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ABSTRACT
This article investigates the interrelation between law and hope in the context of constitutional change in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. Drawing upon ethnographic and textual data, it is shown that the constitution has acquired particular discursive importance in Kyrgyzstan each time the foundations of the state have been severely challenged or shattered. Paying particular attention to three major political conflicts, the article demonstrates how, in the aftermath of each, speeches, performances, presentations and conversations were infused with ‘constitutional faith’, binding together the political elite and ordinary citizens in an expression of their general hope that constitutional change could bring about a better future. I view constitutional faith as a practice of hope that allows people to actively engage with their being-in-the-world, particularly in times of crisis. In the aftermath of large-scale political conflict, with which I am concerned here, it can become a faith-based mode of conflict resolution.
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Felix Girke, Brian Donahoe, Eva-Marie Dubuisson, Sarah Kendzior, Nathan Light, Madeleine Reeves, the journal editor Nils Bubandt and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
Notes
1. The photograph appeared online in an article in the 27 June 2010 issue of the German magazine Focus. See http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/kirgistan-referendum-in-unruhigen-zeiten_aid_524058.html for the complete article and http://p4.focus.de/img/gen/Y/r/HBYrDzFy_Pxgen_r_467xA.jpg for the photograph. The caption of the photo reads, ‘After Voting: Refugees and Polling Officers Pray Together’.
2. For more background, see Beyer (Citation2010a; Citation2010b), Reeves (Citation2010a; Citation2010b), McBrien (Citation2011).
3. The term was coined by Stanford Levinson, who introduced it to describe Americans' ‘wholehearted attachment to the Constitution as the center of one's (and ultimately the nation's) political life’ (Citation1988: 4). In his book he investigates the history of and the problems emerging from the coupling of faith and (national) identity in constitutional discourses and practices.
4. Such acts have also been called ‘processes of inscription’ (Ricoeur Citation1976) and ‘instauration’ (Barber Citation2007:4).
5. But see Philips (Citation2000), which combines the methods of linguistic anthropology with the interests of sociolinguists and legal scholars in its investigation of the construction of a Tongan nation-state through language ideology in the courtroom.
6. Narod obsudil i predlozhil. In Slovo Kyrgyzstana, 14 January 2003. All speeches were given in Russian. For the translation of Russian (and Kyrgyz) words, I follow the standard American Library Association and Library of Congress Romanization tables for Slavic alphabets (ALA-LC).
7. Akaev reshil bol'she ne lukavit’. Respublika. 21 January 2003.
8. Vperedi – vysokie tseli i trudnye zadachi. Slovo Kyrgyzstana. 6 February 2003.
9. Uchit'sia zhit’ po novoi konstitutsii. Slovo Kyrgyzstana. 20 February 2003.
10. Nooruz (Pers. ‘new day’) is a festival marking the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the vernal equinox in Iran, throughout Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in parts of China and the Balkans.
11. Approximately 80% of Kyrgyzstan's citizens are Sunni Muslims, and an increasing number of them pray five times daily and fast during Ramadan.
12. The same spiritual figures also played a role in Bakiev's second inauguration ceremony in 2009 (personal communication with Nathan Light).
13. For details, see Petric (Citation2010), Beyer (Citation2010a; Citation2010b), Reeves (Citation2010a; Citation2010b).
14. The word is of Arabic origin.
15. Seventy years of Soviet rule had a significant impact on the practice of Islam in public, and many Central Asian Muslims today consider themselves ‘bad Muslims’. Recent anthropological scholarship has shown the complexity and historical development of these widespread self-characterisations (McBrien Citation2008; Hann & Pelkmans Citation2009).
16. See Davies (Citation1997) for more examples of the intertwining of religious and socialist discourse regarding the constitution.
17. According to the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan. See http://www.constcouncil.kz/eng/norpb/constrk/.
18. Amnesty is also granted on Uzbekistan's Independence Day (1 September).
19. In her treatment of secularism and religion in Kyrgyzstan, Louw (Citation2012) asserts that irony often surrounds Kyrgyz peoples' reflections on and practices of Islam. This is not the situation I observed in relation to constitutional faith.
20. See for example Zizek (Citation1989), Navaro-Yashin (Citation2002). For a recent discussion of this body of literature in the context of political culture in neighbouring Uzbekistan, see Kendzior (Citation2011).
21. Fieldwork from a multi-ethnic village in western Talas province suggests otherwise. There, I encountered reports of Meshketian Turks being pressured to ‘support the constitution’ and take part in the referendum even though ‘they did not want to go along’ (see Beyer Citation2010b for details).
22. It is not, of course, only the constitution that brings hope to people. Amsler (Citation2009) and DeYoung (2008) have focused on education as a source of hope for Kyrgyz youth. Despite the lack of demand for highly educated workers, education has become a goal unto itself, argues DeYoung, a practice of hope. But here as well, ethnic minorities follow a different path. In the aftermath of the 2010 events, Uzbek language schools have been closed in Southern Kyrgyzstan. For many ethnic minorities, particularly Uzbeks, labour migration to Russia has become an alternative beacon of hope (see McBrien Citation2011; Reeves Citation2012).