This thesis deals with migration flows between Russian Federation and the Kyrgyz Republic. The aim is to analyze migration trends after the collapse of the Soviet Union and to characterize the impact and importance of migration on society and the state of Kyrgyzstan. Another issue is the use of the theories of migration in the post-Soviet space, where they are rarely used nowadays. The analysis begins with an introduction to the formation of the USSR with regard to migration processes on the territory of present-day Kyrgyzstan. Another part is devoted to ethnic migration and the last part deals with labor migration. This thesis illustrates the interdependence of migration and changes in the economy and society in Kyrgyzstan. Based on the evaluation of the causes of migration, migration theory could be used just for explanation of labor migration. Application of specific migration theories on labour migration is a matter for further research.

Using Nixon’s (2011) conceptualisation of slow violence, this study explores how violence is portrayed in English-language news articles reporting the Kyrgyz-Tajik border conflicts in April 2021 and September 2022. This study aims to discover the ways in which violence is communicated to English-speaking audiences, and, in a larger context, it contributes to the understanding of violence produced in border conflicts. The study analyses 50 news articles from four different media outlets through thematic analysis. The findings from this study suggest that the news reporting on the border conflicts focuses on casualties and “visible” violence, aligning with Nixon’s arguments that slow violence, the gradual degradation and suffering, is being marginalised in the public discourse. Moreover, the study finds that slow violence is best communicated in articles that build on personal interviews with the people living in the border communities.

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This thesis explores China's relations with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, from 1991 to 2005, contributing to the body of knowledge by arguing that China's relations with post-Soviet Central Asia were shaped by security and economic imperatives in Xinjiang, home to Muslim Turkic nationalities who have historically challenged Beijing's jurisdiction. / As discussed in Chapter One, after 1949, the Communist Party sought to bring Xinjiang firmly within Beijing's orbit, ending a 150-year long period during which Beijing's hold over Xinjiang periodically faltered. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, coupled with instability in Afghanistan, led to new challenges to Beijing's authority. / Chapter Two examines China's relations with Central Asia from 1992 to 1996. In the post-Cold War order characterized by US primacy, China envisioned Central Asia as an arena of cooperation between China, Russia, and the independent republics. However, the republics became fertile ground for transnational Islamist movements. China feared spillover into Xinjiang; consequently, China extended economic cooperation to the impoverished republics with the understanding that they would suppress emigre Uighur organizations. Bilateral economic cooperation was also important for Xinjiang, which benefited from cross-border trade. / Chapter Three examines Sino-Central Asian relations from 1996 to 2001, exploring the development of the Shanghai Five mechanism in 1996 between China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, which initially addressed confidence building, but after 1998, focused on regional security. This was important for China, since in 1996/1997, Xinjiang experienced instability that was exacerbated by the independence of Central Asia. Competition over the region's energy is also examined, which contributed to international rivalry. / Chapter Four examines Sino-Central Asian relations from 2001 to 2005. In June 2001, the Shanghai Accord signatories, and Uzbekistan, established the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). While envisioned as a forum for wide-ranging cooperation, combating "terrorism, separatism, and extremism," was an immediate priority. Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States sought a military presence in Central Asia that temporarily undermined China's influence, heightening China's concerns over energy security. China's response was to gradually deepen relations with the republics in the energy and security fields.

Why do some authoritarian states have competitive elections? This study shows that whenever there is a balance of power between candidates, competitiveness will ensue. Electoral fraud is often widespread in autocratic states, but if no single candidate or party is in a position to monopolize electoral support the result will be competitive. The contribution here is to analyze the relative strength of all the actors involved in a parliamentary election and to show that electoral returns reflect the district level balance of power, even in autocracies. Three main sources of candidate-level electoral power are identified: state, market, and society. State affiliated candidates in authoritarian states perform well due to favorable treatment by state institutions. Market actors perform well due to financial resources. These actors arise when market reforms create a class of entrepreneurs that defend their interests by running for public office, often challenging state sanctioned candidates. The strength of candidates using social cleavages, here mainly ‘clan’ and ethnic, is found to be exaggerated in the literature. The study also confirms that competitiveness did not result from an active civil society. Competitive  elections matter because they can severely destabilize the regime, as was the case in Kyrgyzstan in 2005. However, electoral competitiveness that is the result of an intra-elite balance of power should not be confused with democracy. This form of self-interested competitiveness where clientelism is pervasive and accountability mechanisms are weak is an affront to the democratic ideal. For those of us who advocate democracy and genuine political participation competitive authoritarian regimes can be used as an informative cautionary tale. Power matters, and especially so in authoritarian states. Understanding the logic behind competitive authoritarianism helps us revise strategies for lasting democratic reforms.

The thesis "The political transformation of Kyrgyzstan after 1991: At the crossroads between democracy and authoritarian regime" focuses on the political development of Kyrgyzstan since independence in 1991 till nowadays. The thesis analyses the key aspects of the political development of the country, with particular emphasis on the specific role of local clans in the political system of Kyrgyzstan. The other analyzed subjects are inter-ethnic and interconfessional relations, constitutional development, electoral process and the phenomenon of the fall of regimes of Askar Akayev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev as a result of the Tulip Revolution and events of 2010.

