13 research outputs found
Russian strategy in the Transcaucasus since the demise of the USSR
SIGLEUuStB Koeln(38)-940106533 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman
Islamic radicalism that never was: Islamic discourse as an extension of the elite’s quest for legitimation. Azerbaijan in focus
Access by Accident: Legitimacy Claims and Democracy Promotion in Authoritarian Central Asia
Another Way of Saying Enough: Environmental Concern and Popular Mobilization in Kyrgyzstan
This article is a foray into the understudied issue of environmental protest politics in Central Asia. Specifically, it uses Kyrgyzstan as a case study to test the argument that environmental concerns mobilized people to engage in protest and in ways different from other kinds of protest. This essay presents the first systematic study of public opinion about the environment in Kyrgyzstan. It includes results from a 2009 nationwide survey, over 100 expert and elite interviews, and newspaper content analysis. Furthermore, it spatially analyzes these results to identify geographical variation in public perception and political event occurrence patterns. Protest engagement is a complex process determined by the interaction of several factors, and is not explained solely by affluence, rationality, or grievances. Eco-mobilization - collective political action about the environment - represents a class of protest events that offers a different view into mass discontent in the former Soviet Union and neo-patrimonial societies. The study finds that these political actions about the environment are not necessarily elite driven; there is a basic foundation of national concern and salience of these issues, and demonstrated environmental beliefs do help to explain protest behavior