Women's & Gender Studies

Dr. Zulfiya Tursunova

Dr. Zulfiya Tursunova's Ph.D. dissertation “Livelihood, Empowerment, and Conflict Resolution in the Lives of Indigenous Women in Uzbekistan” examines the livelihood resilience mechanisms of people in response to land tenure changes, climate change in rural community development after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The research is built on the pillars that the issues of livelihood resilience are linked to local and global economy and social justice. Her research theorizes that 1) access to natural resources, market, and global economy is central in maintaining well-beings of people, 2) Indigenous women’s saving rotating networks which represent a collective movement and action against the economic dependency of women on men and state micro-loan bank systems is key in empowering women for social justice, redistributive justice of resources, knowledge, ecological awareness and voice in ways that are vital for community development, and 3) community development depends on the ways women theorize discourses of patriarchy and empowerment in their everyday activities. Her interdisciplinary study focusing on natural resource management and post-colonial feminism was funded by the International Development Research Council (IDRC). Her research interests include immigrants’ health, community development, climate change, Indigenous knowledge, food sovereignty, and feminist research. Dr. Tursunova has taught courses such as Sex, Gender, Space and Place and Introduction to Women's & Gender Studies at the University of Winnipeg.



Selected Publications:

Articles

Tursunova, Z. (2013). Post-Soviet Uzbekistan: The implications of land reforms on women’s farming and income-generating activities. Journal of Human Security 8(2), 125-145.

Tursunova, Z. (2012). Climate change, livelihoods, and food security in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. Journal of Women and Environments, 88/89: 23-24.

Tursunova, Z. (2011).Collective action as a space of agency, power and knowledge: A case study of gap in Uzbekistan. Journal of Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, 32, 48-77.

Book Chapters

Tursunova, Z., & Azizova, N. (2009). Building knowledge based society in Uzbekistan: The role of colleges in Uzbekistan. In R. L. Raby & E. J. Valeau (Eds.), Community college models: Globalization and higher education reform (pp. 545-560). New York, NY: Springer Publishers.

Tursunova, Z., & Azizova, N. (2008). Advancement of women in Uzbekistan. In C. Hammerle, N. Langreiter, M. Lanzinger & E. Saurer (Eds.), Gender politics in Central Asia: Historical perspectives and current living conditions of women (pp. 113-132). Vienna: University of Vienna.

Tursunova, Z. (2007). Culture and Peacebuilding. In A. V. Malefeev & V. Ionesov (Eds.), Social Innovations in Cultural Process (pp. 56-78). Samara, Russia: Samara Scientific Center RAN.