Institutional transition: Internal migration, the propiska, and post-socialist urban change in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, there has been remarkable enthusiasm for theorising how transitional processes have unfolded in post-socialist cities. In seeking to extend literature that uses the post-socialist condition as a tool for theory building, we draw attention to the ongoing processes of institutional change in post-socialist cities. In doing so, we reject a 'top-down' perspective and examine how these institutional transitions are shaped through processes of 'domestication', negotiation and contestation between different interest groups in the city. We develop our argument, by drawing attention to the local political debates surrounding the propiska in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The propiska developed throughout the Soviet Union to control internal migration and is still used today in a less restrictive form. By discussing our case study, we hope to foster attention towards the ongoing contested processes of institutional transition in post-socialist cities.

Cardiovascular Disease and Mental Distress Among Ethnic Groups in Kyrgyzstan

“…The conclusions on the ethnic differences in burnout and sleep disturbance differ from those from studies in the US (61,79). Thus, the present finding that in Kyrgyzstan, compared to other ethnic groups, the majority of the population, Kyrgyzs do not stand out having better mental stress outcomes can be explained by the lower economic status of this group (80)(81)(82). Furthermore, the higher rate of mental stress in Kyrgyzs, East Europeans and Central Asians may be attributed to the fact that unlike these ethnic groups, East Asians (Koreans), Dungans and Uyghurs (Other minorities) have kept their religious practices (e.g., pray five times a day) throughout Soviet time till currently (83)(84)(85), and religious practices have been associated with positive mental health outcomes (86).…”

The influence of the Chinese hukou system in motivating and shaping the geography of Chinese international student mobility

“…First, the hukou system is an important institutional barrier to internal migration in China. Second, similar institutional control of internal migration also occurs elsewhere, meaning that the findings have applicability beyond the Chinese context (Hatcher & Thieme, 2016;Turaeva, 2022). For example, the propiska system is a similar institutional barrier that aims to restrict internal migration in some former Soviet countries, such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia (Turaeva, 2022).…”

“…For example, the propiska system is a similar institutional barrier that aims to restrict internal migration in some former Soviet countries, such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia (Turaeva, 2022). Propiska status authorises individuals to work and live in their propiska ‐registered place, and migrants only have limited social rights without local propiska status (Hatcher & Thieme, 2016). For example, in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, people without local propiska are excluded from the labour market and social service system in national capitals (Turaeva, 2022).…”

Migration and justice in the era of sustainable development goals: a conceptual framework

“…This example stands for what Delgado Wise et al ( 2013) discuss as dialects of unequal development, forced migration, and human rights in relation to neoliberal globalisation. Unequal development in Kyrgyzstan, as in all former Soviet (and all socialist) countries is embedded in a political transformation process resulting in multiple changes and continuities, a blending of persisting socialist elements and an internalisation of neoliberal doctrine (Hatcher and Thieme 2015). Part of this process was the incorporation of the socialist countries and China in the global economy, resulting in aggravated disparities within and between countries and a large available workforce with new hierarchies and divisions of labour, as well as people who benefit from mobility and others who do not (Delgado Wise 2020).…”