From Endogamous Marriage to Ethnicity: Uzbek Community Survival Strategy After the 2010 Conflict in Osh

Abstract

In Uzbek families, marriages are endogamous; people marry within specific social groups or social units and marriages are arranged between families. The ideal marriage is made within their kinship system (oz jak) or among members of the kin group. The events of 2010 in Osh has changed the composition of Uzbek marriage patterns due to fear of rape, humiliation, and disgrace. The main argument of this paper is that the endogamous marriages of Uzbeks have been stretched to a wider Uzbek ethnic group. This means that Uzbek families started searching for a match with outsiders (zhat jak) living within short distances and long distances. Marrying outside of a kin group and village have become possible. As a coping strategy, the whole Uzbek ethnic group in Kyrgyzstan became in consequence a larger strong solidarity unit of kin alliances by accepting non-relatives as marriage partners.