In the marketplace for styles and identities: globalization and youth culture in southern Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

This article discusses experiences of cultural globalization among young Muslims in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, and male students in particular. Drawing on studies of globalization and youth culture, the article suggests that the everyday lives of boys and young men can be understood as negotiations in a ‘marketplace for styles and identities’. The students engage with an unprecedented range of cultural repertoires, from ‘true Islam’ and Christian messages to global capitalism and Russian rap music. Based on extensive ethnographic research, the article discusses young people's interactions with transnational actors and media images, and their appropriation of a number of ‘spaces’ made available by globalization. In commercial outlets such as Internet cafés, in religious circles and sports clubs, male students experiment with styles and identities, often without experiencing contradictions. However, their choices are not random. Their reception and utilization of ‘global’ cultural goods and ideas are constrained by their socio-economic, linguistic, ethnic, religious and gender backgrounds and by various rules at the local, regional and national levels.