Control and Subversion investigates the relationship of gender to the inner workings of social control, such as exposing ways in which post-Soviet Tajikistan society threatens men’s masculinity, thereby bringing them to force family members into conformity, irrespective of the suffering this may cause.
Told through ethnographically collected life histories, the book examines how masculine and feminine gender characteristics influence personal relationships and explores gender relations at their most intimate – from the secret musings of adolescent girls, through the painful experiences of young men, to the trauma of sexual initiation.
Although largely concentrating on contemporary life, the book also discusses historical materials and Soviet influence on Tajik society. Control and Subversion is essential reading for anyone interested in Central Asia, Muslim societies, the lives of Muslim women, or gender in a Muslim context.
Table of Content
Acknowledgements
Dramatis Personae
Technical Information and Terminology
Glossary
Introduction: The Research Setting and Methodology
1. Conceptual Background
2. The Bolsheviks Attack but the Tajiks Resist
3. Community Control
4. Inter-Generational Family Control
5. The Individual Unmasked
6. The Couple Relationship: Love, Sex and Marriage
7. Control and Subversion
Bibliography
About the author
Colette Harris is a researcher specialising in gender and development, with particular interests in family relations, sexuality and domestic violence. She is currently program director, women in international development at the Office of International Research, Education and Development of Virginia Tech University in the States.
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