Since 1991, the demographics of the Kyrgyz Republic (KR) have changed due to processes of emigration and immigration. According to UNFPA (2011), “Since independence there have been dramatic changes in the demographic... [ view full abstract ]
Since 1991, the demographics of the Kyrgyz Republic (KR) have changed due to processes of emigration and immigration. According to UNFPA (2011), “Since independence there have been dramatic changes in the demographic situation in the country, like e.g., the development of the Kyrgyz, Uzbek… [and] the percent of Russians… have [been] reduced.” Among minority communities, the Uzbeks are the largest ethnolinguistic minority. Because of these shifts, issues of social inclusion and access are critically salient in KR. This was particularly true following the 2010 ethnic conflict, which was exacerbated by sentiments within minority communities regarding their lack of political voice and limited opportunities to accumulate socio-cultural-political capital.
In 2013, the KR government developed the “Concept of the Development of the National Unity and Inter-Ethnic Relations in the KR”, reinforcing the role of the state language, Kyrgyz, as the language of the Kyrgyz citizenry and articulating a vision for the further integration of KR into the international community through the learning of languages of wider communication (LWC), e.g., Russian and English. Adopting a multilingual education approach was concurrently framed as the “catalyst for change and a tool for creating an enabling environment to address the inclusion of all citizens into public life and decision-making”.
This paper explores data collected during fieldwork in KR in 2016—424 discrete surveys were collected and 52 focus groups were conducted in 12 schools throughout the country. Participants reflected on the connection between access to the state and official languages and their children’s futures but also their community’s futures (e.g., building friendships and relationships with and between different neighborhood). This paper concludes with how language as a politicized proxy for ethnicity and its potential for facilitating upward socio-cultural capital movement in the KR and the implication of this for broader social cohesion (or inclusion) in-country.
Works Cited
Concept of the Development of the National Unity and Inter-Ethnic Relations in the KR (2013). Bishkek, KR: Government of KR.
