“An Uzbek Patron and the Limits of Eurasian Power”

 Featured Speaker: Morgan Y. Liu, The Ohio State University

Can the rich and powerful (“elites”) make society a better place?  How can they transform structural problems and are there limits to what elites can accomplish for the common good?  I present a case from Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan where an Uzbek grand patron claimed to act for the communal good by building urban institutions serving people of all ethnicities.  As a result, Uzbeks, who have experienced discrimination in Kyrgyzstan, actually flourished in this city under politically adverse circumstances for the first two decades of post-Soviet independence, until the violence of 2010 brought this Uzbek patron’s endeavors to a crashing and burning halt.  We conclude with the global implications about what elites can and cannot do for the public good.

Recording of lecture available here.