Constitutional Faith Law and Hope in Revolutionary Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

This article investigates the interrelation between law and hope in the context of constitutional change in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. Drawing upon ethnographic and textual data, it is shown that the constitution has acquired particular discursive importance in Kyrgyzstan each time the foundations of the state have been severely challenged or shattered. Paying particular attention to three major political conflicts, the article demonstrates how, in the aftermath of each, speeches, performances, presentations and conversations were infused with 'constitutional faith', binding together the political elite and ordinary citizens in an expression of their general hope that constitutional change could bring about a better future. I view constitutional faith as a practice of hope that allows people to actively engage with their being-in-the-world, particularly in times of crisis. In the aftermath of large-scale political conflict, with which I am concerned here, it can become a faith-based mode of conflict resolution.

For a Relational, Historical Ethnography of Hope: Indeterminacy and Determination in the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Meantime

“…The second modality of use of the terminology of hope is based on a transitive understanding of the term: hope is then approached as having one or more specific objects (in addition to the authors above, who also use hope in its intransitive mode, see for example Beyer 2015;Hage 2009;Novas 2006;Nuijten 2003). Here the focus is on people who hope for something or hope that something will occur.…”

The Construction and Use of Hope within Health‐Settings: Recent Developments in Qualitative Research and Ethnographic Studies

“…A search was done with the following keywords: anthropology, coping, ethnography, expectations, future, health, healthcare, hope, uncertainty, vulnerability, sociology, social science and qualitative research. 7 The articles and book that are excluded are: Beyer (2015), Jackson (2011), Louw (2010, Pedersen (2012), Pelkmans (2013, because these studies analysed hope outside a health(care)-related context.…”

“…There are a few interesting studies who have already done so that are worth mentioning here. Beyer () looks at the interrelation of hope and law in the context of constitutional change in Central Asia; Pedersen () explores the work of hope in post‐socialist Mongolia as a social method which momentarily integrates different groups of people across the city; and Pelkmans () analyses religious hope in the post‐industrial wasteland of Kyrgyz.…”

“…The articles and book that are excluded are: Beyer (), Jackson (), Louw (), Pedersen (), Pelkmans (), because these studies analysed hope outside a health(care)‐related context.…”

Faith on Trial: Blasphemy and ‘Lawfare’ in Indonesia

“…Understanding what conception of religion is embedded in secular law is important at this time when great hope is pinned on law's transformative potentials. An explosion of 'rights talk' (Glendon 1991), widespread 'constitutional faith' (Beyer 2015) and reliance on legal claims-making by a variety of actors are just some examples of a global culture of legality.…”