Name: Abdujalil Abdurasulov

Class: Intro to Methods to Social Research

Assignment: The Project

Date: 18/12/02

Once I was watching a documentary film about the Soviet Union during one of my University classes. They were showing Soviet parades during November 7^th, people singing International, young pioneers swearing to be faithful to their Motherland and so on. There was a woman sitting next to me. She was Russian of about 40-45. Suddenly I felt that she was crying. I glanced at her; she closed her face and in a few minutes she was in tears. She was experiencing identity crises. When the Soviet Union collapsed people who had strong feelings being attached to the USSR and considered it as their Rodina (Motherland), suddenly found themselves belonging to nothing. The state that they were attached to was gone and the new independent state was alien to them. Everything what they believed and lived with, collapsed in front of their eyes. And the changes that followed it, did not represent their ‘self’.

There is a major debate on identity between two theories: primordialists and constructivists. Primordialists claim that "we have an ethnic identity as we have speech, sight or smell." (Smith.1995:31) Our identity is natural and fixed entity that are "organically grown". According to Herb, "it believes that there are national spirits or essences and that notions are collective answers to the call of the blood." (1994:14) Thus, the answer we use when something wrong (or right)happens saying "This is because of our (Kyrgyz, Uzbek, etc.) mentality. We were always like that and we can’t change it" is a pure primordialist answer.

In contrast, constructivist argue that nations are artificial creation based on a myth of commonness. Ethnic identity as well as other identities "might be neither rationally chosen nor innately given, but constructed largely unconsciously or intuitively as a category of understanding". (Brown, 2000:21) Thus understanding of ‘us’ and ‘them’ is formed by the society and it changes along with society.

Because primordialists view ethnic identity as fixed and static, they deny that there is such a thing as "identity crises". On the contrary, constructivists argue that it is unavoidable. "Because social identities are constructed from the available repertoire of social categories, misfits are inevitable." (Laitin. 1998) "Some people cannot find a label that adequately represents their identities or they may not like the identity they chosen or were compelled to go by." (Laitin. 1998: 17-18)

Therefore, the questions I am going to answer in this project are the following. Is there such a thing as "identity crises"? Are people in Kyrgyzstan experiencing it? Why or why not? What are the consequences of it? Do they become "Everyman" as liberals suggest, or do they "become bewildered, schizophrenic, unhappy and lonely" as it is argued by conservatives? (Laitin, 1998: 18) These are questions I am testing in my research project.

The project is focused on the case of the Bishkek area. I am taking an example of post-Soviet State because I believe that identity crises happens when there are structural changes in people’s lives as it happened after the break up of the Soviet Union. The "Soviet identity" collapsed into many small fragments. However, I believe, and my research demonstrates that many people do not fit into any of these fragments, hence, experiencing "identity crises".

In the project I used semi-structured interviews as I think it was the most appropriate for my case. I could not use interviews with specific questions because I would limit myself and consequently the answers I could get would not cover whole the issue. Questionnaires were also unacceptable as many questions would be just dismissed as I did not put short-answer questions. And people, especially strangers do not like to answer long descriptive questions. Because of time limit, I could not conduct participant observation either.

While doing the project I faced many big and small, anticipated and unexpected problems. The biggest problem was unwillingness of people to answer my questions. Most of them were suspicious when a stranger came up to them asking questions on how their lives had changed since the Soviet Union’s collapse. The problem was, I think, that I was a completely stranger for them. One Russian girl who first agreed to answer my questions, changed her mind as soon as she saw the Dictaphone. I used dictaphone as I could not rely on my memory. But some people did not want to be taped and it is my understanding that they feared that the tape would be made available to masses. Thus, one KRSU student refused to be recorded, however, she agreed to answer if I didn’t use dictaphone.

They were not only uncomfortable to be interviewed, they didn’t trust me. Therefore, I think, that even if they had agreed to help me, they would have revealed some information. I found that it is much easier to get an interview from people who view you to belong to their ‘community’ or at least they knew you well enough to trust you. And from my side, I could ask them such questions that I would not dare to ask others who I didn’t know. Thus, I could freely talk to my instructor of military training. I easily talked to a Uzbek women from my home city – Jalal-Abad. However, having given the answers, they asked me not to reveal their names.

