниже представлена моя попытка выполнить обе задачи.

СветЛана Пешкова. Кафедра антропологии, Университет Нью-Гэмпшир, Штат Нью-Гэмпшир, США. s.peshkova@unh.edu. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0067-8829.Для цитирования: Пешкова С., Мое мнение и оценка существующих связей между этнографией/антропологией Центральной (Евр)Азии и (пост)колониализмом // Антропологии/Anthropologies. 2022. No 1. С. 52-67. https://doi.org/10.33876/2782-3423/2022-1/52-67

Routledge Handbook of Contemporary CA, 2021

The concept of 'gender,' which refers to a socio-cultural construction used to differentiate amon... more The concept of 'gender,' which refers to a socio-cultural construction used to differentiate among individuals in a society of whether and how one is female, male or any other culturally acceptable category, is not indigenous to the Central Asian region and may not be widely embraced by local populations, scholars and governments (Khalid 2015: 361; Kamp 2009; Megoran 1999).The local use of this term is often limited to the field of international aid and development and non-governmental activism. This is not surprising. As an analytical concept, gender originated and matured in American and European academic and activist circles from the 1960s onward (Olson & Horn-Schott 2018). During the last decade of the twentieth century, international agencies introduced this term to local activists and scholars (Hoare 2016: 292). Despite this history, thinking with gender about local lifeways is not just replicating an analytical concept produced elsewhere. Gender as a lens on social complexity offers a way for a more nuanced understanding of human diversity in and history of the region. Thinking with gender is not a requirement, but an option. Many of the existing works about Central Asia rely only on two, well-established, and widely accepted categories, such as 'women' and 'men.'These two categories are not the only categories present in the Central Asian context historically.They also fail to capture a contemporary diversity of meaningful and liveable human lives in the region. 1 As a result of a persistent scholarly reliance on 'women' and 'men' dichotomy assumed to be universal, humans and collectivities that do not fit neatly within these two categories are considered deviant and/or exceptions often undeserving of scholarly focus and empirical research. Despite the efforts of a handful of scholars (e.g., Buelow 2012;Wilkinson & Kirey 2010; Suyarkulova 2019), academic reliance on this dichotomy continues to create and maintain empirical and theoretical blind spots, which remain as mainly uncharted territory in scholarly work in and about the region. Hence, thinking with gender is also a call for offering thicker descriptions and analyses of local complex and complicated lives by shedding light on these blind spots. One of these spots is gender variance or a range of behaviours associated with opposite sex. This chapter is neither a well-balanced representation of gender roles and/or gender struggles in the region, nor it is a balanced insight into each country's gender orders associated with a (geopolitical) concept of 'post-Soviet' or 'former-Soviet' Central Asia.These imbalances reflect a

Central Asian Survey , 2015

Review of the book

Central Asian Analytical Network, 2017

«Женские марши»: о социальной и политической активности женщин в Центральной Азии в интервью со С... more «Женские марши»: о социальной и политической активности женщин в Центральной Азии в интервью со Светланой Пешковой (English)

Central Asian Analytical Network, 2017

Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 2015

Muslim women’s leadership cannot be reduced to its social manifestations and formation. While ana... more Muslim women’s leadership cannot be reduced to its social manifestations and formation. While analyzing a case study of leadership provided by some Muslim women in Uzbekistan, a post-Soviet Central Asian country, the author demonstrates that this
leadership is essentially personal, propelled from within individuals and driven by their motivations. At the same time, Muslim
women’s leadership is relational—conceptualized and enacted
always in relation to someone or something, including the self.
By highlighting the importance of individual experiences, this
article highlights the personal-relational dynamic and calls for an
analytical reassessment of the role of the human body beyond its
expected use in cultivating certain dispositions and sensibilities
in the debates about Muslim women’s leadership.

Contemporary Islam Journal, 2020

Working toward theorizing Central Asian women’s variegated and dynamic socio-political activism, ... more Working toward theorizing Central Asian women’s variegated and dynamic socio-political activism, in this article, I argue that the contextual nature of their activism remains the only viable analytical generalization we can make at this time. This activism emerges always in a particular existential and relational context presenting a range of problems local activists aim to address through the means available to them, including discourses on Islam, gender, and justice. I exemplify my approach by focusing on several Muslim women activists at different levels of Uzbek society, including an individual, communal, and a societal ones. Inspired by their interpretations of Islamic duties and responsibilities, these women fostered their individual moral transformation simultaneously extending it beyond themselves toward their local communities and the government.

