The weaponization of pedagogy in the Uzbek SSR (1930-1931): a historiographical and source-critical analysis of the “Maorif va o‘qutuchi” journal

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive historiographical and source-critical analysis of the Maorif va o‘qutuchi (Education and teacher) journal published in the Uzbek SSR during 1930-1931. By examining official decrees, methodological guidelines, and political articles from the journal, this study explores how the Soviet state dismantled traditional academic education to serve totalitarian, agrarian-industrial, and ideological objectives. The analysis reveals the implementation of “polytechnization” as a mechanism for the economic exploitation of child labor, the intense politicization of academic subjects, and the deployment of education as a weapon for class struggle and the eradication of national and religious identity. The findings demonstrate that early 1930s Soviet pedagogy in Uzbekistan was heavily characterized by ideological indoctrination, systemic repression of educators, and profound socio-economic crises within the educational infrastructure.