In additions, it was odd for me to come up to a person who I see first time and start asking personal questions. Moreover, I disliked the fact I would attract greater attention of people who surrounded me. This was the major obstacle I faced when I went to such crowded place like a bazaar.

The most difficult for me was to obtain an interview from a prostitute. I assumed they had a very strong identity crises; their occupation itself put questions on who they were as it contradicted to the religious, ethnic and gender identities. To my disappointment, they showed little interest when I told them I was doing a research on the problem of prostitution. So, I had to pay and take home (snyat’) one girl for an hour. She was amazed when I told her that I did not want to have sex and that I just wanted to talk to her.

In spite of all these difficulties, I managed to conduct even more than required number of interviews. I will not use their names in my paper as I was asked not to do it. I will refer to them according to their ethnicity, gender and occupation. In total, I interviewed 11 people. Here is the table of interviewed people:

First of all, economic hardship that followed the collapse influenced and shaped people’s identity. Inflation, unemployment, and economic crises in general, interfered into every sphere of the life. Economic collapse resulted in the loss of reliance on government. During the Soviet Union, people didn’t worry about money a lot. They used to get posobii (monetary benefits) and other economic support from the government. When I interviewed the Uzbek woman, she constantly complained that there are no pensions for her mother, no posobii for her children. "How can we live if we cut off from all these benefits?" she asks. People always depended on state’s support. Almost all my interviewees claimed that it was government’s job to take care of them. Thus, on my question what they would like to have in Kyrgyzstan that existed in the Soviet Union, the military man responded. "First of all, the Educational system, the system of Medicare. They were in the Soviet Union such systems, that suited the population." People who lived in the socialist state for so many years, still view the state as obligated to provide with social security. However, they can no longer depend on the same level of the state support.

The major blow for people’s identity today is the fact that they lost the "faith to the bright future". The Russian accountant says that there is no confidence in tomorrow’s day. "Kyrgyzstan lacks social stability," claims the Kyrgyz academician. During the Soviet Union, "people knew, when they turn 55, they will retire and get pensions, they will have well-to-do old age. Today, we need to think ourselves". Moreover, Ukrainian man says that a Soviet person had feelings of security and confidence in the future. "However, I don’t feel this today," he says. For them, economic security, confidence and the faith to the bright future were the main and essential parts of the ‘Soviet identity’. Today, they lost them. They want to get them back, but Soviet Union is gone and the new state does not and cannot support such feelings.

Another major shift was in the notion of Rodina – Motherland. Soviet Union considered to be the Motherland for all people lived on its territory, no matter where- in Ukraine or Kyrgyzstan, in Turkmenistan or Moldova. As Mayakovskiy – the Soviet poet wrote in his poems: "My address is not a house and street. My address is the Soviet Union."

When I asked Russians what is their Motherland now, when the Soviet Union collapsed, they named all (even young girls) Kirgizia. However, Kirgizia is an entity existed during the Soviet Union, the modern state is referred as Kyrgzystan. By naming it Kirgizia, they expressed their disagreement with the changes within the new state that made them feel excluded. The misfits of their identity here are obvious. They do not identify themselves with a new "Kyrgyz state" (as it is often labeled in mass media and literature). They deny it as their Motherland. In contrast, they identify themselves with the state that does not exist anymore.

Here I want to quote one Russian student of the AUCA who expressed her opinion on ethnic symbols and their changes in Kyrgyzstan.

" I don’t know who I am. I don’t know Manas, he is not a hero for me. I am not his decendant. I do feel excluded from this [Kyrgyz] community, but I feel excluded from Russia too."

The other Russian student stood up and said, "I do feel excluded too. But I don’t want to live in Russia. Ilya Muromets for me is as alien as Manas."