In Women of Asia: Globalization, Development, and Social Change. Edited by Linda Lindsey and Mehrangiz Najafizadeh, Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). Chapter 27. Pp. 365-378. , 2018

In Uzbekistan Beyond the ‘Curtain.’ Approaches, Fieldworks, and Topics. Edited by Marlene Laurelle & Timur Dadabaev. Lexington/Rowman and Littlefield. Pp. , 2017

Islam, Society, and Politics in Central Asia. Edited by Pauline Jones Luong. University of Pittsburg Press. Pp. 29-55. , 2017

Uzbekistan Forum, Central Asian Survey, Special Issue, 2016, 2016

In Uzbekistan Forum, Central Asian Survey, Special Issue, 2016

This article examines Chechens' desire for freedom. 2002

Central Asian Survey , 2024

ANTHROPOLOGIES RAN, 2022

Central Asian Affairs Journal, 2022

Central Asian Affairs , 2022

Voices on Central Asia, 2022

Антропологии/Anthropologies. , 2022

Routledge Handbook of Contemporary CA, 2021

Central Asian Survey , 2015

Review of the book

Central Asian Analytical Network, 2017

Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 2015

Contemporary Islam Journal, 2020

In Women of Asia: Globalization, Development, and Social Change. Edited by Linda Lindsey and Mehrangiz Najafizadeh, Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). Chapter 27. Pp. 365-378. , 2018

In Uzbekistan Beyond the ‘Curtain.’ Approaches, Fieldworks, and Topics. Edited by Marlene Laurelle & Timur Dadabaev. Lexington/Rowman and Littlefield. Pp. , 2017

Islam, Society, and Politics in Central Asia. Edited by Pauline Jones Luong. University of Pittsburg Press. Pp. 29-55. , 2017

Uzbekistan Forum, Central Asian Survey, Special Issue, 2016, 2016

In Uzbekistan Forum, Central Asian Survey, Special Issue, 2016

This article examines Chechens' desire for freedom. 2002

Lossi36.com, 2021

A conversation between SvetLana Peshkova and Zhanar Sakerbayeva

Interview with CAA Network Feb., 2017

Critical Studies on Terrorism, 2020

In the 21st century, the discourse of danger is global and commonplace. Increasingly desensitised... more In the 21st century, the discourse of danger is global and commonplace. Increasingly desensitised to the visuals of violent carnage, the general public is still affected by this discourse existentially, through our governments’ national and foreign policies and increased surveillance, coupled with punitive incarceration. In such a context, terms such as “radicalisation,” “extremism,” and “terrorism” – deployed in policy briefs, by mass media and academic and non-academic “experts” – become a convenient shorthand used, often carelessly, for a phenomenon poorly understood and rarely questioned. Sophie Roche’s analysis of critical events in Tajikistan deconstructs the assumed naturalness of such terms and clarifies that which they obscure – the lifeways and faces of human communities at their centre. Book review roundtable of The faceless terrorist: a study of critical events in Tajikistan, by Sophie Roche, 2019, 377 pp., Cham, Switzerland, Springer, £46.99 (UK), ISBN9783030038427.

SUNY Press eBooks, Sep 8, 2015

In this report I describe and analyze the relationships between family structures, religious netw... more In this report I describe and analyze the relationships between family structures, religious networks and institutions in the Ferghana Oblast', Uzbekistan. In the first part of the report I identify several models of family structures in the area. These models are analytical abstractions that allow the researcher to consider the decisionmaking strategies used by the individual members of the families in the area regarding families' reproductive health. Yet reproductive decision-making is not limited to the family arena in the oblast'. The networks of relatives, friends, co-workers, neighbors, medical doctors and religious leaders are also involved in reproductive decision-making processes. Hence, I suggest that the role of religious leaders is crucial in considering the articulation and implementation of an Islamic dimension of health reform. More specifically, in the second part of the report I look at the role of religious networks and institutions in intra-family reproductive decisionmaking. A strong interest in this role is motivated by my interest in Islam in Central Asia and the desire to find entry points for an Islamic approach to reproductive health as a dimension of local and national health reform in Uzbekistan. The final part of the report suggests methodological recommendations for an Islamic health promotion in regard to reproductive health. ii SUMMARY OF THE REPORT I conducted a pilot ethnographic study of structures of family and religious institutions in Ferghana Valley, Uzbekistan, in May-June, 2001. The geographic scope of this pilot study included Ferghana oblast'. An oblast' is an administrative unit which is smaller than a region but bigger than a county. Later in the report I will use the term rayon, also an administrative unit, which approximates a township. I utilized the following ethnographic methods: participant observation, semi-structured, unstructured group and individual interviews, network analysis, and life histories. The data collected in the field was analyzed in August-September 2001. This final report reflects an analytical assessment of the ethnographic data. It includes a descriptive analysis and methodological recommendations regarding an Islamic approach to local health reform. The report is divided into three sections (1) a description and analytical assessment of the diverse and fluid structures of family and residence units in the area; (2) a survey of local Islamic networks and institutions, more specifically networks of otincha iii (female religious teachers), the institutions of Imam (religious leaders and administrators) and doml'ya (local lay and formal religious leaders); iv and (3) methodological recommendations. By institutions, I mean administrative religious units which operate under the government's supervision. They have a certain established structure which is not immutable to change. I call them formal units. By networks I mean non-administrative, not dogmatically organized social relationships. They have fluid and temporary structures which are (re)created situationally. I call these networks informal, and the individuals who constitute them-informal religious leaders. In this study, I have identified the basic structures and nuances of these networks/institutions and individuals who constitute them. These networks are possible entry points for local and national health promotion in Uzbekistan and possibly elsewhere in the Central Asia. Finally, I recommend methodological proceedings that (1) are contextually constructive, i.e. accepted as defined by the local population as traditional v ; and (2) legitimize the framework and material, which address issues of reproductive health and family planning in the ZdravPlus project (Abt. Associates Inc.

