Galym Zhussipbek Exclusivist Identities in Central Asia: Implications for Regional Stability and Cooperation
On June 10, 2010, a violent crisis broke out in the Fergana valley, southern Kyrgyzstan, resulting in massive property destruction, a death toll ranging from three hundred to over six hundred, and a stampede of displaced persons. The ethnic clashes involved two communities—Kyrgyz and Uzbek — practicing the same religion, speaking similar languages, and sharing cultural and historical experiences. In the neighboring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Uzbeks and Tajiks, who have lived for centuries in the intermingled communities, began showing signs of alienation toward each other. Outside their homeland, the Central Asian migrant workers and students have staged occasional fights with representatives of other Central Asian ethnicities. These inter-ethnic tensions inside and outside Central Asia have been compounded by the emergence of religious fundamentalists and radical secularists across the region that added new cleavages and points of disagreement across and within Central Asian ethnic communities. This chapter focuses on ideological sources of inter-ethnic frictions in Central Asia and examines their impact on regional cooperation and stability. First, it shows how the Central Asian political and intellectual elites have adopted exclusivist discourses of national identity premised on primordial understanding of nation and ethnicity. These exclusivist identities have been constructed in reaction and even opposition to the identities of neighboring others. As a result conflicts have emerged over the legitimacy of narratives and myths that make up the national identities of states in Central Asia. Second, the Central Asian version of orientalism has become the ideational force for exclusivist identities.
Source: https://www.academia.edu/36761048/Exclusivist_Identities_in_Central_Asia_Implications_for_Regional_Stability_and_Cooperation
Image source: https://pixabay.com/photos/shohizinda-necropolis-samarkand-196893/
On June 10, 2010, a violent crisis broke out in the Fergana valley, southern Kyrgyzstan, resulting in massive property destruction, a death toll ranging from three hundred to over six hundred, and a stampede of displaced persons. The ethnic clashes involved two communities—Kyrgyz and Uzbek — practicing the same religion, speaking similar languages, and sharing cultural and historical experiences. In the neighboring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Uzbeks and Tajiks, who have lived for centuries in the intermingled communities, began showing signs of alienation toward each other. Outside their homeland, the Central Asian migrant workers and students have staged occasional fights with representatives of other Central Asian ethnicities. These inter-ethnic tensions inside and outside Central Asia have been compounded by the emergence of religious fundamentalists and radical secularists across the region that added new cleavages and points of disagreement across and within Central Asian ethnic communities. This chapter focuses on ideological sources of inter-ethnic frictions in Central Asia and examines their impact on regional cooperation and stability. First, it shows how the Central Asian political and intellectual elites have adopted exclusivist discourses of national identity premised on primordial understanding of nation and ethnicity. These exclusivist identities have been constructed in reaction and even opposition to the identities of neighboring others. As a result conflicts have emerged over the legitimacy of narratives and myths that make up the national identities of states in Central Asia. Second, the Central Asian version of orientalism has become the ideational force for exclusivist identities.
Source: https://www.academia.edu/36761048/Exclusivist_Identities_in_Central_Asia_Implications_for_Regional_Stability_and_Cooperation
Image source: https://pixabay.com/photos/shohizinda-necropolis-samarkand-196893/
On June 10, 2010, a violent crisis broke out in the Fergana valley, southern Kyrgyzstan, resulting in massive property destruction, a death toll ranging from three hundred to over six hundred, and a stampede of displaced persons. The ethnic clashes involved two communities—Kyrgyz and Uzbek — practicing the same religion, speaking similar languages, and sharing cultural and historical experiences. In the neighboring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Uzbeks and Tajiks, who have lived for centuries in the intermingled communities, began showing signs of alienation toward each other. Outside their homeland, the Central Asian migrant workers and students have staged occasional fights with representatives of other Central Asian ethnicities. These inter-ethnic tensions inside and outside Central Asia have been compounded by the emergence of religious fundamentalists and radical secularists across the region that added new cleavages and points of disagreement across and within Central Asian ethnic communities. This chapter focuses on ideological sources of inter-ethnic frictions in Central Asia and examines their impact on regional cooperation and stability. First, it shows how the Central Asian political and intellectual elites have adopted exclusivist discourses of national identity premised on primordial understanding of nation and ethnicity. These exclusivist identities have been constructed in reaction and even opposition to the identities of neighboring others. As a result conflicts have emerged over the legitimacy of narratives and myths that make up the national identities of states in Central Asia. Second, the Central Asian version of orientalism has become the ideational force for exclusivist identities.
Source: https://www.academia.edu/36761048/Exclusivist_Identities_in_Central_Asia_Implications_for_Regional_Stability_and_Cooperation
Image source: https://pixabay.com/photos/shohizinda-necropolis-samarkand-196893/
On June 10, 2010, a violent crisis broke out in the Fergana valley, southern Kyrgyzstan, resulting in massive property destruction, a death toll ranging from three hundred to over six hundred, and a stampede of displaced persons. The ethnic clashes involved two communities—Kyrgyz and Uzbek — practicing the same religion, speaking similar languages, and sharing cultural and historical experiences. In the neighboring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Uzbeks and Tajiks, who have lived for centuries in the intermingled communities, began showing signs of alienation toward each other. Outside their homeland, the Central Asian migrant workers and students have staged occasional fights with representatives of other Central Asian ethnicities. These inter-ethnic tensions inside and outside Central Asia have been compounded by the emergence of religious fundamentalists and radical secularists across the region that added new cleavages and points of disagreement across and within Central Asian ethnic communities. This chapter focuses on ideological sources of inter-ethnic frictions in Central Asia and examines their impact on regional cooperation and stability. First, it shows how the Central Asian political and intellectual elites have adopted exclusivist discourses of national identity premised on primordial understanding of nation and ethnicity. These exclusivist identities have been constructed in reaction and even opposition to the identities of neighboring others. As a result conflicts have emerged over the legitimacy of narratives and myths that make up the national identities of states in Central Asia. Second, the Central Asian version of orientalism has become the ideational force for exclusivist identities.
Source: https://www.academia.edu/36761048/Exclusivist_Identities_in_Central_Asia_Implications_for_Regional_Stability_and_Cooperation
Image source: https://pixabay.com/photos/shohizinda-necropolis-samarkand-196893/