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Влияние трансформации социокультурных факторов на процессы внешней трудовой миграции Узбекистана
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the number of external labor migrants corresponds to approximately 22% of the country's labor force. In 1991–2019, Uzbekistan economy went through the four stages, each determined by certain macro-level factors, i.e. demographic, economic, political and other factors. There stages may be identified as follows: i) transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, falling well-being levels of Uzbekistani population and higher migration outflows for permanent residence in 1990–2000, ii) acceleration of economic growth in 2000–2009 and subsequent formation of “migration networks” abroad, iii) a period of GDP growth slowdown in the absence of structural reforms to stimulate employment and investment in 2010–2015, which contributed to increasing labor migration, and iv) the stage of new socio-economic reforms and deepening attention of the Uzbekistan authorities to migration processes. This study takes into account changing macroeconomic environment, but focuses mostly on sociocultural factors that affect external labor migration and reintegration of migrants back to Uzbekistan. The research is based on the reports of applied studies on external labor migration and employment conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the reports from international organizations and research centers, as well as in-depth interviews with migrants and members of their families. The study reveals that the change in the socio-cultural context in 2006–2019 amid the transformation of macroeconomic conditions contributed to the expansion of Uzbek migration in terms of geography destinations, migration “success” in terms of re-migration and the ability of migrants to reintegrate into society upon returning home as far as to the emergence of migration “feminization” and “rejuvenation” phenomena amid the development of egalitarianism in an initially patriarchal society. Micro-society in Uzbekistan has both stimulating and constraining effects in terms of transformation of migration processes.