The State Policy of Identity in Uzbekistan during the Late Soviet Period and the Age of Independence

Abstract

The article examines the state policy of identity (or of the so called “national revival”) in Uzbekistan during the last three decades. We discuss the actions of the republic’s authorities in regard to identities of the population. The government set a course for the maintenance of the secular type of civil identity as early as in the late 1980s, deliberately forcing religious and regional identities out to the sphere of everyday life. The vision and understanding of secularism by the authorities, however, was rather peculiar. For instance, the reference to the history of state formation in the region was instrumental in justifying the monopoly of institutions of power in the matters of national identity building. This consistent and tactically rigid policy line was conducive to the strengthening of the secular regime insofar as it provided a stable domestic policy.