Paper short abstract

This study illuminates how the detached ethnicities determine, formulate and transform their collective identities, drawing on the case of young Uzbeks in Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

Paper long abstract

After the demise of the Soviet Union, the mainstream of ethnic conflicts sprang out of people's perception of dissolution by political borders as a principal hazard to their cultural unity and ethnic identity. This study illuminates how the detached ethnicities determine, formulate and transform their collective identities, drawing on the case of young Uzbeks in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. The case is unique because all of the separatism elements of the conflict; the region did not experience strong self-determination statements by the Uzbeks in Osh and irredentism policy by Uzbekistan. Qualitative method - semi-structured in-depth interviews were employed as a research tool. Interviews enclosed twenty Uzbek people living in Osh city. Paper reveals that divided ethnic minorities could not be an integral part of the nation-building process due to reciprocal threat perception of state and ethnic minority, uprising religious identity, the state's antagonistic policy approach towards ethno-symbolic elements and political participation.

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