Exploring “North” and “South” in post-Soviet Bishkek: Discourses and perceptions of rural-urban migration

Abstract

In this paper we explore, through the narratives and perspectives of "old residents" in post-Soviet Bishkek, the dominant discourse which has emerged towards rural migrants arriving to the city from other areas of Kyrgyzstan from the late Soviet period onwards. We investigate the existence of a primarily "antagonistic" discourse in relation to the migrants and analyze this in detail to understand how it illuminates wider concerns amongst residents about what is occurring in their city, and about wider processes of social change in Kyrgyzstan. The paper provides a revealing insight into the processes of urban change in post-Soviet Central Asia, and demonstrates the ways in which confrontation with the everyday harsh realities of post-Soviet transformation can lead to the negative "othering" of one group of urban residents by another. We also demonstrate how the "old residents'" perceptions of migrants reveal important insights into emerging notions and constructions of identity in the post-Soviet period, related in this case to understandings of "North" and "South' 1 and related concepts of what is "urban" and what is "Kyrgyz".

Discourses of Russian-speaking youth in Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan: Soviet legacies and responses to nation-building

“…This manner of defining in-group membership highlights the socio-cultural (language, manners, culture) rather than ethnic factors behind group identity difference and highlights how Almaty Russian-speakers gain security and confidence through 'alliance' with Russified Kazakhs. It also fits with research on Post-Soviet Bishkek that reveals how the 'ruralisation' of urban spaces causes a reaction from 'native urbanites' who hold similar positions regardless of ethnicity (Flynn and Kosmarskaya 2012). Laszczkowski (2016, p.70) also found that 'young "urban" Kazakhs and Russians tended to group together, pointing to the "rural" as their common "spatial other"'.…”

The Place of Memory in Understanding Urban Change in Central Asia: The Cities of Bishkek and Ferghana

“…These boundaries often cut across those of ethnicity. See Flynn and Kosmarskaya (2012) for a discussion of this in the context of Bishkek. 38 Regional committee of the local branch of the Communist Party.…”

“…This situation is explored in the contemporary period in Flynn and Kosmarskaya (2012). Schroeder (2010) shows in his study how, despite ethnic and other differences, Kyrgyz and Russian long-term inhabitants of Bishkek (in his case young people) moved to co-identify as urbans in opposition to newly arrived Kyrgyz migrants.…”

The Institutionalization of Mobility: Well-being and Social Hierarchies in Central Asian Translocal Livelihoods

“…Therefore, as a student at the 'American University' and as a new inhabitant of Kyrgyzstan's capital, it was a crucial adaptation for Bermet to further improve both her English and her Russian. Aside from academic reasons, speaking 'proper Russian' was necessary for Bermet to socialize within her circles of urban peers, but also to embed herself in Bishkek's cultural fabric and to avoid being stigmatized as an 'uncivilized rural' (Alymbaeva 2013;Flynn and Kosmarskaya 2012;Schröder 2010Schröder , 2012.…”