Velikaya N.M. Women in the public discourse of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the context of political regime transformationa in the 21st century (a comparative analysis).PolitBook. 2026. No. 2. Pp. 60-82. DOI 10.24412 ...

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Abstract

The article examines the specifics of the representation of women's issues in the public discourse of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the context of the transformation of political regimes and the neoconservative turn in the 21st century. The research is based on the gender approach, the concept of discursive constructibility of social roles. Based on the analysis of official documents (demographic development strategies, laws on gender equality, protection of motherhood and childhood) for more than 20 years, the authors show a change in the content of legislation in the field of women's rights, the specifics of state family and demographic policy. It is shown that Russia, against the background of demographic aging and low birth rate, acts as a «matrix» of a neoconservative turn with an emphasis on a traditionalist family demographic discourse, gradually abandoning the gender approach in developing policy decisions, and in public discourse, questions about the realization of women's rights are replaced by questions about women's responsibilities in the demographic sphere. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, with their younger populations and relatively higher birth rates, reproduce similar traditionalist narratives adapted to the Muslim context and the specifics of the evolution of political regimes. At the same time, the formal interest of political elites and the media in gender issues is taking place there against the background of convergence with the global agenda. The spread of the policy of «neotraditionalism» affects the content of public discourse: while declaring commitment to the principles of equality, government policy and official narratives reinforce the priority of motherhood and the family role of women, marginalizing to one degree or another the themes of reproductive rights, gender-based violence, economic autonomy and access to politics. Highlighting the main pillars of women's public discourse, it is concluded that the conservative consensus around «traditional values» in the three countries is becoming an important resource for stabilizing regimes, but at the same time reproduces structural inequality and limits opportunities for expanding women's political and social subjectivity.