Planning the Nation: National Identity and the Family Planning Program in Uzbekistan

Scottie Buehler, University of Texas at Austin

Since the early 1990’s there has been a push to lower fertility rates through the use of modern contraceptives in Uzbekistan. The family planning program in Uzbekistan is considered largely successful, having increased current use among married women from 55.6% (DHS 1996) to 67.7% (DHS 2002). Central to the notion of citizenship is an individual’s relationship to the state and its resources (Yuval-Davis 1997). It has been well documented that women hold different forms of citizenship than men (e.g. Pateman, McKinnon, Yuval-Davis, Kandioyoti). My research will attempted to interrogate the role of the family planning program of Uzbekistan in national identity building and as part of this process, the defining of who is and who isn’t a citizen of the modern state. This task will be accomplished through the analyzing of statistical data from Demographic and Health Surveys, and a review of the relevant literature from international academics, the Uzbek state, and international donor agencies.