Publication

This paper presents empirical findings from fieldwork on the dynamics of political conflict in Kyrgyzstan that support the thesis of weakened group identities since the end of the USSR. To illustrate the findings, the paper puts forward two stories about conflict in Kyrgyz provinces, one on a contested city council and the other on changing power distribution in a "rayon council." Generally, the paper finds more formal institutional arrangements, a process of social atomization and a lack of mechanisms for reproducing group identities.