NEW UZBEKISTAN AND SOCIAL POLICY REFORMS: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE CONTEXT OF BUILDING A SOCIAL STATE

Following Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s assumption of the presidency in 2016, Uzbekistan embarked upon a comprehensive process of reform across the political, economic, and social spheres.[1] The vision of a “New Uzbekistan” (Yangi O‘zbekiston) represents a new conception of public administration that seeks not only economic growth but also the enhancement of social welfare, the restructuring of state–citizen relations and the institutionalisation of human-centred development. The constitutional entrenchment of the principle of the “social state” through the 2023 Constitution in particular has placed social policy reform at the very centre of the country’s development strategy.[2] This study examines the social policy reforms undertaken during the New Uzbekistan period within the framework of social state theory. Drawing on the theories of social citizenship, the welfare state, the capability approach and the social investment state, the article evaluates the institutional transformation currently under way in Uzbekistan. A qualitative research design has been adopted; constitutional provisions, state strategies, reports of international organisations and the scholarly literature have been analysed comparatively. The principal findings of the research indicate that Uzbekistan is moving away from the classical Soviet model of social security towards a more targeted, digitalised and human-centred system of social policy. The restructuring of the mahalla system, poverty-reduction programmes, the digital transformation of social protection mechanisms and the expansion of services for children and persons with disabilities constitute the fundamental elements of this transformation.[3] [1]On the periodisation of the reform process and its official framing, see the presidency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “A new social protection system will promote human dignity,” president.uz, https://president.uz/en/lists/view/7041. [2]Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (as amended by the constitutional referendum of 30 April 2023), Art. 1: “Uzbekistan is a sovereign democratic, legal, social and secular state with a republican form of government.” See https://lex.uz/uz/docs/6451070 and https://constitution.gov.uz/en. [3]For an official account of these components, see Government Portal of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “Social protection and employment,” https://gov.uz/en/activity_page/social_protection.