“Finke contributes a careful and detailed analysis of the Uzbek identity to the studies of ethnic identity formation and nationbuilding projects in Central Asia. Hence, this book is of particular relevance for Central Asian area studies, while also engaging with theoretical debates in Anthropology, Political Science and Sociology.” · Social Anthropology “An excellent study of Uzbek ethnicity and identity finds four quite different concepts of Uzbekness and systems of group membership in four locations around Uzbekistan, radically calling into question our presumptions about ethnicity, identity, and social boundaries.” · Anthropology Review Database “…a meticulous study of ethnic groups faring in different regions of contemporary Uzbekistan. Nowadays, when there are so many unjustifiable restrictions… to study Uzbek society, this book is a lucky example of a scholar who managed, in spite of all restrictions, to conduct and complete substantial fieldwork research… It has been decades since Uzbekistan has seen such a breadth of ethnographic observations.” · Alisher Ilkhamov, Independent Scholar