Difference between revisions of "Mahallah (Uzbekistan)"

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However, the word’s rich cultural roots mean that mahalla has multiple meanings and definitions. In Uzbekistan it is also used by local people to describe community-based, informal economic practices (Sievers 2002; Urinboyev 2013)<ref>Sievers, E. 2002.’ Uzbekistan’s Mahalla: from Soviet to Absolutist Residential Community Associations.’ The Journal of International and Comparative Law at Chicago-Kent 2: 91–158</ref><ref>Urinboyev, R. 2013. ‘Living Law and Political Stability in Post-Soviet Central Asia. A Case Study of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan.’ PhD Dissertation, Lund Studies in Sociology of Law. Lund University, Lund</ref>. In this sense, mahalla denotes the means whereby people obtain access to public goods, services and social protection while bypassing the state. It is therefore necessary to distinguish between the ‘administrative‘ (formal) and the ‘social‘ (informal) functions. For example, the term informal mahalla may be used to refer to mahalla-based welfare and redistributive practices.

However, the word’s rich cultural roots mean that mahalla has multiple meanings and definitions. In Uzbekistan it is also used by local people to describe community-based, informal economic practices (Sievers 2002; Urinboyev 2013)<ref>Sievers, E. 2002.’ Uzbekistan’s Mahalla: from Soviet to Absolutist Residential Community Associations.’ The Journal of International and Comparative Law at Chicago-Kent 2: 91–158</ref><ref>Urinboyev, R. 2013. ‘Living Law and Political Stability in Post-Soviet Central Asia. A Case Study of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan.’ PhD Dissertation, Lund Studies in Sociology of Law. Lund University, Lund</ref>. In this sense, mahalla denotes the means whereby people obtain access to public goods, services and social protection while bypassing the state. It is therefore necessary to distinguish between the ‘administrative‘ (formal) and the ‘social‘ (informal) functions. For example, the term informal mahalla may be used to refer to mahalla-based welfare and redistributive practices.

The origin of the practice dates back to the 11th or 12th centuries when Islamic empires dominated Central Asia. In the pre-Soviet period, mahallas were usually communities of several hundred people, organised in accordance with Islamic rituals and social events. A group of elders known as oqosoqol (‘white beards‘) acted as administrators, providing advice and direction to the local community (Geiss 2001; Dadabaev 2013)<ref>Geiss, P. 2001. ‘Mahallah and kinship relations. A study on residential communal commitment structures in Central Asia of the 19th century. Central Asian Survey, 20 (1): 97–106.</ref><ref>Dadabaev, T. 2013. ‘Community life, memory and a changing nature of mahalla identity in Uzbekistan,’ Journal of Eurasian Studies, 4 (2): 181–196</ref>. According to Olga Sukhareva (1976)<ref>Sukhareva, O. 1976. Kvartal’naya obshchina pozdnefeodl’nogo goroda Bukhary: Vsvyazi s istoriei kvartalov. Moscow: Nauka</ref>, a Russian anthropologist specialising in the study of mahallas in medieval Bukhara, mahallas gave residents access to services and infrastructure that were not accessible to non-residents. These included mosques, teahouses, bazaars, cooking areas, and water supplies.

The origin of the practice dates back to the 11th or 12th centuries when Islamic empires dominated Central Asia. In the pre-Soviet period, mahallas were usually communities of several hundred people, organised in accordance with Islamic rituals and social events. A group of elders known as oqosoqol (‘white beards‘) acted as administrators, providing advice and direction to the local community (Geiss 2001; Dadabaev 2013)<ref>Geiss, P. 2001. ‘Mahallah and kinship relations. A study on residential communal commitment structures in Central Asia of the 19th century. Central Asian Survey, 20 (1): 97–106.</ref><ref>Dadabaev, T. 2013. ‘Community life, memory and a changing nature of mahalla identity in Uzbekistan,’ Journal of Eurasian Studies, 4 (2): 181–196</ref>. According to Olga Sukhareva (1976)<ref>Sukhareva, O. 1976. Kvartal’naya obshchina pozdnefeodl’nogo goroda Bukhary: Vsvyazi s istoriei kvartalov. Moscow: Nauka</ref>, a Russian anthropologist specialising in the study of mahallas in medieval Bukhara, mahallas gave residents access to services and infrastructure that were not accessible to non-residents. These included mosques, teahouses, bazaars, cooking areas, and water supplies.

