Networks of Survival : Kinship, Digital Platforms, and the Everyday Lives of Uzbek Migrants in Sweden
(2025) In Region: Regional Studies Of Russia, Eastern Europe, And Central Asia 14(2). p.129-151- Abstract
This article examines the emerging migration corridor between Uzbekistan and Sweden based on interviews, focus groups, and data from a survey conducted in both countries in 2024. Although small in scale, this corridor is analytically significant for understanding the diversification of Uzbek migration beyond Russia and Turkey. Findings show that demographic pressures, limited employment, and environmental stressors in Uzbekistan drive outmigration, while Sweden attracts migrants with higher wages, safer working conditions, and a reputation for fairness. Yet, restrictive asylum and work permit regimes, combined with tightened identity systems, channel many into irregularity. In this context, kinship ties, brokers, and digital platforms... (More)
This article examines the emerging migration corridor between Uzbekistan and Sweden based on interviews, focus groups, and data from a survey conducted in both countries in 2024. Although small in scale, this corridor is analytically significant for understanding the diversification of Uzbek migration beyond Russia and Turkey. Findings show that demographic pressures, limited employment, and environmental stressors in Uzbekistan drive outmigration, while Sweden attracts migrants with higher wages, safer working conditions, and a reputation for fairness. Yet, restrictive asylum and work permit regimes, combined with tightened identity systems, channel many into irregularity. In this context, kinship ties, brokers, and digital platforms such as Telegram function as critical infrastructures of survival, enabling migrants to access jobs and housing but also exposing them to exploitation. The study highlights the contradictions of contemporary migration governance: between aspiration and exclusion and between restrictive regulation and persistent migrant resilience.
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- author
- Eraliev, Sherzod LU ; Abdurakhmanov, Ulugbek and Urinboyev, Rustam LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-07
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Region: Regional Studies Of Russia, Eastern Europe, And Central Asia
- volume
- 14
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 23 pages
- publisher
- Slavica Publishers
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105035695575
- ISSN
- 2166-4307
- DOI
- 10.1353/reg.2025.a987459
- project
- MARS: Non-Western Migration Regimes in a Global Perspective
- Informality, Migrant Precarity and Exploitation in Nordic Context: Uzbek Migrant Workers in Sweden and Finland
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ebf8c0b1-0bd4-4976-a15c-cf710ec6bc8c
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-16 20:57:01
- date last changed
- 2026-05-22 08:06:18
@article{ebf8c0b1-0bd4-4976-a15c-cf710ec6bc8c,
abstract = {{<p>This article examines the emerging migration corridor between Uzbekistan and Sweden based on interviews, focus groups, and data from a survey conducted in both countries in 2024. Although small in scale, this corridor is analytically significant for understanding the diversification of Uzbek migration beyond Russia and Turkey. Findings show that demographic pressures, limited employment, and environmental stressors in Uzbekistan drive outmigration, while Sweden attracts migrants with higher wages, safer working conditions, and a reputation for fairness. Yet, restrictive asylum and work permit regimes, combined with tightened identity systems, channel many into irregularity. In this context, kinship ties, brokers, and digital platforms such as Telegram function as critical infrastructures of survival, enabling migrants to access jobs and housing but also exposing them to exploitation. The study highlights the contradictions of contemporary migration governance: between aspiration and exclusion and between restrictive regulation and persistent migrant resilience.</p>}},
author = {{Eraliev, Sherzod and Abdurakhmanov, Ulugbek and Urinboyev, Rustam}},
issn = {{2166-4307}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{129--151}},
publisher = {{Slavica Publishers}},
series = {{Region: Regional Studies Of Russia, Eastern Europe, And Central Asia}},
title = {{Networks of Survival : Kinship, Digital Platforms, and the Everyday Lives of Uzbek Migrants in Sweden}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/247665058/Eraliev_REGION_14_2_29_Dec_2025.pdf}},
doi = {{10.1353/reg.2025.a987459}},
volume = {{14}},
year = {{2025}},
}