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Is there a place for Uzbeks in the Kyrgyz Republic? Lessons from Under Solomon’s Throne: Uzbek Visions of Societal Renewal in Osh
4 October, 2012 @ 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Co-Sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
with Morgan Y. Liu, Associate Professor of Anthropology, The Ohio State University
Ethnic Uzbeks in the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) attempted to create a place for themselves in the Kyrgyz-dominated nation-state since its independence in 1991. For a while, there were reasons to be optimistic about this minority community. Even though they felt ethnic discrimination, local Uzbek leaders labored through the 1990’s and 2000’s to build institutions that serve the Uzbek communities within the framework of their Kyrgyzstani citizenship. That model of ethnic community-building now lies in tatters after the massive conflict between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in June 2010. What now for Uzbeks in the Kyrgyz Republic? This talk evaluates their prospects in light of sixteen years of detailed ethnographic work among Osh Uzbeks.
His 2012 book, Under Solomon’s Throne: Uzbek Visions of Renewal in Osh (University of Pittsburgh Press), concerns how ethnic Uzbeks in the ancient Silk Road city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan think about political authority and post-Soviet transformations, based on research using vernacular language interviews and ethnographic fieldwork of urban social life from 1993 to 2011.
Morgan Y. Liu is a cultural anthropologist studying Islamic revival, post-socialist states, and social justice movements. An Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, The Ohio State University, he teaches about the Middle East, Central Asia, Islamic revival and social justice, and cultural theory. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Society of Fellows, Harvard University. His Ph.D. is from the University of Michigan in Anthropology
