Bakhytzhan Kurmanov

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...

Logo of Nationalities Papers, the Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, labeled as Open Access on a blue background.

#OpenAccess from @nationalitiesp.bsky.social -

Making the Golden Horde “Great Again”: Historians as Memory Actors and Reinterpretation of the Historical Narratives in Independent Kazakhstan - https://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 👍

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

New Political Leadership, Plus Ça Change? State–Civil Society Relations in Central Asia Civil society organisations have the potential to play an important role in challenging government in authoritarian regimes. The state, on the other hand, can react through repressive measures or u...

Here I share the link with FREE access to the article www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JXUTH...

From street protests to everyday life: politicisation of the Belarusian society after the 2020–2021 National Awakening This article discusses the politicisation of everyday life in post-2020 Belarus following the suppression of the anti-authoritarian protests. Drawing on visual analysis, it shows that different for...

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).

New Political Leadership, Plus Ça Change? State–Civil Society Relations in Central Asia Civil society organisations have the potential to play an important role in challenging government in authoritarian regimes. The state, on the other hand, can react through repressive measures or u...

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.

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...

Decoloniality and Justice: A Central Asian Perspective with Dr. Selbi Durdiyeva Podcast Episode · Yurt Jurt · 12/12/2024 · 54m

Link to Apple Podcasts - podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...

Variegated digital state repression in Central Asia Existing research on digital activism in autocratic regimes tends to treat Central Asia as a homogenous entity with similar approaches to how new digital technologies are used for the purposes of sta....

Happy to share my third collaboration with Dr. Colin Knox is out in Swiss Political Science Review! We analyze how Central Asian states use digital repression, revealing significant variation in social media censorship, disinformation, and repression.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...