During the early Soviet period, the authorities attempted to eliminate the mahalla as an institution; these attempts were abandoned after it became evident that they would provoke social unrest (Abramson 1998)<ref>Abramson, D. 1998. ‘From Soviet to Mahalla: Community and Transition in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan.’ PhD thesis, Indiana University. Ann Arbor: UMI Dissertation Services</ref>. As a result, the Soviet authorities changed their strategy and tried instead to use mahallas to disseminate communist ideology by integrating them into the state and party structures. As a result, mahallas continued to serve as local village councils throughout the Soviet period (Bektemirov and Rahimov 2001)<ref>Bektemirov, K. and Rahimov, E., 2001. ‘Local Government in Uzbekistan’ in V. Popa and I. Munteanu (eds), Developing New Rules in the Old Environment. Local governments in Eastern Europe, in the Caucasus and in Central Asia. Budapest: Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative, Open Society Institute Europe: 469–520</ref>.

During the early Soviet period, the authorities attempted to eliminate the mahalla as an institution; these attempts were abandoned after it became evident that they would provoke social unrest (Abramson 1998)<ref>Abramson, D. 1998. ‘From Soviet to Mahalla: Community and Transition in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan.’ PhD thesis, Indiana University. Ann Arbor: UMI Dissertation Services</ref>. As a result, the Soviet authorities changed their strategy and tried instead to use mahallas to disseminate communist ideology by integrating them into the state and party structures. As a result, mahallas continued to serve as local village councils throughout the Soviet period (Bektemirov and Rahimov 2001)<ref>Bektemirov, K. and Rahimov, E., 2001. ‘Local Government in Uzbekistan’ in V. Popa and I. Munteanu (eds), Developing New Rules in the Old Environment. Local governments in Eastern Europe, in the Caucasus and in Central Asia. Budapest: Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative, Open Society Institute Europe: 469–520</ref>.

After Uzbekistan became independent in 1991, the authorities expanded the role and responsibilities of mahallas (Koroteyeva and Makarova 1998; Louw 2007)<ref>Koroteyeva, V. and Makarova, E. 1998. ‘The Assertion of Uzbek National Identity: Nativization or State Building Process?’ in T. Atabaki and J. O’Kane (eds), Post-Soviet Central Asia. New York: I.B. Tauris</ref><ref>Louw, M., 2007. Everyday Islam in Post-Soviet Central Asia, Central Asian Studies Series. London: Routledgew</ref>. The mahalla was transformed into the basic administrative unit of local government. Mahallas are now hybrid institutions, operating both as part of the formal system of public administration (formal mahalla) and as an informal, community-based welfare system (informal mahalla) (Sievers 2002; Urinboyev 2011, 2013, 2014)<ref>Sievers, E. 2002.’ Uzbekistan’s Mahalla: from Soviet to Absolutist Residential Community Associations.’ The Journal of International and Comparative Law at Chicago-Kent 2: 91–158</ref><ref>Urinboyev, R. 2011. Law, Social Norms and Welfare as Means of Public Administration: Case Study of Mahalla Institutions in Uzbekistan. The NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy 4 (1): 33–57</ref><ref>Urinboyev, R. 2013. ‘Living Law and Political Stability in Post-Soviet Central Asia. A Case Study of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan.’ PhD Dissertation, Lund Studies in Sociology of Law. Lund University, Lund</ref><ref>Urinboyev, R. 2014. ‘Is There an Islamic Public Administration Legacy in Post-Soviet Central Asia? An Ethnographic Study of Everyday Mahalla Life in Rural Ferghana, Uzbekistan. Administrative Culture, 15 (2):35–57</ref>. One may distinguish between ‘formal‘ and ‘informal‘ mahalla by looking at their functions and regulatory structures: formal mahallas take the form of committees headed by a state-salaried chairman (rais) and act on behalf of the state; informal (social) mahallas are founded on moral ideas of solidarity and mutual help and are led by an oqsoqol chosen by residents.

