Material heritage and nation-building, Archaeological and architectural conservation, Politics of monumental heritage, Heritage policy and governance, Identity formation, World Heritage governance, Post-Soviet heritage structures and Soviet legacies, Silk Road narratives

Central Asia, Uzbekistan

Dilafza Haydaraliyeva is a doctoral researcher in Social Anthropology at the University of Zurich, specializing in the intersection of material heritage, national identity, and state policy in post-Soviet Central Asia. Her research focuses on the role of architectural and monumental heritage in Uzbekistan’s ongoing nation-building processes, with case studies in Shakhrisabz, Samarkand, and Tashkent.

With a background in archaeology and heritage conservation from University College London, Dilafza brings a multidisciplinary approach to her work, combining archaeological analysis with ethnographic fieldwork. Her interests lie in how monumental architecture and conservation practices are politicized and repurposed to serve shifting narratives of identity, heritage, and legitimacy. She is particularly focused on the management of World Heritage sites, the socio-political implications of conservation policy, and the lived experience of communities situated within historic urban environments.

Her master’s dissertation—Manufacturing National Identities in the Post-Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan—critically examined controversial conservation practices in Samarkand and Shakhrisabz and highlighted the tensions between international heritage frameworks and state-driven identity politics. This research laid the theoretical and empirical foundation for her current PhD, expanding the scope from heritage policy critique to anthropological inquiry into everyday encounters with heritage in post-Soviet contexts.

Dilafza holds an MA in Archaeology and Heritage of Asia from University College London’s Institute of Archaeology and a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Middle Eastern Languages from McGill University.

Haydaraliyeva, D. (2023). Manufacturing National Identities in the Post-Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan: A Study of Controversial Conservation Practices in Samarkand and Shakhrisabz. Slavic & East European Information Resources, 24(4), 258–294.