“We are hope, you are the eternal khan.” Authoritarian regimes and protest opportunities in Central Asia

Abstract

The aim of this text is to analyze the political determinants deciding the functioning of the opposition and contentious practices in undemocratic regimes of Central Asia. The analysis is based on five countries with varying degrees of authoritarianism and allows us to trace the relations between the political context and protest activities, which in the different forms depending on the local structure of power, have taken place in all five of the countries in the region. The example of Central Asian countries supports the ideas about the patterns of protest being dependent on the type of political regime. Moreover, one may observe the growing role of Internet activism in informing and mobilizing public opinion, encouraging the expression of opinion, collecting various resources, provoking support, and building a network of relations within the civil society. Finally, the research shows that the more repressive the regime is, the smaller the opportunity for using traditional forms of protest, and in extreme cases contestation is limited to the Internet.