Central Asia: From Ethnic to Civic Nationalism 

                                                 Vladimir Fedorenko                                                  Research fellow at The Rethink Institute

Synopsis:

Recently there was a wave of celebration of the 20th anniversary of independence in all Central Asian states, yet the nation building process is not complete and the perception of the national identity is still distorted. By its nature national identity should bring people together and unite them around common values and goals, in Central Asian states, however; national identity is a divisive force fragmenting people into the compartments of ethnicity, religion, language, birth place, and social status.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asian republics - Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan - faced a difficult task of state and nation building. Although every Central Asian nation had its own unique situation determined by its geographical position, ethnic and cultural composition, availability of natural resources and other factors, all Central Asian states generally faced same complexity that hindered the attaining of unity in those countries. As a result of abrupt dissolution of the Soviet Union politically unstable, economically weak and interdependent, institutionally unprepared, and socially disorientated Central Asian states were in a serious crisis.

In order to forge a new national identity elites in all five Central Asian states decided to implement a nation building policy based on ethnicity. Ethnic nationalism was convenient and promising strategy capable of providing the sense of stability in the country by uniting majority groups around common and powerful link of ethnicity. Therefore, in order to increase people’s attachment to new national identities, attractive myths regarding ethnic identities were created.  In all Central Asian countries, the strategy of creating national myth was similar. It consisted of rewriting history in order to show strong attachment of majority group to the present geographical location of the country as well as choosing a historical figure that boosted the national pride of dominant ethnic group. As such, Uzbeks have been putting emphasis on being successors of the famous conqueror Timur who established Timurid Empire, Kyrgyz have been promoting the pride of mythical hero Manas and Tajiks have been rediscovering their history that started from the Samanid Empire ruled by Ismail Samani.  Kazakhs have been promoting nomadic culture and traditions since it best represented their ethnic identity, and Turkmens have been focusing on Turkmen spiritual leader Magtymguly Pyragy.

However, an important barrier to the nation building process around single ethnicity is the fact that most Central Asian states are multiethnic and multicultural countries. 

Therefore while ethnic nationalism provides majority group a sense of belonging to the nation, minority ethnic groups in Central Asia do not easily embrace national identity and feel excluded from the nation building process. Moreover, majority ethnic groups also realize their dominance and may start to treat minorities unjustly. This might create tension and conflicts among different ethnic groups. Unlike ethnic nationalism, which prioritizes certain ethnic group within a society, civic nationalism encompasses all people living in the nation. 

Bio: 

Vladimir Fedorenko specializes in democratization processes, civil society and civic movements in Central Asia, Russia and Turkey. In 2009 he graduated from George Mason University with MA in Political Science. He received his BA in International Relations from Ege University and he also graduated from Department of Accounting at Dokuz Eylul University. Vladimir is a fluent speaker of Russian, Turkish and Tajik.

Note: Lunch will be served