Abstract
In post-independence Kyrgyzstan, the role of the informal institutions of aksakals and imams remains strong even during an era of transformation and development of the region with international support. This research notes the importance of informal local institutions in international aid and argues for a complementary interplay between formal and informal institutions in weak democracies. In contrast to existing studies, this research states that the role of informal institutions in young democracies should not be treated only as detrimental. A gap that this work aims to fill in the existing literature is a contribution to the understudied topic of how and why formal institutions exploit/use informal institutions for own purposes. The contribution discusses how the Local Crime Prevention Center (LCPC)—a formal institution—engages with informal institutions, such as imams and aksakals, for its everyday duties and tasks, starting from information dissemination activities and information meetings. This research illustrates three practices of using informal institutions in conflict prevention, mediation and community security provision by LCPCs in the south of the country under Saferworld UK’s community security project in 2015–2019. The study is based on field observations between 2015 and 2017, during the author’s work with LCPCs in a Saferworld-led community security project, written questionnaire responses of community members in 2019 and an interview with a project coordinator of the branch of an NGO “Foundation for Tolerance International” (FTI) in Batken in 2019.
Highlights
In post-transition countries of Central Asia, traditional informal institutions, such as aksakals1 and religious leaders—imams,2 continue to play a crucial role within local communities (Khalid 2007; Nasritdinov and Esenamanova 2014; Poliakov 1992; Polis Azia 2011)
Local Crime Prevention Centers (LCPCs) in the document is defined as a non-commercial organization formed by local self-governments for ensuring participation of community members in the process of conflict and crime prevention: LCPC is aimed at strengthening of joint effort of local self-government, local communities, civil society, organizations and entities located within a respected territory of city, ayil okmotu in conducting activities aimed at prevention, identification of crimes elimination of conditions contributing to their occurrence and maintenance of public order and security of citizens
This study focuses on examining the reverse relationship between formal and informal institutions, namely formal institutions’ exploitation/use of informal institutions for their own purposes, and by this, it demonstrates a complementary relationship between them
Summary
In post-transition countries of Central Asia, traditional informal institutions, such as aksakals and religious leaders—imams, continue to play a crucial role within local communities (Khalid 2007; Nasritdinov and Esenamanova 2014; Poliakov 1992; Polis Azia 2011). According to Khalid, Islam in post-communist Central Asia was more than just a religion, it was about national and cultural revival, and the interest in religion started even before the collapse of communism: The Islamic revival that began during the Gorbachev era was part of a much broader assertion of national identity that took place throughout the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s as glasnost broke old taboos. It involved the exploration of national and cultural legacies beyond the constraints placed on nationalist discourse by the regime (2007: 125–126)
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