Bakhytzhan Kurmanov
Researcher/scholar based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Central Asia
Open government, digital activism, authoritarian politics and memory
Senior research fellow at University of Central Asia. Views are my own.
- Born out of the January 2022 moment and a fleeting sense of ottepel’. Our article traces debates on Kazakhisation and nation-building in post-Nazarbayev Kazakhstan. Published in Asian Affairs. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... PDF on request.
- Civil Society, Accountability, and Growth in Resource-Rich Countries: Myth or Reality? New article (with A. Dosmaganbetov) in Politics & Policy: EITI boosts growth mainly via investor signalling, not accountability. Evidence from Central Asia and beyond onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
- New publication! With Colin Knox & Ilyas Yesdauletov, we examine the state and limits academic freedom in Central Asia. We find governments mix repression with co-optation to secure loyalty—echoing Turkey, Russia and Indonesia. Free access link authors.elsevier.com/a/1m4G138nsw...
- Happy to share my new article (open access) with B. Smith and C. Schenk in @cpcs.bsky.social We examine how Russia’s war has shaped youth activism in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan finding that young people’s agency and awareness of decolonialism long predated the war. online.ucpress.edu/cpcs/article...
- Reposted by Bakhytzhan Kurmanov#OpenAccess from @nationalitiesp.bsky.social - Making the Golden Horde “Great Again”: Historians as Memory Actors and Reinterpretation of the Historical Narratives in Independent Kazakhstan - cup.org/4n2aYCM - @bkurmanov.bsky.social, Zhaxylyk Sabitov & Rustem Kudaibergenov #FirstView
- My new article on memory politics in KZ with Z. Sabitov and R. Kudaibergenov is out in Nationalities Papers. We explore how Tokayev’s Kazakhstan is rewriting historical narratives with a new focus on ancient and medieval history. Open access. doi.org/10.1017/nps....
- Life in Kyrgyzstan 2025 conference
- Our note on Digital State Repression in Central Asia is now part of the special section Technology-Enabled Surveillance as a Regime Characteristic at Swiss Political Science Review. Grateful to Colin for the collaboration and to Jasmin for the opportunity. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
- On Sep 13 I spoke at Crossroads CA Summer School @aijanco.bsky.social (invited by S. Juraev) on 3 strategies for being an effective social scientist in post-Soviet contexts. Shared from my own fieldwork experience and stressed the need for Central Asian scholars to shape knowledge on our region.
- Excellent transparency of the journal. I wish all journals published such informative reports. @cpcs.bsky.social 👍
- The CPCS Editor's Report 2025 is now available for download: drive.google.com/file/d/1qo-S... A short highlight thread: 🔸2024 Impact Factor ↗️ 1.3 🔸2024 Immediacy Index ↗️ 1.1 🔸2024 Scopus CiteScore ↗️ 2.4 (1/9)
- Join our IPPA webinar on Civil Society & Think Tanks in Central Asia Wed, 17 Sept. I’ll present on state–civil society relations in Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan, and Dr. Vera Axyonova (Univ. of Birmingham) will discuss think tanks in Kazakhstan. ucentralasia.org/resources-an...
- Recently I gave my first ever keynote address at the conference organized by CEGREG at Maqsut Narikbayev University. I shared my insights on the Art of being a social scientist in Central Asia: 3 strategies how to be sucessful in challenging political settings. Thanks to Dr. Ikboljon Qoraboyev
- Had a great exchange with Durham University grad students at UCA! We discussed UCA’s research, Central Asia’s socio-political landscape. I shared insights from my recent Journal of Contemporary Asia paper on state-civil society relations. Looking forward to future collaborations between UK and CA!
- The Life in Kyrgyzstan conference takes place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (10-11 Oct 2025). Despite its name, the conference accepts proposals (individual abstracts and panels) related to socio-economic and political development of the whole Central Asian region. ucentralasia.org/resources-an...
- Today I will be participating webinar on Digital State Control in Central Asia (4 pm Almaty time/ 5 pm Bishkek time/ 11 am UK time). Please register at the link:https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/nrK0epM-R3uhOXgV2EnY9Q#/registration
- doi.org/10.1080/0047... Happy to share our most recent article (with C. Knox and D. Sharipova) on the evolving authoritarian state - civil society relations in Central Asia published in the Journal of Contemporary Asia.
- Here I share the link with FREE access to the article www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JXUTH...
- doi.org/10.1080/2159... Recently read this excellent article on everyday protest against autocratization in Belarus. It is striking to see similarities between digital activism there and in Kazakhstan (such as Oyan Qazaqstan).
- Happy to share that you can read my chapter on Understanding the Nation-Building Process under Tokayev in the Context of Russia-Ukraine war now (click on the google books link through google scholar). scholar.google.com/citations?vi...
- Reposted by Bakhytzhan KurmanovLink to Apple Podcasts - podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...
