Mapping Memories and Rebuilding Identities
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Mapping memories and rebuilding identities: Understanding post-conflict reconstruction in Osh (Kyrgyzstan) Elly Moreton A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham March 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract Following the devastating riots that took place there in June 2010, the city of Osh (Kyrgyzstan) has been the subject of a number of post-conflict reconstruction projects aimed at rebuilding its damaged urban fabric. As well as being varied in form and approach, these interventions have had a significant impact on the ways that Osh’s citizens experience the city. Whilst some residents have welcomed the changes that have been brought about in Osh, others are concerned about what these might mean for their continued wellbeing in the city. By interrogating the shifting relationships between place, identity and collective memory, this thesis explores post-conflict reconstruction in Osh between 2010 and 2013. It seeks to build a clearer picture of urban change in the city over this period, and to unpack the diverse motivations that underpinned the reconstruction projects that were pursued or proposed at that time. Above all, it asks what these changes have meant for Osh residents, many of whom were still reeling from the violence that ripped the city apart in 2010. Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the friendship and support of so many people. Above all, the sound guidance, limitless patience and steady supply of coffee and cake furnished by my supervisors Dr Dominique Moran, Professor Jon Coaffee and Dr Adam Ramadan has been invaluable from the start to the very end of the PhD process. Many thanks also go to all my colleagues in the Department of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (most especially the residents of room 225), whose good humour and kindness made even the most difficult parts of this process enjoyable. Outside the University of Birmingham, Dr Cai Wilkinson, Dr Kimairis Toogood and soon-to-be-Dr Emily Canning have been consistently generous with their time, advice and friendship, for which I am endlessly grateful. Arriving in Kyrgyzstan for the first time, I could scarcely have imagined the strength of the friendships I would find there, nor the generosity of the people who would take me under their wing. There isn’t enough space to thank everyone who took the time to talk with me, gently correct my halting Russian or explain something more about the place I would call home for the months of my fieldwork. However, I am completely sure that without meeting Aychurok, Aikokul, Farhad, Umida, Nadira, Rano and Aziz, Dildora and Louisa this thesis - and my life in Osh - would have been a pale imitation of itself. Special thanks also go to Olga for all her assistance translating countless hours of interviews. Finally, this thesis would never have seen the light of day without the support and understanding of my friends and family in Birmingham, London, Yorkshire and New York(shire), who all know much more about Kyrgyzstan now than they ever imagined they would. I am so grateful to my brilliant parents, Pauline and Graham, and to my brother Alex and Soizick. And last but not least to my wonderful husband Lee - a man of infinite patience whose belief in me never falters, and who made me laugh even when the PhD became PhDoom. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 The view from Sulaiman-Too 1 1.2 The Osh Events 4 1.3 Interrogating violence against the city 10 1.4 Thesis Structure 13 Chapter 2: Destruction, Reconstruction and Power in the Post-Crisis City 18 2.1 Introduction 18 2.2 What is post-conflict reconstruction? 21 2.2.1 Post-conflict versus post-disaster reconstruction 23 2.2.2 Post-crisis as opportunity 26 2.3 Conceptualising power in the City 27 2.4. Conflict in the city – power through destruction 31 2.4.1 Urbicide 33 2.4.2 Destroying spaces of multiculturalism 34 2.4.3 Erasing memories of difference 35 2. 5. Issues in post-conflict reconstruction practice – rebuilding power 37 2.5.1 Building back better 37 2.5.2 Authenticity in reconstruction 39 2.5.3 Participatory approaches to reconstruction – panacea or 41 whitewash? 