Chapter 3: Schooling and Place: A Hundred Years of Contests in Rural Kyrgyzstan¹

Pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet constructions of “place” and “community” have been highly contested over the past century, and the role of school and education has featured significantly in these contests. Schooling for the masses was nonexistent in nomadic Kyrgyzstan, as communal life and learning were organized informally at the household and clan level. For that matter, there was no “public” before the coming of Soviet power. There were no civic organizations in rural Kyrgyz places, and there were no “skills” to be learned from “teachers” unless they were also relatives and the knowledge to be gained involved animal husbandry and household work.