Difference between revisions of "OBON (Kyrgyzstan)"

In Kyrgyzstan’s political field, communal leadership is regularly contested by a variety of actors, such as criminal groups, religious leaders or professional brokers, all claiming to represent the voices of the poor. The ''OBON'' women set themselves apart, because they developed their informal political legitimacy through grassroots activism, cultural and gendered resources (motherhood status and age) and concerns for social justice.

In Kyrgyzstan’s political field, communal leadership is regularly contested by a variety of actors, such as criminal groups, religious leaders or professional brokers, all claiming to represent the voices of the poor. The ''OBON'' women set themselves apart, because they developed their informal political legitimacy through grassroots activism, cultural and gendered resources (motherhood status and age) and concerns for social justice.

A particular form of neopatriarchy in Central Asia grants women authority and status recognition in old age, if they have produced male progeny and have ensured a reproduction of patriarchal structures – a phenomenon Kandiyoti (1988) refers to as a ‘bargain with patriarchy’. Using motherhood as symbolic capital is not unique to Central Asia. Others have documented how Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentine and the mothers of soldiers in Russia, for example, use age and status to legitimate their struggles and to achieve their objectives (Sutton 2007, Zdravomyslova 2007).

A particular form of neopatriarchy in Central Asia grants women authority and status recognition in old age, if they have produced male progeny and have ensured a reproduction of patriarchal structures – a phenomenon Kandiyoti (1988) refers to as a ‘bargain with patriarchy’. Using motherhood as symbolic capital is not unique to Central Asia. Others have documented how Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentine and the mothers of soldiers in Russia, for example, use age and status to legitimate their struggles and to achieve their objectives (Sutton 2007, Zdravomyslova 2007).