“Physical Culture and Sport Will Become Part and Parcel of Everyday Life”: Khrushchev’s Communist Sports in Central Asia’s Uzbekistan, 1953 to 1964

Abstract

Lenin commenced Soviet physical culture and sports during the mid-1920s, and Stalin organised it significantly during the 1930s and 1940s. It was part of Stalin’s Cultural Revolution and the implementation of Soviet modernity. This qualitative and quantitative research paper investigates physical culture and sports 33 years after its founding when Khrushchev was the communist leader (1953 to 1964). The geographic focus is on the Central Asian republic with the largest population and emerging urbanisation: Uzbekistan. The paper explores the extent of Khrushchev’s physical culture and sports development in that country. It is a topic with little published research in English. Using select English language secondary sources from the West and the former Soviet Union, the major research question asks (i) What were Khrushchev's output and impact on physical culture and sport in Uzbekistan? In support is the minor research question: (ii) What were the numbers of male and female sportspeople, and what type of urban sports sites opened? Overall, the paper highlights that an authoritarian communist regime was increasingly successful in developing modern physical culture and sports in the majority Muslim Turkic and Persian regions, primarily in the cities.

Keywords

• Khrushchev
• Physical Culture
• Soviet
• Sport
• Uzbekistan

Supporting Institution

SOAS, University of London

“Beden Kültürü ve Spor Günlük Hayatın Parçası Olacak”: Orta Asya'nın Özbeki̇stan'ında Khruschev'i̇n Komüni̇st Sporları, 1953-1964

Abstract

Lenin, 1920'lerin ortalarında Sovyet fiziksel kültürü ve sporunu başlattı ve Stalin, 1930'lar ve 1940'larda bunu önemli ölçüde organize etti. Bu, Stalin'in Kültür Devrimi'nin ve Sovyet modernitesinin uygulanmasının bir parçasıydı. Bu niteliksel araştırma makalesi, Kruşçev'in komünist lider olduğu dönemde (1953'ten 1964'e) kuruluşundan 33 yıl sonra fiziksel kültür ve sporu arastirir. Coğrafi odak noktası, en büyük nüfusa ve belli bir kentleşme düzeyine sahip Sovyet dönemi Orta Asya cumhuriyeti olan Özbekistan'dır. Makale Kruşçev'in Özbekistan'daki fiziksel kültürünün ve spor gelişiminin boyutunu araştırıyor. İngilizce'de çok az yayınlanmış araştırma bulunan bir konudur. Batı'dan ve eski Sovyetler Birliği'nden seçilmiş İngilizce ikincil kaynaklar kullanılarak, temel araştırma sorusu şu soruyu sormaktadır: (i) Kruşçev'in Özbekistan'daki fiziksel kültür ve spor üzerindeki çıktısı ve etkisi neydi? Küçük araştırma sorusu da bunu destekliyor: (ii) Erkek ve kadın sporcuların sayısı neydi ve ne tür kentsel spor alanları açıldı? Genel olarak makale, otoriter bir komünist rejimin, çoğunluğu Müslüman olan Türk ve İran bölgelerinde, özellikle şehirlerde, modern fiziksel kültür ve sporu geliştirmede giderek daha başarılı olduğunun altını çiziyor.

Keywords

• Kruşçev
• Fiziksel Kültür
• Sovyet
• Spor
• Özbekistan

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