KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

New Middle Classes
Classes are antagonistic groups that struggle for access to resources. There are redistributive
qualities to class struggle, in which the end game is the re-drawing of power and
resource allocation, wealth, as well as various kinds of legitimacies. The classic division is
between capitalists and labourers. The phenomenon of the “Middle Class” is, in itself, a sort
of a mediation of the class struggle and creation of an intermediary between antagonistic
classes struggling for access and control of resources and means of production. This is one
of the most effective tools in the modern world’s successful economies to keep stability
in society. Indeed, the internal migrants in Bishkek have been able to become integrated
into the economy and society of the capital city through their initial mobilisation into
social movement (such as “Ashar”, the land squatters’ movement), and gradual creation
of livelihood systems and strategies of surviving and being resourceful in the economy
of the city. Their identity and class consciousnesses have developed since 1989, when a
peaceful revolution took place, which was followed by a decade of societal transformation
from a command economy to an open market. However, internal migrants, especially
those who reside in konushtar, are often the targets of political manipulation. As a group,
the migrants represent a mighty force and also, if mobilised for collective action, a source
of political threat to status quo (Jeenbaeva, 2003).
In contemporary Bishkek, class struggle is no longer about seizing or destroying
power and wealth; it is about the use of force (i.e., uprising, protest) for political
development and negotiations for a share of decision-making and resource allocation.
The transformation “of coercion from a means of predation into a productive resource
of safeguarding, promoting and, possibly, distributing wealth” was proposed by the
neo-liberal market-orientated discussions of Robert Bates (2001) on development in
poor countries. This process seems to be the tool of the New Middle Classes in Bishkek.
Thus, acceptance of a middle class consciousness by internal migrants is vital for urban
stability.
The government of President Akaev planned to create and support the formation of
a social group similar to the bourgeoisie of the rich western countries (Rashid, 1998); this
remains the implicit premise of the current government of President Bakiev. The idea that
economic growth is closely linked to Kyrgyzstan’s entrepreneurs has been discussed by
both leaders time and again through legislation, national strategy development, and over
international tribunes. At the same time, several generations of young people have been
trained through Western university and degree programmes in management, economics,
and other disciplines. This has inevitably resulted in the formation of a bourgeois
consciousness among elites, which is matched from below by mass entrepreneurial
initiatives. Dialectically, rural migrants are often low-income people with bourgeois
aspirations (a phrase coined by Perlman [1976] for communities in Latin America). They
have the potential to become an urban middle class: a group of people with stable income,
regular and sustained consumption, and interest in preserving the status quo – this is
the class that generates stability in society. It is not completely improbable that such a
bourgeoisie will be formed, for better or for worse. It has already become clear that internal
migrants to Bishkek represent both active entrepreneurs in producing goods and services,
as well as consumers of goods and services, bringing “Fordist” capitalism to the country.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Perception shifts from “dependent” attitudes towards class consciousness. Today’s
Bishkek is experiencing a strong drive by non-governmental and business collectives
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