Locating the good life: Paradoxes of migration in Tajikistan

What is migration and what does it do in rural Tajikistan – one of the most remittance dependent countries in the world?
  
Elena will focus on the main paradox of migration her research revealed. One must go to Russia to become recognised as a good person by one’s community, while at the same time going to Russia can undermine the foundations of one’s personhood. This tragic paradox points to the scope and complexity of the interlocutors’ embeddedness within the largely unequal relations of interdependence at difference scales – Russia’s and Tajikistan’s economies, places, ideas and bodies.

She will unpack this ethno-graphically through looking at the entanglements between migration and people’s pre-occupation with crafting themselves as certain kind of modern subjects, and will show that the departure of Soviet modernity followed by the normalisation of mass migration of Tajikistanis to Russian cities has resulted in migration becoming intrinsic to the very project of becoming a ‘modern’ person. Migration to Russia aims to fill the gap not only in family budgets, but also in people’s sense of self. Yet, this gap cannot be closed, as migrants’ presence in the territory of Russia is contingent on subordinating their aspirations for modernity to the physical prowess and docility needed to construct modern life for the Russian middle class.

This in-person event will be particularly useful for those interested in migration, anthropology, personhood, and Central Asia.

Related links

• Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU)
• TCRU seminar series
• Social Research Institute

Image

Hamish Duncan via Unsplash.