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- Convenors:
-
Tamar Jugheli
(University of Groningen)
Asel Murzakulova (University of Central Asia)
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- Theme:
- REL
- Location:
- Posvar 3610
- Start time:
- 25 October, 2018 at
Time zone: America/New_York
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
We explore religion and questions of radicalization among Central Asian youth.
Long Abstract:
We explore religion and questions of radicalization among Central Asian youth. Doolotkeldieva studies how the growing number of madrasas intersect with what has been Kyrgyzstan's historically secular education system. Nasritdinov investigates youth vulnerability and resilience to radicalization through the analysis of six domains of young people's lives: socialization, religion, identity, justice, politics and psychology. And McGlinchey explores Central Asian youth responses to US and European narratives of terror and radicalization through the application of data analytics to social networking websites and online discussion forums as well as through structured interviews.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Eric McGlinchey (George Mason University) Baurjan Safi (General Assembly)
Paper long abstract:
When Central Asian youth read foreign coverage of their co-nationals in the United States or Europe, it is often in the context of radicalization, militancy, and terrorism. Regrettably, while foreign audiences are repeatedly exposed to narratives of Central Asian militancy, Central Asians themselves are rarely afforded any real voice in these US and European portrayals of militancy. Our study offers an alternative to what has thus far been a decidedly one-sided conversation. Using a mixed methods approach, we study what Central Asian youth say about foreign narratives of radicalization. We explore, through the use of data analytics, online discussion forums as well as websites like vKontakte in an effort to establish how 'networked' Central Asian youth view US and European media coverage of terror. And through structured interviews we explore the potential causal reasons for why Central Asian youth either agree or disagree with this media coverage.
Tsetsenbileg Tseveen ( Institute of Philosophy (current name), Academy of Sciences)
Paper long abstract:
The paper discusses the state of religiosity among Mongolians and occurred changes in post-communist Mongolia after 1990. People obtained the right of any religious belief and faith after having atheist ideology for 70 years while had a strong Buddhist identity in past two centuries. Paper explores religious situation and influencing factors based on analysis of various sources, statistic of monasteries, temples, churches and their authorities, and own surveys conducted in Ulaanbaatar in 2012 and 2016. I argue that religiosity of Mongolians has changed dramatically; number of Christians is increasing, while Buddhists are fragmented and ambivalent, also shamanism had boomed in 2000s and now other different practices are emerging. The current trends in religiosity are investigated using different qualitative and quantitative methods, like structured face to face interviews, deep interviews, FGDs, observations.
Emil Nasritdinov (American University of Central Asia) Zarina Urmanbetova (University of Fribourg) Kanatbek Murzahalilov
Paper long abstract:
Radicalization in Central Asia is cross-generational: it includes people of a variety of age groups. However, it is believed that youth occupies a special place - they make the most dominant group. This study intended to analyze factors of vulnerability and resilience of young people in Kyrgyzstan to engagement with violent extremist groups. The study was based on a combination of quantitative (questionnaire survey of 1054 young people: high-school, madrasa and college students and working/unemployed) and qualitative (interviews and FGDs with young people, stakeholders and experts) in all seven regions of Kyrgyzstan and two large cities: Bishkek and Osh. The empirical discussion is structured around six main domains of young people's lives: socialization, religion, identity, justice, politics and psychology. For each domain, it discusses the overall characteristics/trends and factors of vulnerability/resilience to radicalization. The results across six domains are then lumped together to reveal the most significant factors of vulnerability and resilience.