The Aslan Alliance understands culture as a continuum of vectors expressing measures of cultural origin, depth and movement.
A horizontal spectrum contains the scale of cultural origin from global to local. These values include historical origins as well as contemporary forces—such as pop culture—that shape the development of local cultures.
A vertical spectrum analyzes the interplay between the surface of a mostly urban "secular" society and the traditions, customs, values, and ethical norms that underly the religious worldview of a more “conservative” culture. A third vector measures the degree of individual choice and social contract that shapes behavior. A fourth vector determines the ethnic mix of a community, whether there is a dominant ethnic group in power or a representational mix of multi-ethnicity.
Culture is defined as a dynamic flux rather than a delimited stasis. Shifting like an amoeba, cultures absorb influences in states of expansion and contract in periods of nationalist zeal, resisting “foreign” forces. The Aslan Alliance tracks ethnic cultures along these vectors, providing a cultural topography of the various ethnic and social groups that make up Kyrgyz society. Analysis of communities along these cultural vectors results in evaluations of the abilities of the communities to accept positive changes without causing damage to the social fabric.
GLOBAL CULTURE
The Aslan Alliance seeks to bring global resources-human, capital and financial-to local, ethnic communities with the purpose of building a peaceful, vital, and viable society in Kyrgyzstan. Aslan Alliance Associates include expatriate volunteers working alongside Kyrgyzstan citizens to foster mutual understanding between the peoples of Kyrgyzstan and foreign visitors to this beautiful land of hospitable people. Expatriate Aslan Alliance Associates presently come from the USA, Holland, and India. Future connections are expected with volunteers from Australia, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Projects in this area include the development of cultural tourism, the development of national handicrafts for export, ethnic musical recordings for international consumption, translations of classics, and cultural orientation for foreign businessmen seeking to invest in Kyrgyzstan.
LOCAL CULTURE
The Aslan Alliance, as a local NGO, is composed of citizens from different ethnic groups. Local consultants provide their expertise to build bridges between domestic ethnic groups and develop the cultures of selected communities in Kyrgyzstan. Since Kyrgyzstan comprises more than 90 identifiable ethnic groups, there is a need for the development of avenues of dialogue and cultural expression between the diverse peoples of Kyrgyzstan. Aslan Alliance Associates have developed contacts with the Peoples Assembly of the Kyrgyz Republic, a representative body of Kyrgyzstan's minority groups. At present, Aslan Alliance has developed cultural profiles for several ethnic groups, including Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Uyghur, Dungan, and Sart Kalmyk. Project partners include the Kyrgyz-Slavic University, the American University of Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz State University, the Institute of European Civilizations, and the Academy of Sciences, among others.
SECULAR CULTURE
Many international humanitarian organizations present a secular philosophy of service. Doing good for the sake of humanity rather than to please a divinity has, in recent times, produced a huge transfer of funding and human resources across cultures. At times these secular organizations are not aware of their impact on local cultures, while at other times their generosity is squandered in corruption and badly designed projects that do not achieve their intended impact on society. The Aslan Alliance seeks to help secular organizations become more culturally sensitive and apply more appropriate and effective projects to local cultures. The Aslan Alliance has cooperated with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on ethnic questions. Aslan Alliance Associates have given a workshop on "What is Culture?" to members of the People's Assembly of Kyrgyzstan sponsored by the Soros Foundation of Kyrgyzstan. There are prospects for cooperation with the UNDP, the OSCE and the Soros Foundation as well.
RELIGIOUS CULTURE
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan along with other CIS republics, has hosted an influx of foreign missionaries seeking to advance the religious agendas of various confessions. Some of these organizations represent violent and extremist religious groups who seek to overthrow the present secular government and establish a theocratic state. The Aslan Alliance stands against such movements and will cooperate with spiritual foundations and religious organizations committed to the development of a peaceful, vibrant Kyrgyzstan.
