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...

Introduction of the Intern Isabelle and Women’s Roles in the Construction of Identity in Kyrgyzstan

  Hi everyone, My name is Isabelle Persson, and I am currently working in Southern Kyrgyzstan with Centralasiengrupperna’s main local partner Novi Ritm in Osh. At 25 years, I have managed to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at Malmö University, where I previously studied pedagogics and drama. I also studied abroad one semester in Melbourne, Australia, where I had the pleasure of not only enjoying the amazing culture of the First Peoples but also get out of my comfort zone and study Macroeconomics and International Business. My civil society engagement has largely been party political...