Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Central Asia’s legacy of resistance features prominent instances of environmental civic activism. Prior to the dissolution of the USSR, Central Asian satellite states Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan asserted independence through opposition to damming and reservoir building, and Kazakhstan became a global denuclearization leader following discoveries of environmental degradation and detrimental health impacts from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. These points of resistance were starting points for anti-colonial critiques of Soviet power within the satellites (Florin, 2019) and the forging of national identities and imperatives. The Central Asian satellite states are again at a pivotal political moment of regime change and widespread public dissent of the authoritarian structures. Citizen groups in Kazakh and Kyrgyz cities have been pressuring their governments and making strides through environmental activism, halting development projects that aim to convert natural public resources into private property and encouraging citizen focused urban dialogues. This research illuminates the processes by which environmental civic activism in Central Asia has transcended borders and challenged sovereign power by drawing upon transnational resources, creating issue driven cross-border communities, and altering the trajectory of state driven development projects to create space for civic participation in urban landscapes. By highlighting transnational environmental movements this work shows how local actors in authoritarian environments become a part of transnational movements that interrogate sovereign authority and advance civil rights in repressive environments. Through urban form interventions these groups are dismantling notions of bordered identities and futures in favor of addressing local impacts of global issues.