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Living in Transition

How Kyrgyz Women Juggle Their Different Roles in a Multi-local Setting

Susan Thieme, University of Zurich, Humangeography, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. Email: susan.thieme{at}geo.uzh.ch

The major destinations for labor migrants from rural southern Kyrgyzstan are Russia, Kazakhstan and Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. As well as searching for better income, younger men and women also migrate for educational reasons and to escape from traditions such as early marriage. Although these migration processes make both women and men vulnerable, women face particular forms of vulnerability that intersect with one another. Middle-aged migrating women do experience a devaluation of their education and struggle to handle the multiple roles and expectations of being breadwinner, mother, wife and daughter-in-law, supporting the older and young generation left behind. The youngest generation, born during this transitional period since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, faces its own challenges of trying to take advantage of economic liberalization. Using an approach, which views the multi-local settings of families from women's perspectives, this article provides insights into perceptions and experiences of migration and their consequences for different generations.

Gender, Technology and Development, Vol. 12, No. 3, 325-345 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/097185240901200303


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