After Uzbekistan became independent in 1991, the authorities expanded the role and responsibilities of mahallas (Koroteyeva and Makarova 1998; Louw 2007)<ref>Koroteyeva, V. and Makarova, E. 1998. ‘The Assertion of Uzbek National Identity: Nativization or State Building Process?’ in T. Atabaki and J. O’Kane (eds), Post-Soviet Central Asia. New York: I.B. Tauris</ref><ref>Louw, M., 2007. Everyday Islam in Post-Soviet Central Asia, Central Asian Studies Series. London: Routledgew</ref>. The mahalla was transformed into the basic administrative unit of local government. Mahallas are now hybrid institutions, operating both as part of the formal system of public administration (formal mahalla) and as an informal, community-based welfare system (informal mahalla) (Sievers 2002; Urinboyev 2011, 2013, 2014)<ref>Sievers, E. 2002.’ Uzbekistan’s Mahalla: from Soviet to Absolutist Residential Community Associations.’ The Journal of International and Comparative Law at Chicago-Kent 2: 91–158</ref><ref>Urinboyev, R. 2011. Law, Social Norms and Welfare as Means of Public Administration: Case Study of Mahalla Institutions in Uzbekistan. The NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy 4 (1): 33–57</ref><ref>Urinboyev, R. 2013. ‘Living Law and Political Stability in Post-Soviet Central Asia. A Case Study of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan.’ PhD Dissertation, Lund Studies in Sociology of Law. Lund University, Lund</ref><ref>Urinboyev, R. 2014. ‘Is There an Islamic Public Administration Legacy in Post-Soviet Central Asia? An Ethnographic Study of Everyday Mahalla Life in Rural Ferghana, Uzbekistan. Administrative Culture, 15 (2):35–57</ref>. One may distinguish between ‘formal‘ and ‘informal‘ mahalla by looking at their functions and regulatory structures: formal mahallas take the form of committees headed by a state-salaried chairman (rais) and act on behalf of the state; informal (social) mahallas are founded on moral ideas of solidarity and mutual help and are led by an oqsoqol chosen by residents.

Given the existence during the Soviet period of an all-encompassing social protection system, people in those days felt less need for a mahalla-based welfare system. But cutbacks in state welfare support in the post-Soviet period mean that mahallas have now become primary providers of social welfare. Sievers (2002: 103)<ref>Sievers, E. 2002.’ Uzbekistan’s Mahalla: from Soviet to Absolutist Residential Community Associations.’ The Journal of International and Comparative Law at Chicago-Kent 2: 91–158</ref> notes that, ‘The economic significance of mahalla has shifted from a vehicle through which to amass additional or disposable wealth to a vehicle for basic survival.’

Given the existence during the Soviet period of an all-encompassing social protection system, people in those days felt less need for a mahalla-based welfare system. But cutbacks in state welfare support in the post-Soviet period mean that mahallas have now become primary providers of social welfare. Sievers (2002: 103)<ref>Sievers, E. 2002.’ Uzbekistan’s Mahalla: from Soviet to Absolutist Residential Community Associations.’ The Journal of International and Comparative Law at Chicago-Kent 2: 91–158</ref> notes that, ‘The economic significance of mahalla has shifted from a vehicle through which to amass additional or disposable wealth to a vehicle for basic survival.’