Description

The paper explores three case studies of non-electoral protest groups by so-called ‘land-grabbers’ ( zemlyazakhvatchiki) in the ‘new settlements’ (novostroyka) of Bishkek in the environment of Kyrgyzstan’s 2011 Presidential Elections. It is based on pilot research conducted during the period from August to December 2011 including participant-observation and in-depth interviews with representatives of the movements before, during and after the elections. Following a critical interrogation of the literature, the research investigates four dimensions of these protest movements: the character of the grievances and justice claims advanced by the protestors; their organisation, including their internal structures and links to external patrons; the links between groups and whether there is the emergence of trans-local protests; the success of the protests in eliciting compromises from elite actors (including private landowners, politicians and state actors). The paper argues that these are a type of protest which has, thus far, been largely disregarded by the literature on protest in the post-Soviet space. They are grievance-based protests founded on a belief in the right to land and basic welfare that have been effectual in extracting concessions from elites. The environment of competitive, semi-democratic elections provides conditions conducive to the short-term success of these protests in extracting resources from the state. The frequency of elections and political contention in Kyrgyzstan has produced the emergence of a culture of protest which, in an environment with a weak rule of law, has become an institutionalised means of articulating popular grievances to the elite. However, the protests studied remain local struggles which are yet to come together in a wider movement. These findings, challenge recent research findings that mobilisations in electoral environments in Kyrgyzstan are exclusively ‘top-down’, i.e. orchestrated by external patrons. Moreover, the findings contribute to a growing literature on local protests and challenge prevailing assumptions that such direct action in weak states must be hierarchical in its organisational form.