SEMINAR- Political Communication in Kyrgyzstan, Alexander Wolters, SRC-AUCA, Oct. 3

Distrib. by: Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian Studies

SEMINAR- Political Communication in Kyrgyzstan, A. Wolters, SRC-AUCA, Oct. 3

Posted by: Social Research Center - AUCA <src@mail.auca.kg>

The Social Research Center (SRC) at the American University of Central Asia
(www.src.auca.kg) under its Research Seminars Series

presents:

RESEARCH SEMINAR: "Political Communication in Kyrgyzstan - Some Notions on
the Observation of Political Conflicts in the Field"

SPEAKER: Alexander Wolters, Visiting Research Fellow, SRC, AUCA

Time: 5pm, 3 October, 2008
Venue: 232, AUCA (main building)

Language: English

Abstract: Field research by anthropologists tends to be conducted in a
selected locality, which is approached from a holistic perspective. On the
contrary political scientists focus on central state regulations and
actions, usually narrowing their perspective to the most important political
actors in the center of a given state. In Kyrgyzstan the debate on the role
of traditional institutions like clans or territorial groupings has brought
about a discussion on which method is best for conducting research on
explaining political dynamics in Kyrgyzstan. The presentation aims at
shedding some light on the peculiar interrelationship of politics on the
ground and in the center by sharing the author's experience with the
changing nature of field research. The research results on the dynamics of
political conflicts in Kyrgyzstan question the traditional distinction made
between village anthropology and capital expert political science. When it
comes to Kyrgyz politics, both the province and the center play a role.
Constant reconsideration of one's own hypotheses is necessary to be able to
observe the full picture. If not, current distinctions in political science
and anthropology like center versus periphery or state versus society will
be reproduced and prevent more comprehensive explanations from being
developed.

Bio: Alexander Wolters is a PhD Candidate at the European University
Viadrina in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. He received a Diploma of
Cultural Studies at the Viadrina University and studied East-European
History, Philosophy and Cultural Studies in University of Muenster and an
der Oder University, Germany, and University of Tambov, Russia. His research
focuses on informal institutions in Post-Soviet Central Asia, state -
society relations and processes of modernization in the states of former
Soviet Union.

Research Seminar Series: The Research Seminar Series is an initiative of the
SRC and it aims at providing a venue for the AUCA faculty, local and foreign
scholars to share the results of their current and previous research
projects with other scholars. The series intends to encourage scholarly
discourse at AUCA.

How to register: Please, RSVP to asamidinova_a@mail.auca.kg to give your
name and affiliation.

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