ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on interviews carried out in Uzbekistan in the summer of 1985, attempts to provide a part of the very complex picture of ethnic relations and attitudes. Many individuals were very willing to share their feelings about ethnic relations and interethnic attitudes in Uzbek cities. This was especially true when talking to children, mothers in mixed marriages, university and technical school students, and shopkeepers in bazaars. The single most important source of ethnic attitudes and relations is probably actual social interaction between or among the various ethnic groups. Positive and negative experiences in social meetings, at places of work, neighborhoods, or in general everyday life are the main determinants of interethnic attitudes. Circumcision is an extremely important part of Uzbek, Tajik, and Central Asian Jewish society. Central Asians complained that the immigrants had the best housing and jobs not only in Tashkent but in all other urban centers in Uzbekistan as well.
