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Relations made over tea: reflections on a meaningful life in a Central Asian mountain village

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  • David W. Montgomery

Abstract

Narratives of hardship and suffering found in portrayals of life in Central Asia elicit policy responses that attempt to remedy the situation through humanitarian or development interventions intended to enhance local well-being. This framing obfuscates a network of relationships and interactions that are instrumental in the making of meaningful lives in Central Asia. I explore the comfort of family and friends, the hope of possibility (real and imagined), and the happiness (even if fleeting) in the sharing of stories. Furthermore, even in the most trying of times, the communal sense that emerges in sharing concerns helps mitigate the stresses and strains of many social situations. Seeing these relationships as moments of well-being is essential to understanding everyday life and contextualizing hardship and suffering, and thus to conveying a fuller sense of what is understood as ‘a meaningful life’ in Central Asia.

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  • David W. Montgomery, 2013. "Relations made over tea: reflections on a meaningful life in a Central Asian mountain village," Central Asian Survey, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 475-486, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ccasxx:v:32:y:2013:i:4:p:475-486
    DOI: 10.1080/02634937.2013.868980
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    Cited by:

    1. Dina Sharipova & Alma Kudebayeva, 2023. "Changing Well-Being in Central Asia: Evidence from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1233-1260, March.

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