The two-part ENC In-Depth podcast is part of a Regional Policy Dialogue implemented in cooperation with the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs and the Hollings Center for International Dialogue. Both in-depth discussions are dedicated to the recently published report on Emerging Forms of Islamic Civil Society in Central Asia.
The discussions circle around the definition, forms and roles of Islamic Civil Society, and their emergence in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the post-Soviet era, within the context of different value systems including state secularism, local authorities and Western-backed civil society, by taking the period of Covid-19 pandemic and it’s results into consideration.
The first introductory podcast features the comments and insights of Dr. Emil Nasritdinov, Associate professor of anthropology (American University of Central Asia), Dr. Sebastien Peyrouse, research professor at the Central Asia Program (Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian studies in George Washington University) and Dr. Zamira Dildorbekova, Programme Leader at the Department of Graduate Studies in the Institute of Ismaili Studies. During the podcast we defined what is Islamic Civil Society and focused on their role in society, how widespread these organisations are in the region, the different categories, how they actually operate.
In the second part Noah Tucker, Programme Associate at the Elliott School of International Relations (Central Asia Programme, George Washington University) and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, along with Dr. David Montgomery, Associate Research Professor in the Department of Government and Politics (Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland College Park) and Dr. Rano Turaeva, Lecturer at Ludwig Maximillian University and Associate researcher at Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany delved more into how Islamic Civil Society is perceived in the region, the impact of COVID-19, and what opportunities are there for dialogue and cooperation between different forms of CSOs in Central Asia.
Both in-depth podcasts were hosted and moderated by Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe & Central Asia.
You can listen to both parts of our in-depth podcast here: