Religion and the Construction of Ethnic Identity in Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

With the introduction of new definitions of religion and religious actors, defining the relationship of Islam to national identity has been essential for the post-Soviet Central Asian states. This work, based on qualitative field research, examines how two particular groups of public figures, the Muslim authorities and the intelligentsia, attempt to define how religion should relate to the ethnic identity of the Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan. By analyzing the identity-building process as it plays out in a public debate over funeral practices between Muslim authorities and the intelligentsia, this article illuminates the context in which the idea of ethnicity is enacted and reproduced in definitions of post-Soviet identities in Kyrgyzstan. It argues that both the Muslim authorities and the intelligentsia are still informed by Soviet ideas on ethnicity and religion, but they enlarge the definition of Kyrgyz Muslimness in an authentic way without Soviet constraints, enriched with post-Soviet concerns, opportunities, and constraints.