Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan’s National Ideological Projects: Expectations of Society in the Case of School Teachers

Abstract

Collapse of the USSR created new countries, which strived to build own national identity, different from previous one. Kyrgyzstan, as one of the successor states, is also undergoing nationalization process. This paper analyses how national ideological projects were constructed by political elite, namely by presidents and how this ideological discourse is being interpreted by society, represented in my research by secondary school teachers. The research gives new insights on the consequences of controversial ideological discourse. It analyses the main trends of nationalization process during Akayev, Bakiev and Atambaev periods. Through comparative analysis of all three presidential projects it identifies similarities and differences. Significant part of this work is based upon a survey among 90 school teachers. Findings of this survey display how official discourse is transmitted to young citizens and the whole society.