The political economy of hipsters in Kazakhstan: mobilization, hybridity and class

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the political subjectivity of hipsters in Kazakhstan, the dynamics of their political mobilization, how they are influenced by global flows, and their constitution within broader issues of class. By conceptualizing hipsters as cultural hybrids who use tactics of everyday resistance and détournement in challenging the authoritarian regime in the country, the work eschews conventional approaches to the study of political mobilization in Central Asia by looking beyond ethnic, religious, and informal movements and instead focusing on this new creative class. The analysis reveals the paradox of hipsters in that they both challenge the regime through détournement, while also being the main beneficiaries of the regime’s neoliberalism. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with young people in Kazakhstan, the essay finds that hipster capacity for successful mobilization is limited because they struggle to draw support from wider society as a consequence of their focus on ideational rather than material politics.