Beyond spheres of influence: the myth of the state and Russia’s seductive power in Kyrgyzstan

This article questions the analytical value of “spheres of influence” for understanding power and the state in the post-Soviet region and beyond, based on a critical deconstruction of the ontological and epistemological assumptions inherent in the concept. It proposes an alternative reading of power and the state, drawing on the concept of “seductive power” at a distance and Timothy Mitchell’s “state effect.” Rather than the concept of a sphere of influence, a highly politicized concept that conveys an ontology that flattens and divides space, essentializes the state, and relies on an intentionalist account of power, we need an analytical framework that can help us make sense of the multiple, varied spatialities and historical legacies that produce the state and power. I demonstrate this through an extended discussion of Russian power in Kyrgyzstan, a country often described as a Russian client state. Mobilizing recent re-conceptualizations of state and power in anthropology and political geography, I present an analysis of Russia’s seductive power in Kyrgyzstan and the way it contributes to producing Kyrgyz state-ness. I also show how Russia’s Great Power myth is itself evolving and conclude that the differentiated, relational production of space and power in either Kyrgyz or Russian myths of the state is not captured by a the concept of a return to spheres of influence

'Nobody cares about the environment’: Kyrgyz' perspectives on enhancing environmental sustainable consumption practices when facing limited sustainability awareness

Within Western societies, the detrimental consequences of mass consumption on the environment have long been identified. Consumers have developed sustainability consciousness in accordance with research and policies. In non-Western societies, however, experiences with mass consumption have not been so long standing. Furthermore, the extent of mass consumerism is not as wide ranging as in many of the richer countries in the world. In central Asian countries, a soviet history adds to this the concept of resource depletion and sustainability impacting industrialization as an ideological taboo. Currently, central Asian countries such as Kyrgyzstan are embarking on enacting sustainability policies. Kyrgyz consumers are also developing sustainability awareness. This awareness sometimes leads to either new practices or changes in existing practices. However, consumption practices are too complex to assume that only consciousness will lead to increasingly sustainable practices. Furthermore, there is no control over the content of such awareness. The case of emergent sustainable consumption in Kyrgyzstan demonstrates how sustainability values become integrated with locally existing knowledge, meanings and material circumstances. The intent of this study is to investigate how Kyrgyz consumers perceive sustainable consumption and whether and how they integrate sustainability awareness into practices and with other values. Our data consist of 50 structured interviews that were conducted during the summer of 2013 in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek. Closed questions were analysed employing descriptive statistics, whereas a qualitative content analysis was applied to the results of open questions. The results provide an insight into the way in which emerging sustainability awareness is able to develop and how such awareness becomes integrated into existing practices and values