Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 54 | 2018
Research Article | The Development of Civil Society in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan
The Development of Civil Society in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan
An Analysis of the National and International Context
Abstract
In the past two decades, scholars from a variety of disciplines have argued that post – communist civil society is weak and structurally deficient and is characterised by low levels of social trust, voluntary organisational membership, and public participation. This article intends to challenge this academic consensus by providing an in-depth analysis of civil society development in Kyrgyzstan, a country, whose non-profit sector has been described as the most vibrant and plentiful of the Central Asian region. To this scope, the article analyses the ways and extent to which the national and international environments have influenced the development trajectory of Kyrgyz civil society. Special emphasis is placed on the specific forms and manifestations of civic engagement characterising the non-profit sector of the selected country and on the strategies it has implemented to overcome its weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The paper sheds new light on factors and features that have contributed to the strengths of Kyrgyz civil society and which can be used to increase our understanding of civil society developments in other transition countries.
Submitted: Jan. 16, 2018 | Accepted: March 27, 2018 | Published June 25, 2018 | Language: en
Keywords NGOs and development • Post-Soviet civil society • State-civil society relations • International democracy assistance • Kyrgyzstan
Copyright © 2018 Chiara Pierobon. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2018/01/006