Those symbols that united people in the Soviet Union mainly disappeared. However ethnic minorities do not feel that the new symbols appeal to them. The image of Manas or yurta – traditional Kyrgyz house, may appeal to the titular nationality- the Kyrgyz, but it fails to do so with ethnic minorities. The Russian military man complained about ridiculousness of new national insignias. "The Victory order was awarded for the contribution to the victory. What kind of contribution are Manas orders awarded for? How many people are awarded with it? Were they friends of Manas? Or did they participate with him in the liberation of the country? There is no sense of this order."

In contrast, Manas is viewed by the titular nationality – the Kyrgyz, as a national hero, part of national culture. Thus, when I asked the Kyrgyz man what he thinks about the statue of Lenin, he articulated that there should be such a statue, "but not on the main square of the country".

"If we replace it, who do you want to here, then?"

"Some national hero, for example, Manas."

Such response made me think that identity crises is not equal to every social group. It is expressed in different ways for different groups, even though there are some similar movements, like loss of economic security.

Many changes that are occurring today concern only a small group of people who are mostly Kyrgyz. Hence, such a new event in our life as an Independence day is viewed by the Kyrgyz as a start of the Kyrgyz history, while for Russians it is the end of the period where they were a dominant group. The young Kyrgyz student said that on the independence day she joins mass celebrations, goes out with her nephews, visits parks and other places. But the Russian teacher states that she does not celebrate it "in [her] soul". "I celebrate it only officially," she says. Being a teacher, she gets involved in the celebration because of the events conducted at school. But ethnic minorities, including ethnic Russians are not happy about their old "Soviet" holidays like Victory day, May day, etc. either.

"The holidays are the same," the unemployed Russian man says, "but there is no that light-heartedness and care-freedom."

The notion of Rodina for titular nationality also goes beyond the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Though, they do not consider the other parts of former Soviet Union as a homeland, they still care about other states there. They still can travel and speak Russian and people will understand them there. "When I go to Moscow I feel like if I were at home," says the Kyrgyz academician. However, the problem is that people there treat them like alien; constant police passport checks in the streets implicitly demonstrate not only that it is a foreign country for people from Central Asia, including ethnic Russians, but also that these people are unwelcomed. Russian immigrants from Central Asia feel and are treated as if they were not Russians in there "historical homeland".

"Here…[in Russia] we are simply Kyrgyz, they call us Kyryz and the others are called Kazaks." (Pilkington. 1998: 173) Moreover, they do not feel that they have anything in common with local Russians Their Russiannes is contested.

The feel of loss is present even for titular nationalities, who are supposed to feel Kyrgyzstan as their primordial homeland. This is explicitly expressed by the Kyrgyz academician.

"I lost the feelings of belonging to the Great State. I lost the feelings of stability and harmony. I remember when whole country [USSR] watched Rodina crying or our basketball players winning over Americans."

Those feelings of proud being a citizen have disappeared today. They view Kyrgyzstan as a backward, underdeveloped and with no perspectives country. And this is the major blow for everybody; no matter what nationality they belong. During some sport competition people cheer for Russian team as there is usually no team representing Kyrgyzstan. And they always call this Russian team as ‘nashi’ – ours, our team. They are happy when Russian team wins and depressed when they loose. People subconsciously avoid admitting that they are not "our" team anymore, that they belong now to a different state. When they win, the hymn of the Russian Federation is played, not of the Kyrgyz Republic. People are annoyed by the fact that their nation, their country is weak and a looser, while just several years ago, it used to be one of the strongest in the world.

Younger generation old Soviet symbols do not have that meaning as it does for older population. Those two 16-year-old girls who I interviewed at the Lenin’s statue give their preferences not to the Lenin’s statue, but to the National Guard that stands nearby. They were too young when the Soviet Union collapsed to remember a lot about the life during the Soviet Union. Thus, they do not have those feelings of loss as their parents probably have. When I asked them why they think that National Guard is of more importance, they responded by saying that people forgot Lenin. "And did you forget him too?" "Of course, we don’t study him at school," they responded. And this fact actually what worries most elder population who live with great nostalgie about the Soviet Union. They feel that their children would miss essential part of their childhood. And it is not about that children are not taught who Lenin is, but about the life they have. Thus, the Russian schoolteacher regrets that her grand children cannot go to pioneer summer camps, gather at bonfires and sing songs. "We were all united by the same goal," says she. "But today, we live in a different society. There is an obvious separatism; everybody is busy only with his own goals."

