Ethnic Boundaries in Kyrgyzstan- the Place for Preserving Identity, Sharing Memories and Initiating Conflicts

Centre for Peace Studies Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education Thesis title: Ethnic boundaries in Kyrgyzstan- the place for preserving identity, sharing memories and initiating conflicts. Case study: Kurd and Dungan ethnic groups. Name of author: Diana Takutdinova Master’s thesis in Peace and Conflict Transformation – SVF-3901 June 2016 ii Abstract This thesis examines the lives of two ethnicities in Kyrgyzstan, their history of evolvement, territorial conditions and possibilities for inter-ethnic conflicts with the Kyrgyz majority, from the perspective of living within ethnic boundaries. For the comparative analysis I have chosen two minority groups: Kurds and Dungans. My main reason for choosing these ethnic groups in particular is their tendency to create ethnic boundary space and their involvements in inter-ethnic conflicts. (It is crucial to mention that these groups do not experience conflict with each other, but rather with other ethnic groups.) I propose that living in the village of one’s own ethnicity makes family ties stronger, preserves cultural features and helps members cope with outside problems, including interethnic conflicts. Since Kyrgyzstan is a polyethnic country, the closed ethnic communities may serve as both a source of conflict and as a shelter for minorities. My field work was conducted during the summer of 2015. I investigated why people live in specific areas, how they choose the territories they occupy, and how this relates to their everyday lives. Other questions I was interested in were: What are the particular challenges of living in an ethnically-bound community? Do community members feel discriminated against or anticipate possibilities for conflict situations among major groups and minor groups? I paid attention to these questions because closed communities and ethnic boundary space can be viewed as providing protection against possible clashes with other ethnic groups; furthermore, the sharing of culture could be seen as an advantage to living in such a community. I discovered that political and economic benefits provoke people to instigate conflict situations. However, while politics or economics are the real case for these conflicts, in the majority of cases, ethnicity functions as important kindling for causing conflict situations to flare up. Key words: identity, ethnic group, ethnic boundary, Kurds, Dungans iii Acknowledgment First, I would never think that I will be writing Master Thesis. But I do not regret it at all. I found the process of researching and writing very fascinating. Especially, since the topic you chose is the one you like. One of the challenges I faced is citical analysis, bridging theory and empirical data. Collecting data for me was the most pleasant. In the field I met lovely people who allowed me to access their life and shared with me their private stories. From the experience of writing this thesis I learnt how to convert different strategies of collecting data and how to apply it into academic work. Moreover, I found the way of writing chapter by chapter during one year more advantageous to do, rather than writing everything at once, which is more time consuming. Of course, the most important part of the work is people. I would first like to thank my family for their moral support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and God for being inside and leading and protecting me. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to University of Tromsø and particularly The Center for Peace Studies for the opportunity to study Peace and Conflict Transformation and I am thankful to our professors for sharing their knowledge with us. Also, great thank to Lånekassen for providing financial support. I am very grateful to my supervisor Dahl-Eriksen Tor Christian for his help, advices, right directions and prompt replies, whenever I got the questions. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to all my respondents, those who hosted me, those who spent their time for me and those who were involved into providing valuble information. Also, I want to acknowledge Rebecca Lynn D'Angelo for her constructive remarks and comments on this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible whithout people mentioned above. Thank you! iv Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgment ..................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................v Chapter 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................1 1.1 Finding a research topic for my thesis .......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research questions ............................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Structure of the thesis .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Background .............................................................................................................................................. 5 1.5.1 Soviet Union time: Repressed and deported .............................................................................................. 7 1.5.2 Recent inter-ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan ............................................................................................. 10 1.6 Dungans .................................................................................................................................................. 14 1.7 Kurds ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 2: Theory ...................................................................................................................19 2.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 19 2.2 What is society? ................................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1 Ethnic group........................................................................................................................................................ 22 2.3 Ethnic boundaries by Fredrik Barth ........................................................................................... 22 2.4 Ethnic boundaries according to Wimmer and Chai .............................................................. 25 2.5 Assimilation and Migration theories .......................................................................................... 27 2.6 Final remarks........................................................................................................................................ 30 Chapter 3: Methodology .........................................................................................................32 3.1 Study area .............................................................................................................................................. 32 3.2 Research question .............................................................................................................................. 33 3.3 Research strategy ............................................................................................................................... 33 3.4 Interviewing .......................................................................................................................................... 34 3.4.1 Research Participants ....................................................................................................................................... 37 3.5 Ethics during the interviews .......................................................................................................... 39 3.6 Insider and outsider .......................................................................................................................... 40 3.7 Challenges .............................................................................................................................................. 41 3.8 Supplementary techniques ............................................................................................................. 42 3.8.1 Participant observation .................................................................................................................................... 42 3.8.2 Non-participant observation .......................................................................................................................... 42 3.8.3 Visual object analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 43 3.8.4 Field notes ..........................................................................................................................................................

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