Diplomová práce Nedemokratické režimy, neformální instituce a sdílení moci se věnuje autoritářským institucím a problému sdílení moci v nedemokratických režimech ve vztahu k autoritářským parlamentům ve středoasijských republikách. Konkrétně se zabývá úlohou autoritářských parlamentů v neopatrimoniálních režimech a jejich vlivem na sdílení moci. Abychom pochopili efekt a funkci středoasijských parlamentů, práce analyzuje jak neformální, tak formální instituce v politickém režimu a principy jejich interakce. Nejprve představuje hlavní teoretické přístupy k autoritářským institucím a parlamentům. Další části se zabývají Střední Asií a zvláště popisují případy Uzbekistánu a Kyrgyzstánu. Klíčová slova: Střední Asie Neopatrimonialismus Kyrgyzstán Uzbekistán Neformální instituce Autoritářské Instituce

This master thesis study examines Kyrgyz-language music videos to explore the visual representation of women, including women experiencing gender-based violence. It addresses a gap in the literature regarding women in Kyrgyz music videos and argues that media communicates context-specific meaning about gendered cultural realities. Following an inductive and qualitative research design, the study conducts a social semiotic analysis of 22 Kyrgyz-language music videos focusing on what and how meaning about women is created through visual content. The study analyzes its material through the lens of cultural representation theory (Hall et al., 2013) and discusses its findings in relation to Okin’s (1989) feminist critique regarding gendered vulnerabilities. It finds that women in Kyrgyz music videos are represented within familial roles. The study argues that the “ideal” Kyrgyz woman, as embodied through female main characters, is portrayed as young, beautiful, and good of character, while marriage, motherhood, and domesticity are connoted as life goals. Women experiencing violence are represented as vulnerable to domestic violence and bride abduction.

Die Grenzen von Ressourcenabbau reichen tausende Meter über und unter die Erde. Dabei verfestigt und vertieft die Beschleunigung des Extraktivismus ungleiche Entwicklung und Ungerechtigkeiten auf der Welt. In Zentralasien bleiben Konflikte um Sozionatur in der kritischen Forschung zu Ressourcenextraktivismus und Widerstand jedoch weitgehend unterbeleuchtet. Diese Doktorarbeit leistet einen Beitrag zu der Ausweitung des Goldbergbaus in Kirgisistan und trägt zu einem räumlich umgearbeiteten, historisierenden und politisch sensiblen Verständnis des sich global ausweitenden Ressourcenextraktivismus bei. Die Arbeit präsentiert eine situierte Darstellung der multiskalaren Prozesse und Praktiken innerhalb und zwischen drei Standorten, die Kirgisistans Goldrausch ab/schaffen: die Hauptstadt Bischkek, das politische- und Verwaltungszentrum für mineralische Rohstoffe; Orlovka, ein Fall von angeblicher Kooperation; und Maidan, ein Fall von sich lange hinziehenden Auseinandersetzungen. Durch einen interdisziplinären Forschungsprozess entwickelt die Doktorarbeit einen relationalen soziomaterialen Ansatz zur Erforschung von multiskalaren extraktiven Verschränkungen der materiellen Dimensionen von Gold, seinen unterschiedlichen Bewertungen und seiner Governance. Sie mobilisiert die interdisziplinäre soziomateriale Analytik, durch ein multimethoden- Forschungsdesign, welche die miteinander verflochtenen strukturellen und historisch-geographischen Bedingungen offenbart. Dabei werden Konvergenzen im wachsenden geerdeten politischen Aktivismus gegen die globalen Strukturen des Extraktivismus, der die pluriversalen Wege zum Wohlbefinden aufkündigt zu Tage gefördert. Diese Doktorarbeit zeigt konsequent den Wert von disziplinärem und methodischem Pluralismus bei der empirischen Erforschung zum Zusammenspiel gegenseitig konstituierender Strukturen als auch von verorteter mehr-als-menschlicher Autonomie, die dem Schaffen und Abschaffen von Ressourcen und Ressourcengrenzen zugrunde liegen. / Resource frontiers extend to thousands of meters below and above the soil in pursuit of progress. Accelerating extractivism in fact entrenches uneven development and injustices across the globe. Yet, our age is not only hyper-extractive, it is also resistant: multifarious communities stand up against incessant extractivism. Socionatural struggles in Central Asia however remain unexplored in critical research on resource extractivism and resistance. Focusing on expanding gold mining in Kyrgyzstan, the given thesis contributes to spatially reworked, historicising and politically sensitive understandings of globally advancing resource extractivism. The thesis presents a grounded account of the multi-scalar processes and practices within and between three sites un/making Kyrgyzstan’s gold rush: the capital Bishkek, the centre of mineral governance; Orlovka, an alleged case of cooperation; and Maidan, a protracted case of contestation. Within an interdisciplinary research process, the thesis advances a relational sociomaterial approach for engaging the multi-scalar extractive entanglements of gold’s material dimensions, its different valuations, and its governance. Mobilising the interdisciplinary sociomaterial analytic through a multi-method research design reveals the intertwined structural and historico-geographical conditions that enact gold mining in Kyrgyzstan in an extractive state order while motivating ordinary citizens’ resistance to this order based on its emergent sociomaterialities. Unpacking embodied complexities in Orlovka and Maidan unearths convergences in surging grounded political activism against the global structures of extractivism that forecloses pluriversal paths to well-being. This thesis demonstrates the value of disciplinary and methodological pluralism in rendering visible the interplay of mutually constitutive structures and situated more-than-human agency that undergirds the making and unmaking of resources and resource frontiers.