The greatest blow to identity took in the form of contested traditions and values. Barchyn thinks she is not a Muslim because she sells her body, which is against her religion. " I know that all these traditions and values cannot provide me with money, but still… The most shameful is that I lost my virginity and still unmarried, even though I am 21. According to Muslim traditions, the girl must be virgin when she marries. Therefore, Barchyn felt that she lost essential part of her ‘self’ when she lost her virginity. Her parents live in a village in Talas and very poor. "During the exam week, I had to bribe my teachers. I didn’t have money but my friends advised me to work (podrabotat’) They took me to a pimp (sutenersha) and since that time I am a prostitute. She said the word ‘prostitute’ with such a disgust. It seems to me she hates herself because she thinks that everything she does is sinful and wrong. Her actions didn’t fit the frame of Muslim and Uighur identities in her understanding.

Two Uzbeks whom I interviewed also deplored about the fact that there are negative changes in their lives. The Uzbek woman says, "today, we are disrespected (tilimiz o’tmaydi) They say "I will punch you (bir uraman). They are ready to fight with me like with a man. May be they don’t perceive us like women." . They go to Russia and trade; they constantly interact with men. Women work as much as men and do everything what men do. "This is wrong. Women should stay at home and men work. We need to take care of children, not travel around trying to earn some money. This is men’s job." Uzbek culture "prescribes" women stay at home, while men are supposed to earn money to feed the family. This structure is broken now. Facing economic problems, women are forced to go to bazaar and trade, which they had never done before. "When we come home, and if my husband tells me to make tea, I tell him to do it himself. We are so busy and get so tired that we don’t pay any attention to our children and house work. Because of that we always quarrel with our husbands," claims the Uzbek women. What they are doing today does not fit their vision of Uzbekness. Their identity is challenged because there are many things that are "wrong" and against their traditions and beliefs. The Uzbek men, who is unemployed, is ashamed that his wife earns trading in kiosk, while he stays at home taking care of children. "I can’t do anything about that. There is no job. (ish yoq)

Identity crises is happening in Kyrgyzstan as those changes that are happening cause misfits in their understanding of who they are. Their everyday life, its structure has completely changed after the collapse. Economic crises forced people to such activity that, in their view, people of their group – Uzbek, or female, or Muslim, or all together, should not do. The identity crises led to the fact that they lost some essential part of their ‘self’. The feelings of loss of economic security and "bright future" are derived from the fact that people still view state responsible to support them. They do not fit in modern conditions when one needs to manage his survival himself. The clear crises is demonstrated by the fact that people identify themselves with the state that does not exist. Moreover they claim that they still consider other parts of the former Soviet Union as their Rodina or at least they care about them as much as about Kyryzstan. However, they are viewed as aliens in these parts. The most painful aspect in identity crises is the challenges of traditions and values. The cases of Uzbek women trading along with men and even obeying them shows such contradictions with their understanding of how Uzbek woman should behave.

All these cases demonstrate that our identity is constructed. It is shaped by the changes on all levels. Today, our identities are shifting. However, the people fail to recognize them. They fail to consider the new form of the identity as the expression of their ‘self’. It will take some time when these changed values, traditions and behavior become as ‘normal’ and thus become part of our ‘self’ – our identity.

Brown, David. (2000) Contemporary nationalism: civic, ethnocultural and multicultural politics. Routledge. London and NY.

Latin, David. (1998) Identity in Formation: Russian Population in Near Abroad. Cornell UP. Ithaca and London.

Pilkington, Hilary. (1998) Migration, Displacement And Identity in Post-Soviet Russia. Routledge. London.

Smith, Anthony. (1995) Nations and Nationalism in a Global era. Polity Press.

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