Category: Society
In Tajikistan, daughters-in-law face a hidden system of control
This article is published as part of a partnership between AUCA and Novastan, which brings graduate students’ academic work to a wider readership. Through this collaboration, Novastan aims to highlight… [...]
From Uzbekistan to Strasbourg: Aziz Shokhakimov, a conductor between cultures and languages
Originally from Uzbekistan, conductor Aziz Shokhakimov has been leading the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021. At 38, this first Uzbekistani conductor in Strasbourg, passionate about French music, has followed an… [...]
In Paris, an Uzbekistani NGO’s fight against human trafficking recognised with the French Republic Human Rights Prize
In 2025, the Uzbekistani NGO Istiqbolli Avlod received the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic. For its director, Nodira Karimova, this distinction is both an honour and a heavy… [...]
Tajik women reveal themselves through the “I am Tajik and…” trend
Faced with archaic social expectations, Tajik women are expressing their exhaustion through a new coded language on social media. Built around the phrase “I am Tajik”, many personal testimonies have… [...]
Tajikistan’s contribution to the war effort during the Second World War
Local historian Gafur Chermatov details how the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic contributed to the war effort during the Second World War, known in the USSR as the Great Patriotic War. [...]
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“Hafiz Saifullaev’s prose marks a fruitful turning point in Russian-language Tajik literature”
The short story collection Hold Me in Your Arms, by Hafiz Saifullaev, has been nominated for the Sadriddin Ayni Literary Prize. The book Hold Me in Your Arms (Moscow, 2024),… [...]
The paradoxes of migration from Tajikistan to Russia: an interview with Dr Elena Borisova
Tajikistan has one of the highest emigration rates globally, with most Tajiks migrating to Russia for work. One million Tajiks are estimated to reside in Russia at any given time,… [...]
The Lexicon of Kazakh Decolonisation
Over thirty years after the Soviet Union’s collapse, colonial influences persist in Kazakhstan. Russian remains widely spoken and serves as the primary language for interethnic communication. As language is a… [...]
When Freedom of Speech Is a Joke: Author of a Satirical News Outlet Detained in Kazakhstan
Temirlan Yensebek, creator and author of “Qaznews24,” an agency of satirical news, has been detained on Saturday in Almaty. He is expected to stand trial under accusations of incitement of… [...]
Night train to Dushanbe – a travelogue of Uzbek-Tajik relations
For many years, relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been fraught with tension. Some analysts even dubbed the ties between the two countries a Central Asian ‘cold war’. But… [...]
Leaving the island: Japarov’s campaign to silence independent media
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz Republic has been considered an island of democracy in a largely autocratic region. However, the latest administration has spent the last… [...]
Hitting the road: the first female bus drivers in Uzbekistan
A recent change in the law allows women to drive buses and heavy vehicles in Uzbekistan. This is a significant step forward for Uzbekistan’s transportation industry, a demonstration of active dedication… [...]