Family and Transnational Mobility in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Labor Migration from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to Russia in Bloomington, MN

Since the end of 1990s Russia has become a major country of destination for migrants from Central Asia. They are employed in the construction sector, public transport, maintenance, restaurant and catering services, but also small trade, and agriculture. Focusing on migrants from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, this book shows that the transfers of resources between receiving and sending countries in migration go far beyond financial remittances. Through a systematic analysis of migrant kinship at both ends of migration, it shows that in the context of migration, concepts of nuclear family, gender, customs, and traditions are challenged and may even cause tensions of social and symbolic nature between migrants and their dependent families. This study looks at transnational mobility in the context of post-Soviet transformation. Migration scholars have for recent years been engaged in a debate as to what extent international migration can influence economic, social and political development in sending countries. In view of the current increase in interest in the migration-development nexus, this study, too, contributes to the scholarly discourse with findings from Central Asia.