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Presentation of the new CAG intern Amanda

Hi everyone, So far, 2017 has been treating me good. At the end of last year I got a call from Annika at CAG telling me that I’d gotten an internship at CAG – going to Osh, Kyrgyzstan to work with their partner organization Novi Ritm for four months. I guess most of you reading this already know about CAG and Novi Ritm – and probably also something about Kyrgyzstan. Therefore I wont be going into details about this part. I’ll just say that right now me and Emma (the other intern whom I’ll be going with) are in...

Part 2 on Democratization in Kyrgyzstan: Novi Ritm’s Contribution to Democratization of Kyrgyzstan

How can Novi Ritm be seen as contributing to the democratization process of Kyrgyzstan? In the last blog post, Perspectives on Democracy, I offered different conceptions of democracy and how the Central Asia Solidarity Groups (hereby abbreviated CAG) in particular understands the concepts of “democracy” and “democratization”. In this second and last blog post in the mini series, we will delve deeper into what actions CAG’s understanding of democracy and democratization leads them to take in Central Asia by analyzing how one of their main partners, the youth organization Novi Ritm in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, can be said to contribute...

Part 2. Women’s Roles in the Construction of Identity in Kyrgyzstan: Ideas and Expectations of Women

Welcome to the second blogpost in the miniseries about the roles of women in Kyrgyz national identity! In the first blogpost, I introduced and elaborated on concepts such as national identity. Ethnicity, religion, and nomadism are all important, yet in very different ways, in Kyrgyzstani identity. In this part, I will continue to elaborate on how these are part in shaping ideas and expectations of Kyrgyz women, and how this might have an impact on women’s situation in Kyrgyzstan today. Because of rather limited space, much will be generalized, thus I want to highlight that there exists multiple dimensions...

Part 1. Women’s Roles in the Construction of Identity in Kyrgyzstan: What is Kyrgyz National Identity?

Welcome to the first blogpost in the miniseries about the roles of women in Kyrgyz national identity! This post will be dedicated to clarify some concepts, such as national identity and gender, and shortly explain how and why they relate to each other. I will present a few theories of how national identity is constructed and maintained, to elaborate on my first out of three questions presented in my introductory post: What has been central in the construction of Kyrgyz national identity post-independence? What is National Identity? The understanding of a nation can be manifold. Several scholars from many...

Part 1 on Democratization in Kyrgyzstan: Perspectives on Democracy

  What is democratization? How does it come about? How does Central Asia Solidarity Groups view democratization in general and in Kyrgyzstan in particular? All over the globe, people tend to have a love-hate relationship to the word “democracy”. It might be the most frequently used word in political speech. It might also be the most unclear word in political speech. The sibling of the word, “democratization”, which tries to capture the process with which any given entity is said to be moving towards what is called democracy, is arguably even more difficult to grasp. Since I like drama,...

CAG exhibition Activism, Civil Society and Rights Based Work in Kyrgyzstan now touring Sweden!

It’s been quite a journey. After receiving funding from Forum Syd in the beginning of the year, meeting with various civil society actors in Kyrgyzstan and developing a visual concept during the summer, CAG’s exhibition Activism, Civil Society and Rights Based Work in Kyrgyzstan is finally touring Sweden! The tour started out successfully in October at Gothenburg’s Frilagret, a vibrant center for youth located on the city’s central Järntorget. Since then we’ve moved to Malmö where the exhibit is currently being shown in the main city library’s beautiful new wing, the Calendar of Light. Later this month it will...

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Vernacular design in Central Asia – A showcase of handmade objects from Kyrgyzstan

A man tends to his shop of babies’ cradles at Osh Bazaar, Kyrgyzstan Note to readers: this post was originally published on the author’s Medium account. Check this link to read it from the original source. Central Asia is regarded as a region of excellence when it comes to the production of artifacts such as carpets, textiles and felt. This traditions have been deeply explored and rightfully celebrated, however very little can be found on the design of everyday things in the region. The Southern part of Kyrgyzstan, a rather small country of 5 million, is especially interesting because...