This article examines women’s exclusion from irrigation governance in Tajikistan, with a focus on their participation in Water User Associations (WUAs) in the Vaksh River Basin. Applying a Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) lens, the study explores how legal frameworks, institutional dynamics, and socio-cultural norms interact to constrain women’s agency in water governance. While Tajikistan has introduced semi-formal WUAs under national law to encourage participatory management, women’s involvement remains largely symbolic, undermined by weak institutional enforcement and entrenched patriarchal norms. To deepen the analysis, the study uses a Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD) to compare Tajikistan with Afghanistan, another agrarian and patriarchal society but one governed through customary systems. In Afghanistan, irrigation governance is shaped by male-dominated mirab networks and rigid honor-based codes, which severely restrict women’s public participation, even when they own land or meet eligibility criteria. Methodologically, the article relies on qualitative analysis of secondary data, including policy documents, legal frameworks, and prior research. The comparative lens highlights how distinct governance structures and normative pressures create different but overlapping patterns of gendered exclusion. This study addresses the gap on why the feminization of agriculture in Tajikistan has not translated into women’s representation in irrigation governance. The findings demonstrate that without enforceable institutional support and cultural transformation, legal inclusion alone is insufficient to achieve gender-equitable irrigation governance. This article is based on secondary data analysis, enriched by comparative insights from the author’s prior fieldwork in Afghanistan, and contributes to advancing theory-driven understanding of gendered exclusion in irrigation governance.
Nahideh Faiaz (Wed,) studied this question.