Antropologii, May 11, 2022

This series of events brings Indigenous perspectives from 22 Indigenous speakers across the U.S. ... more This series of events brings Indigenous perspectives from 22 Indigenous speakers across the U.S. and Arctic regions to discussions of sustainable futures within the New Hampshire community. There is growing movement in the academic community to understand how Indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage can deepen our thinking about sustainable futures. While most researchers recognize that anthropogenic climate change and other sustainability challenges require humanistic as well as scientific approaches, many have yet to thoroughly understand the colonial legacies that initiated many of these sustainability problems and continue to impede our study and solutions. The 2020-2021 Sidore Series was designed to increase awareness about Indigenous perspectives on climate change and cultural resilience; showcase examples of how Indigenous groups are engaged in regional, national, and international dialogues on climate and sustainability; explore how the University of New Hampshire can bring these ideas into teaching, research, and scholarship; and initiate relationships with Indigenous communities to pursue collaborative capacity-building for the co-production of knowledge.

Central Asian Survey, 2015

lities of identity and ethnic formation in a multivariate, fluid, contested, and potentially comp... more lities of identity and ethnic formation in a multivariate, fluid, contested, and potentially complex social and political world. Following his lead, the next step is to test his hypotheses and findings by constructing models that might suggest ways to refine, test and explain further the seemingly multi-morphous world of ethnic identity. As Andrew Gelman wrote recently, ‘ethnic and racial classifications are not fixed in time; rather, they exist in response to particular social conditions in the world. And these conditions continue to change...’ (Gelman 2015).

Central Asian Affairs, 2022

Current attempts by local national/ist governments to impose a rigid binary gender order on local... more Current attempts by local national/ist governments to impose a rigid binary gender order on local populations are as colonial as the Russian and Soviet colonial attempts to remake Central Asian communities; these efforts are deemed to fail. Bach[ch]a (adolescent feminine male performers), as a gender position and socio-cultural institution not reduced to sexuality, is but one example of such efforts’ futility. By adapting to a changing socio-political context, bacha did not disappear; overtime, this institution prevratilos’ (has transformed) into something else.

Islam, Society, and Politics in Central Asia

Contemporary Islam, 2020

Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 2015

Muslim women’s leadership cannot be reduced to its social manifestations and formation. While ana... more Muslim women’s leadership cannot be reduced to its social manifestations and formation. While analyzing a case study of leadership provided by some Muslim women in Uzbekistan, a post-Soviet Central Asian country, the author demonstrates that this leadership is essentially personal, propelled from within individuals and driven by their motivations. At the same time, Muslim women’s leadership is relational—conceptualized and enacted always in relation to someone or something, including the self. By highlighting the importance of individual experiences, this article highlights the personal-relational dynamic and calls for an analytical reassessment of the role of the human body beyond its expected use in cultivating certain dispositions and sensibilities in the debates about Muslim women’s leadership. As a venue for a more detailed understanding of existing forms of leadership among Muslim women, this dynamic helps us better comprehend human leadership in general.

Journal of International Women's Studies, 2009

Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia, 2021

Despite many geographic and historical examples of Muslim women's leadership, questions about wom... more Despite many geographic and historical examples of Muslim women's leadership, questions about women's ability to lead and about the kinds of leadership women can assume are still a part of scholarly and public debates among Muslims. Muslim women leaders (otinchalar) in post-Soviet Ferghana Valley act as leaders, both religious and political, within their communities without necessarily being recognized as such by formal religious and secular authorities. Based on ethnographic fieldwork (2001-2003) in the Valley, I argue that in order to fully understand women's leadership we need to question the assumption that men and women desire the same forms of leadership. A desire for leadership is not intrinsic to women (or humans in general) but is socio-historically specific. Thus constituted desire engenders different, equally important, forms of leadership, such as imams, mullahs, and otinchalar.

This dissertation defines and discusses Muslim female practitioners, otinchalar, in the Ferghana ... more This dissertation defines and discusses Muslim female practitioners, otinchalar, in the Ferghana Valley (Uzbekistan), who through religious education and practice become the leaders of Muslim women. The dissertation examines the ways in which religious networks of local ...