Aslan Alliance Associates have participated in international forums on “Democracy and Religion,” (sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation), “Islam and Human Rights,” (sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the UNESCO funded Chair of World Culture and Religious Studies of the International Relations Department of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavonic University) and “Religion and Education” (sponsored by the OSCE and the Institute of European Civilizations). Dialogue between leaders of various faiths is encouraged to dispel stereotypes. Conflict resolution and peacemaking between ethnic groups and religious adherents is also part of the future strategy of the Aslan Alliance.
ETHNICITY AND POWER
The final vector in the cultural analysis of a community focuses on the relationship of ethnicity and power. Communities with a majority or “titular” ethnicity need to understand how to share power with ethnic minorities. An overview of the world’s conflicts reveals that ethnicity often fuels the fire with dry tinder. The ethnic genocide between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia and Kosovo, the Palestinian “intifada” against Israel can all be seen as consequences of unequal power distribution and unresolved ethnic issues. Terrorists, as in the case of the Kurds, Basques, Irish, Tamils, etc, often exploit ethnic conflicts. Ethnic conflicts frequently underlie global “hot spots” and aggravate social problems such as poverty. The sharing of power between ethnic groups, when perceived as not fairly or properly distributed, creates tensions that erupt into conflicts when left unattended. Forces of globalization and nation states do not usually understand the underlying relationship of ethnic identity and nation building.
The Aslan Alliance operates on the principle that ethnic identities have a core “reality” despite the fluidity of cultural forms. Ethnic identities therefore cannot be erased or assimilated by force without doing violence to the body politic of communities and nations. An analysis of the paradigms of ethnogenesis ranging from “western modernism” to “organic” provides the basis for determining potential ethnic conflicts. Conflict resolution and peacemaking between ethnic groups and religious adherents is also part of the future strategy of the Aslan Alliance.
PROJECT DESIGN WITH CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
Project design reflects the cultural and social vectors that shape a society. For example, an ethnomusicology project may take a Kyrgyz Folk ensemble and apply traditional forms to express a new, more contemporary sound and spirit. Community development projects would seek to apply appropriate technology with traditional customs. Cultural orientations for businessmen or government officials would build a bridge of understanding between a global and a local culture. Questions of individual choice in matters of conscience need to be balanced with goals for social welfare and the common good--together with a stronger bias towards protecting basic human rights and individual freedoms. Potentially divisive ethnic tensions in a multiethnic society or political power plays within a homogenous community must also be understood before development projects can be implemented.
HISTORICAL FORCES SHAPING ETHNIC IDENTITY IN CENTRAL ASIA
Ethnic identity in Central Asia reflects historical forces, cultural currents, swirls of peoples, languages, all threaded together by the caravans of traders exchanging jade and silks, and plastics and oil, for faiths and technologies. Layers of culturization are laid over each other like geological strata, sometimes clearly distinct, other times breaking through each other and merging into a hybrid culture, unique to a people, place and time.
ANTIQUITY
(Nomadism, Shamanism, City-States, Clans, Tribes, Confederations, Empires)
SILK ROAD
(Gandaran Buddhism, Syrian Nestorianism, Tang and Roman Empires)
PERSIFICATION
(Persian Language, Sogdian Script, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism)
ISLAMIZATION
(Arab Script, Islamic culture, unification under one faith, Sufism)
MONGOLIZATION
(Unification of tribes under one rule, medium of empire rather than ethnicity)
TURKIFICATION
(Turkic languages and cultures, emergence of distinct groups, eroding Persian influence)
SINIFICATION (in Eastern Turkestan)
(Chinese language, administration and culture, Maoist ideology, Deng capitalist reforms)
RUSSIFICATION (in Transoxiana)
(Russian language, Russian administration, Russian culture, Soviet ideology)
ETHNICIZATION
(Fragmentation into distinct "autonomous republics" with dominant titular ethnicities receiving territories)
DEMOCRATIZATION
(Westernization following Soviet collapse, foreign missionaries, pop culture, free markets)
MATRIX