‘We’re all like brothers’: religion’s role in Afghan Uzbek identity formation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies on Muslim self-conception within Central Asia have flourished over the past twenty years in post-Soviet Central Asia as they did in the 1960s and 1970s within Afghanistan. This research provides qualitative data to compare studies on identity formation within Central Asia, particularly among Uzbeks. From 2018–2019, the author interviewed 20 Uzbek speakers and conducted participant observation in a community of Afghan Uzbeks in northern Afghanistan. The study sought to understand how Uzbek-speaking Sunni Afghans negotiate their identity, particularly with regard to the role of religion in that identity formation. This data was analysed using the grounded theory tools of coding, memo-writing and theory development. The study found that religion played a role in defining identity and ethnicity by reinforcing their membership in the collective identity of the nation of Afghanistan. It also indicated the importance of foreign association in formulating diverse expressions of Muslim identity.