The Sociology of Central Asian Youth by Mohd.Aslam Bhat

Author:Mohd.Aslam Bhat [Bhat, Mohd.Aslam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367431808
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2020-01-14T00:00:00+00:00

Given their exposure to the liberal democratic values and American culture at large, FLEX alumni on returning to their native countries are expected to teach and share their experiences with their peers. In this connection, the FLEX alumni of Uzbekistan have come up with some social awareness and counselling programmes like prevention of drug abuse, human trafficking, etc. (OSINFO, 2005). However, given the broader politico-cultural setup of the country, these alumni do not merely find themselves in severe cultural shock, but rather are implemented to justify and legitimate the discursive thrall of the prevailing system. In fact, every youth in Uzbekistan who gets an opportunity or is provided with a scholarship, funding or loan, etc., is expected and at times pushed to speak the authoritarian language of the country. That is to say that these young people are not allowed to hold any independent opinion contrary to the prevailing dominant opinion of the system.

The ‘Umid fund’ has been one such example – a Presidential Scholarship Programme established in 1997 by the Uzbek government to support the education abroad of talented youth. Upon accomplishment of their studies, these alumni were contractually obligated to work five years for the government and share their expertise with their peers. If they failed to fulfil their contract, their families faced possible prosecution or the loss of their homes. However, after the foundation stopped its activities, a large number of alumni immediately returned to the countries where they had studied (Zayaeva, 2006).

Still this is not the only case concerning these ambitious Uzbek youth. Looking through the lens of their anticipation, this youth category of Uzbekistan is most diverse and vibrant, and includes young people across the country. Among them one meets youth who want to become devout Muslims, but due to repressive religious policies (see Zanca, 2005) and cynical surroundings, they prefer to keep silent. Some pretend to be patriotic, politically interested and believe in national ideology, as Nelofar, a BA student from Tashkent told me:

Why should we think about liberal democracy? Isn’t China a non-democratic country, isn’t their power structure centralised? How could they emerge as a world power? In that way we [Uzbekistan] can also be like China in our future. We’ve no need of others suggestions.

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