The Bazaar Economy and Livelihood Strategies in Uzbekistan : Case Study of the Carpet Trade in Northern Qashqadaryo Province

Abstract

This paper will clarify the nature of the bazaar economy system and its role in subsistence strategies, with a focus on the business of buying and selling carpets in northern Qashqadaryo Province in southeastern Uzbekistan. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 transformed the lives of the citizens of Uzbekistan. For 20 years, people, especially those living in rural areas, have suffered from unemployment, the bankruptcy of collective farms, the degradation of the social security system, and continual inflation that led to a decline in living standards. Recent studies have clarified the functions of informal networks mainly based on relatives and neighbors, as well as the actual state of affairs of people who have adapted to the market economy and succeeded economically in the post-Soviet era. This paper will propose another point of view concerning survival strategies in Uzbekistan after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It analyzes the bazaar economy, which is based on the differences between pastoral and agricultural (plant breeding) subsistence in an area in northern Qashqadaryo Province. Historically, the bazaars of Central Asia have been positioned as the center of oasis and nomadic societies. There, settled people sold crops while pastoral people sold livestock and dairy goods, buying daily necessities using the money made from selling crops, livestock, and dairy goods. Middlemen would buy livestock at the bazaars located in pastoral areas, and then sell it at bazaars located in agricultural areas. The bazaar economy is based on the different types of subsistence resulting from the differences in the respective natural environments. It has a different structure from that of both the informal economy based mainly among relatives and neighbors and that of the global market system. However, the state of economic affairs in bazaars and their role in subsistence strategies in the post-Soviet era have not been clarified. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of bazaars started to increase, especially in rural Uzbekistan. Bazaars play a vital role in the lives of the people living in rural areas. At bazaars, who sells and buys carpets? How do the sellers and buyers negotiate with each other? Also, how is the price of carpets decided upon? To answer those questions, this paper examines the characteristics of the bazaar economy in northern Qashqadaryo Province and subsistence strategies in the post-Soviet era. Chapter III clarifies who the sellers and buyers are. It was found that most carpet sellers are also producers, while the majority of the buyers are middlemen. Sellers bring carpets to the bazaar to cover the expenses of wedding and circumcision ceremonies when their primary income, such as wages or pensions, has been delayed, or when they have no suitable livestock to be sold. For that reason, their primary job is not selling carpets at the bazaars. On the other hand, the middlemen frequently buy carpets at the bazaars. They sell them where people do not weave their own carpets as they are mainly engaged in farming. It seems from the negotiations at the bazaars that the middlemen who are familiar with prices and negotiation strategies have an advantage over sellers. However, chapter IV makes it clear that the business of buying and selling carpets does not produce great profits for the buyers, because in the post-Soviet era, carpets made by machine have spread into the areas where middlemen try to sell their carpets. Middlemen have had to sell carpets cheaper than those made by machine. They consider the carpet business a source of extra income. The carpet business has the advantage that whenever the sellers need money, they can sell the carpets they had bought previously and kept with themselves. In contrast, selling livestock entails a great deal of trouble and requires a large amount of capital. The business of buying and selling carpets is conducted

(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)