Philipp Schröder

‘Urbanizing’ Bishkek: interrelations of boundaries, migration, group size and opportunity structure

Within the context of Kyrgyzstans capital Bishkek, this article deals with an identity boundary between the so-called ‘urban’ Kyrgyz and Russians on the one side, and the so-called ‘rural’ or ‘newly arriving’ Kyrgyz, on the other. In the first section I discuss the ways in which this boundary is constructed among Bishkek male youth, both rhetorically as well as with regard to actual practices of social inclusion and exclusion. Starting from these insights on what ‘makes’ an urban identity, I try to approach the question of why this boundary might be drawn as it is. Linking a theory on ‘group size’ with migration data for Kyrgyzstan and the concept of ‘opportunity structure’, I try to examine the allocation and accessibility of opportunities such as jobs, marriage and living space – all of which can be considered to affect the current divide between ethnic Kyrgyz in Bishkek.

The institutionalization of mobility : well-being and social hierarchies in Central Asian translocal livelihoods

Abstract In the wider scientific debate, post-Soviet Central Asia has been primarily known for the question in what ways this region currently experiences a ‘New Great Game’ of geostrategy and resource-competition. In contrast to that, ethnographic research on the various cross-border mobilities, networks and identifications of non-elite actors from countries such as Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan has set off only recently. Proposing a conceptual approach based on ‘translocality’ and ‘livelihood’, this article presents in-depth case studies which explore how Central Asians engage in ‘business-making’, ‘evolve’ their Muslim piety, transgress rural–urban boundaries and experience ethnic marginalization in between ‘home’ and cities in Russia, China or Egypt. We show how mobility is institutionalized, i.e. how within these ‘translocal livelihoods’ geographic relocations do not only combine with social mobility, but that assessments on personal well-being and the orientation on cultural norms also draw on somebody’s particular position within social hierarchies of gender and generation.

Avoidance and appropriation in Bishkek: dealing with time, space and urbanity in Kyrgyzstan's capital

ABSTRACT Much has changed since Frunze was renamed Bishkek in 1991 and became the capital of independent Kyrgyzstan. Though it was once considered to be among the ‘greenest’ and most ‘orderly’ cities of the Soviet Union, today many of its long-term residents complain about the new settlements (novostroiki) that have emerged during the last two decades. To Bishkeks urbanites, the recent arrival of migrants is not associated with an escape from rural poverty and a rightful struggle for civic rights, but indicates a massive cultural and aesthetic degradation of familiar urban life. In this article, beyond contesting narratives of cosmopolitan nostalgia vs. legitimate belonging, I investigate how urban practitioners in fact produce and deal with different spaces in the city. My ethnographic accounts not only identify social avoidance as an essential pulse of Bishkeks current rhythm, but also illustrate that after a period of post-rural socialization previously stigmatized migrants may manage to smoothly blend into urban spatial flows and lifestyles.

From Frunze to Bishkek: Soviet Territorial Youth Formations and Their Decline in the 1990s and 2000s

This article presents an “alternative urban history” of Bishkek (Frunze). We describe the history of Soviet streets and of the everyday life of young people, whose narratives fit neither the Soviet nor the post-Soviet history textbooks. Yet, these stories are extremely important, rich, and unique. They reveal the complex dynamics of the social organization of urban territories in cities of Soviet origin. The research has shown that the territorial youth culture of Frunze had much in common with similar developments in cities all across the Soviet Union. At the same time, it developed its own particular features, complexities, and diversities due to specific local conditions. The study also provides insights into the power of territory. It reveals how identities, everyday practices, and the socialization of young people were embedded in the specific geographies of the Kyrgyz capital.

Urban spaces and lifestyles in Central Asia and beyond: an introduction

Chunkurchak is a marvellous place. Just 40 kilometres south of Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, and into the forelands of the Tian Shan mountain range, its picturesque landscape offers everything that has come to be associated with a jailoo, a summer pasture: looking up, the snow-capped peaks appear closer than they are, a mountain river meanders through alpine meadows and passes forest belts – and in the further distance the Chuy Valley, with its bustling centre, Bishkek, seems far away in many ways. But Chunkurchak is more than that. It is a winter ski resort and features diverse dining and accommodation opportunities. Unique among them is Supara, an ‘ethno-style’ restaurant and hotel complex. It serves Kyrgyz national dishes, and the interior is dominated by wooden furniture with traditional ornament. Yet the main feature of Supara is that the architecture of both the restaurant building and the cottages offered for overnight stays resemble a boz ui (or yurt), the round felt tent that is a key element in Kyrgyzstan’s nomadic heritage. Supara is interesting for this volume because it connects to the city and to contemporary urban lifestyles in Bishkek in multiple ways. Nowadays, a place like Supara not only attracts ‘Western’ tourists, but is also a getaway for Bishkek’s affluent middle and upper classes. It caters to the recent trend of celebrating and commodifying Kyrgyz culture and ethnic identity, the conspicuous consumption of which has become an integral part of the urbanites’ self-presentation (Comaroff and Comaroff 2009). However, the interiors of the boz ui cottages at Supara have not kept to the actual simplicity of previous days, but offer such ‘modern’ comforts as a shower cabin, air conditioning and a flat-screen TV, with Kyrgyz-, Russianand English-language channels to choose from. These different materialities of Supara and the experience it aspires to convey to its clients aim at blurring the boundaries of rural authenticity and urban progress. Away from Chunkurchak or Supara, that exact binary opposing civilized city life to ‘backward’ rural existence has since the Socialist era remained essential for social classifications and antagonistic discourses within many of the urban domains presented in this volume. Besides, this brief reflection on Supara already alludes to some further themes that will become relevant in the following pages, notably the emergence of urbanmiddle-class subjectivities and their consumption of transnational lifestyle goods. The intention of this volume is to complement previous efforts towards an anthropology of post-Socialist urban spaces. These have been rather recent, as during the first decade of research on the former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus, urban phenomena

Re/Claiming Bishkek: Contestation and Activism in the City of Two Revolutions

In Kyrgyzstan, and especially in Bishkek, practices of social activism have been evolving and taken more meaningful and organized forms. Today, there are all kinds of activist groups and movements that are not simply struggling for resources, but feature solid ideological foundations and concrete visions. This introduction provides a brief overview of contemporary social activism in Bishkek.