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Abstract

By blending Soviet archival materials with Kyrgyz genealogical sources, this paper examines how the lineage principle intersected with Soviet socialist principles within early Soviet Kyrgyz society, particularly among Kyrgyz political elites in the 1920s and 1930s. There is a growing body of literature on early Soviet Central Asia that argues that national elites in Central Asia mediated the newly enforced Soviet principles to the local population, playing a crucial role in the Sovietization of the region. However, what is often overlooked in the literature is that many of the elites born and raised in the final decade of the Russian Empire retained a strong sense of traditional identity. In the nomadic part of Central Asia, they continued to operate in a society that was predominantly structured around lineages. If so, how did the Kyrgyz political elite and local Soviet activists navigate the tension between lineage-based structures and the increasing pressure to conform to the ideological framework of the Soviet state? Combining and critically examining Soviet primary sources and Kyrgyz lineage genealogies, this paper argues that the Kyrgyz political elite employed the lineage principle as a powerful tool for mobilization against their rivals and for mediating Soviet power within society. It also shows how they tried to reconcile Soviet and lineage logics, prompting us to think more critically about the hybrid nature of the purportedly omnipotent Soviet regime.