Kyrgyzstan and the Legacies of Collectivisation

Book excerpt: This book argues that the early twentieth century Soviet Russian occupation and rule of the Central Asian territory that became Kyrgyzstan was made possible by collectivisation and forcible population displacement. The rural transformation brought about by the seizure of private and community owned assets, the ending of pastoralism as a livelihood system, and the corralling of people on to collective and state farms were pivotal strategies of colonisation. Evictions, involuntary resettlement and immigration reconfigured the population and enabled largely non-Kyrgyz rule. As the book describes, the dramatic changes wrought by Sovietisation required force and coercion, which were met with resistance and non-compliance. More than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, independent Kyrgyzstan continues to struggle with the legacies of Soviet rule. The book explores how the dismantling of collectivisation and the command economy failed to resist the rise of authoritarian, populist and nationalist politics, combined with economic stagnation and ethnic conflict.