Equality, People-Centeredness, and Social Justice in the Works of Nineteenth-Century Karakalpak Thinkers: A SocioPhilosophical Analysis

Abstract

This article examines the formation of equality, people-centeredness, and social justice in the works of the nineteenth-century Karakalpak thinkers Kunkhoja, Otesh, Ajiniyaz, Berdakh, and Omar. It aims to identify how these concepts interact as poetic images, moral judgments, and social demands. The source corpus comprises works addressing labour, taxation, official responsibility, and human dignity. Historical-contextual interpretation, comparative analysis, thematic coding, and conceptual reconstruction are applied. The findings show that justice is articulated through four recurring criteria: fair remuneration for labour, equal treatment regardless of social status, the accountability of officeholders to the people, and protection of human dignity. Labour justice is most prominent in Kunkhoja and Otesh; legal and moral equality is central to Ajiniyaz; and taxation, coercion, and public responsibility dominate the relevant works of Berdakh and Omar. The article does not equate these historical ideas with fully developed modern political theories. Instead, it interprets them as historically situated moral conceptions of justice. The study concludes that peoplecenteredness in Karakalpak classical thought is more than sympathy for ordinary people: it is a normative position that connects labour, rights, responsibility, and dignity.