TRIBAL STRUCTURES AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN CENTRAL ASIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF KAZAKH, KARAKALPAK, KYRGYZ, TAJIK AND UZBEK CONTEXTS
Keywords:
tribal structures; kinship networks; clan; Central Asia; Karakalpakstan; mahalla; collective memory; social capital; digital identity; layered identity; post-Soviet transformation; platformisationAbstract
This article offers a comparative sociological analysis of tribal and kinship structures in Kazakhstan, Karakalpakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Drawing on structural functionalism, collective memory theory, social network analysis and digital sociology, it examines how kinship-based identities persist and change under post-Soviet state-building, urbanisation and digital mediation. Three trajectories are identified: institutional resilience (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan), adaptive intermediacy (Karakalpakstan, Tajikistan) and structural transformation (Uzbekistan). The concept of “layered identity” is proposed to explain how tribal affiliation coexists with civic and digital belonging. Contrary to modernisation predictions, tribal structures have not disappeared but have become flexible social resources.
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