Mobile phones and self-determination among Muslim youth in Uzbekistan

Abstract

The researcher compared mitigation of request between Kazakh and Japanese languages from the viewpoint of Cross-Cultural Pragmatics. Based on Cross-Cultural Speech Act Research Project indicated in Blum-Kulka et al. (1989), the Internal and External downgraders in the two languages were investigated. The researcher established categories of Internal downgrades (e.g., Morphological downgraders and Lexical/Phrasal downgraders) adequate to Kazakh and Japanese, and cited examples of the languages. Moreover, the researcher analyzed quantitatively data of devices of the downgraders. Ten native speakers of Kazakh and ten native speakers of Japanese participated in the study. Data was obtained using an open role play, consisting of nine request situations. The Japanese participants used the Lexical/Phrasal downgraders to someone equal in status more frequently than the Kazakh participants. When analyzing statistically the devices, the Kazakh participants made use of Conditional clause more than the Japanese participants. On the other hand, the Japanese participants used Negative, Honorifics, Consultative device, Understater, Hesitator, and Disarmer more than the Kazakh participants. Regarding a use rate of devices of External downgraders, Preparator was used most frequently, and Supportive reason was used in second place in the two languages. 3 Significantly improved (3), improved (5), NA (3).

Online social support for infertility in Azerbaijan

“…Many gelins are socially isolated and have barriers to accessing social connections for support and thus may experience support inadequacy. Some gelins are discouraged from communicating with natal family and friends (Baştuğ and Hortaçsu, 2000 [Turkmenistan]; Costa, 2016 [Turkey]; Harris, 2004 [Tajikistan]; Ismailbekova, 2014 [Kyrgyzstan]; Kikuta, 2019 [Uzbekistan]). A national survey found 10% of wives were not allowed to meet with their family and 13% were not allowed to meet with friends (State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2006).…”

“…For gelins with access, social media can radically alter isolation and overcome barriers like restricted access to female relationships. Social media are described as revolutionary in combatting isolation for such women (Costa, 2016 [Turkey]; Kikuta, 2019 [Uzbekistan]; Younas et al, 2020 [Pakistan]). The ability for gelins to seek information and support has impact on her power, described below.…”

Online Temptations: Divorce and Extramarital Affairs in Kazakhstan

“…According to ICTs advocates, online dating platforms enable the discussion of wider and more sensitive issues that are often deemed unsuitable in offline settings (Nguyen 2020). Moreover, in the Muslim world, social media platforms and chat rooms create new virtual public spaces where people can meet and engage with the opposite sex without breaching any cultural or religious behavior codes that could damage especially the woman's reputation (Lo and Aziz 2009;Sotoudeh et al 2017;Kikuta 2019). Some optimists go as far as to argue that ICTs enable youth to pursue love as a basis of marriage and defy the norms of arranged marriage in socially conservative non-Western societies (Chakraborty 2012;Pourmehdi 2015;Kikuta 2019).…”

“…A research agenda is slowly being developed by scholars of Central Asia but so far only very few studies have investigated the importance of mobile Internet connection in altering mating, marriage, and divorce practices in Central Asia. Kikuta (2019) illustrates how the use of smartphones is changing courting and marriage arrangements among Muslim youth in the populous Ferghana Valley in the eastern part of Uzbekistan since the second half of the 2000s. The opportunity to privately communicate on text messaging apps on their mobile phones "far from their parents' prying eyes" helps young Uzbeks expand their independence and self-determined lifestyle and, in doing so, to choose their own spouses (Kikuta 2019, p. 188).…”

“…Respondents' answers to the two questions were captured in a ten-point Likert scale from 1 (=not justified) to 10 (=justified). 4 Additionally, the models included a variety of controls, reflecting the findings in the previous literature on how people's interaction with social media pages influence their views on marriages and divorce in Kazakhstan (Blum 2016(Blum , 2019Dall'Agnola 2021;Zheng et al 2017;Kikuta 2019;Friedrich Ebert Foundation Report 2019;Kabatova 2019a;Nurbai 2020). Variables consistently found by those previous studies to be associated with Kazakhs' concerns about divorce and casual sex are age, with younger people being more open towards sexual liberation and divorce because they are more frequently exposed to content on social media platforms; gender, with Kazakh men being less tempted to file for divorce than women, but being more likely to engage in online sexual activities with other women; urban/rural and class, with urban middle-class Kazakhs being more likely to file for divorce and engage in casual sex than their working-class counterparts living in the countryside; marital status, with married people being more likely to engage in online sexual activities than singles 5 ; and having children, capturing respondents' number of children.…”