2.6. Conclusion – destruction, reconstruction and power 44 Chapter 3: Theorising Collective Memory 52 3. 1. Introduction 52 3.2. What is collective memory? 54 3.3 Theorising collective memory; ‘top-down’, ‘bottom-up’ and meeting in 56 the middle 3.3.1 Imposing memory from above 56 3.3.2 Identifying ‘street level’ memories 59 3.3.3 Collective memory – a third way? 61 3.4 Power, identity and trauma in collective memory and the built 62 environment 3.4.1 Collective memory and power 63 3.4.2 Collective memory as marker of identity 65 3.4.3 Radical change and social trauma 66 3.5 Conclusion 69 Chapter 4: Osh - A City at the Crossroads 73 4. 1. Introduction 73 4.2 History 75 4.2.1 Kyrgyzstan – a brief historical overview 75 4.2.2 Soviet Kirghizia 77 4.2.3 Post-Soviet Transitions 80 4.2.4 The City of Osh 4.3 Key narratives for framing Osh 86 4.3.1 Osh: a post-Soviet City 86 4.3.2 Osh: An ethnically divided city 96 4.3.3 Osh: A Southern city 102 4.4 Conclusion 106 Chapter 5: Research Methods 108 5.1 Introduction 108 5.2 Responding to the research context 108 5.3 Research design 110 5.4 Gathering and analysing data 114 5.5 Challenges and lessons of the research process 120 5.5.1 Informed consent and participant safety 121 5.5.2 Language barriers 125 5.6 Notes on the presentation of data within this thesis 128 Chapter 6: Post Conflict Reconstruction and Regeneration in Osh 130 6.1 Introduction 130 6. 2 Post-crisis reconstruction responses in Osh 131 6. 2.1 Starting reconstruction - housing first 133 6.2.2. Reconstruction of housing - Phase One 136 6.2.3. Reconstruction of housing - Phase two 138 6. 3. The Osh City Master-plan 143 6. 3.1. Aims of the Master Plan 145 6. 3.2. Achieving these aims 148 6.3.3. Case Study: Monueva Street 152 6.4. Public perceptions of change in Osh 160 6.4.1. Melis Myrzakmatov: Building popularity in the city 163 Chapter 7: Case Study - Solving “our Bazaar problems”: Young women negotiating 171 public space in Osh 7.1. Introduction 171 7. 2 Thinking with the bazaar 175 7. 3. The bazaar at the heart of Osh 176 7.4 When the bazaar is not the bazaar - narrating exclusion 180 7. 5 “It’s really like a dirty place” - young women rejecting the bazaar 184 7. 6 “For women it’s not convenient” - (re)claiming space for women in the 190 public realm 7. 7 Conclusion - opening and closing public space in the bazaar 194 Chapter 8: Case Study - From monuments to mahallas: contrasting memories in the urban 198 landscape of Osh 8. 1 Introduction 198 8. 2 ’Patriots of the City’ – New monuments in Osh since 2010 201 8. 3 Ghost cities – Seeing Osh from the bottom up 212 8. 4 Mapping the complex interactions of memory 216 8.5 Looking to the future - writing memory out of the city 221 Chapter 9: Case Study - Housing in Osh: Identity politics and aspirational living 224 9.1 Introduction 224 9. 2 Reading the meanings of housing in Osh 228 9.3 Elite level tensions 233 9.4 The view from the street 237 9. 4.1 Uzbek pragmatism 239 9. 4.2. Replacing the ‘dangerous’ mahalla 241 9.5 Analysis - a slow urbicide? 248 Chapter 10: Conclusion - Building Back Better 252 10.1 Introduction 252 10.2 Summing up the empirics 253 10.3 An over-determined commemorative landscape 255 10.4 Undertaking an “archeology of power” in Osh 257 10.5 Characterising reconstruction in the city 260 10.6 Conclusion: What is ‘Building back better’? 266 References 269 Annex: Interview details 287 List of Figures Figure 1. Location and views of Sulaiman-Too (Source: GoogleMaps) 2 Figure 2. Silver roofs of repaired houses along Alisher Navoi Street, seen from 3 Sulaiman-Too (Source: Author’s own) Figure 3. Map showing main areas of damage in Osh City (Source: UNITAR/ 5 UNOSAT) Figure 4. Map showing location of Osh (Source: Nations Online Project) 7 Figure 5. Lenin statue in the central square , during Victory Day celebrations 2013 89 (Source: Author’s own) Figure. 6. Transitional forces in post-Soviet cities (Tsenkova 2006; 24) 91 Figure 7. Post-socialist urban transformations in CEE cities (Stanilov 2007; 9) 93 Figure 8. Screenshots of spreadsheets used during the data analysis process 120 Figure 9. Map showing electoral precincts of Osh city (red) and contiguous urban areas 134 classified as villages (yellow) (Source: Eurasianet) Figure 10. English language version of SDRD outreach materials (Source: Author’s 136 own) Figure 11.