{"id":856,"date":"2026-05-28T03:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T03:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asianewscast.com\/2026\/05\/28\/a-textbook-debate-why-russian-historians-told-kyrgyz-historians-to-ditch-the-term-colonialism\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T03:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T03:31:11","slug":"a-textbook-debate-why-russian-historians-told-kyrgyz-historians-to-ditch-the-term-colonialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=856","title":{"rendered":"A Textbook Debate: Why Russian Historians Told Kyrgyz Historians to Ditch the Term \u2018Colonialism\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"A<\/div>
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Ala-Too Square, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, summer 2025. <\/p>\n

Credit: Catherine Putz<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n

In mid-May an old debate with deep roots surfaced during a <\/span>meeting<\/span><\/a> of the Russian-Kyrgyz Expert-Advisory Council on History. The Russian scholars present, after having examined Kyrgyz history textbooks for 8th, 9th, and 10th-grade students, complained about the portrayal of the Soviet Union and the use of the term \u201ccolonialism\u201d in reference to both the Russian Empire and the USSR that followed it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUsing the term \u2018colonialism\u2019 is a fashion statement,\u201d Andrei Bykov, a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences said, as reported by <\/span>Azattyk<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe younger generation perceives this term emotionally, as it has a negative connotation. If we replace \u2018colonialism\u2019 or \u2018colonial policy\u2019 with \u2018administration\u2019 and \u2018administrative measures,\u2019 then the negative connotation will no longer be present.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only \u201cthe younger generation\u201d that perceives the term \u201ccolonialism\u201d emotionally. Since the Russian Empire\u2019s first <\/span>forays into Central Asia<\/span><\/a> in the 19th century and all the way through the Soviet Union\u2019s rule of the region, Moscow has wrestled with discomfort over the term \u201ccolonialism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a very long tradition of Russians thinking that their empire was completely different from that of the British,\u201d Adeeb Khalid, a professor of Asian Studies and History at Carleton College, told The Diplomat. \u201cThe Soviet self-understanding was that they are revolutionary, they\u2019re not imperialists, and they are actually helping the people of Central Asia overcome the legacy of colonialism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But in his view, \u201cthe Russian Empire and the British Empire were very similar. The Soviet Union was a little bit, was something else.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a debate that historians continue to have. The past may be static, but history \u2013 our collective understanding of the past \u2013 is constantly evolving. Since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there has been an upsurge of scholarly and public discourse and debate on colonialism in Central Asia during the Soviet period, and <\/span>decolonization in the modern era<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Botakoz Kassymbekova, a professor of Eastern European History at the University of Zurich and a leading voice on decolonization in Central Asia, told The Diplomat that \u201cthe Soviet ideology presented colonialism as a capitalist enterprise. Russian colonialism was driven by the state, not business, but it was, and is still, colonialism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are elements of economic exploitation in Central Asia that look a lot like colonial exploitation,\u201d Khalid said, echoing points raised by the Kyrgyz historians in Moscow, pushing back against their Russian colleagues requests. There are other elements of Soviet rule in Central Asia \u2013 such as a lack of independence and resettlement policies \u2013 that resemble most classic definitions of colonialism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut the Soviet state also mobilized its people in ways that colonial empires never did,\u201d Khalid added. \u201cYou can really get into the weeds on that big academic debate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cComparison is not only warranted but necessary,\u201d Kassymbekova told The Diplomat. \u201cThe Russian state and academia denies its colonial past because the Soviet regime presented itself as anti-colonial and this is something that the current regime inherited from the Soviet state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sitting above this academic debate is a universal reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday \u2013 and this applies to all post-Soviet states and not just post-Soviet states \u2013 history and politics are very deeply intertwined,\u201d Khalid said.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is most stark where official histories dominate narratives, open debate is more constrained, and governmental legitimacy is rooted in national historical metaphors. If legitimacy is tied to history, then exactly how that history is interpreted matters beyond conference rooms packed with historians.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are today\u2019s Russians so upset that the Soviet Union might be considered colonial? That has to do with, I suppose, today\u2019s Russian national and political identity, rather than with the past,\u201d Khalid explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Russia] needs a good imperial tale to legitimize its ongoing colonial violence,\u201d Kassymbekova added, referring to the war in Ukraine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In re-imaging its own past to serve its present needs, contemporary Russia has rehabilitated the Russian Empire and cherry-picked through the history of the Soviet Union to cast itself as an uninterrupted great power, and one unlike any other. If a nuanced discussion of history challenges that notion, Moscow seeks to silence it.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, as demonstrated by the debate at the recent Russian-Kyrgyz Expert-Advisory Council on History meeting, Kyrgyz historians have a voice in this conversation that cannot be overlooked. Although they were diplomatic, the<\/span> Kyrgyz historians pushed back<\/span><\/a> on the idea of ditching certain terms to suit political demands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kyrgyz historian, and author of an 8th-grade textbook, Tynchtykbek Chorotegin told Azattyk<\/a>, \u201cOf course, this is political pressure. It has both political and ideological significance. Therefore, we must reject it; it is against our sovereignty.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Writing in <\/span>The Moscow Times<\/span><\/a>, Erica Marat \u2013 who has <\/span>written for The Diplomat<\/span><\/a> about decolonization in Central Asia \u2013 noted that \u201cRussian historians appear detached from the intense debates on the legacies of Russian occupation currently unfolding in Central Asia, as well as unable to extract loyalty to Russian culture from academic communities in the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, whether Kyrgyz textbooks use the term \u201ccolonialism\u201d or seek to fully contextualize the Soviet period \u2013 incorporating both its crimes and its triumphs \u2013 is a matter for Kyrgyzstan to sort out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs famous Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov wrote, colonization starts with erasing the memory of the colonized,\u201d Kassymbekova told The Diplomat, arguing that it is important for Kyrgyzstan to define its own history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aitmatov\u2019s multilayered 1980 novel, \u201cThe Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years,\u201d wrestles with questions of modernity and memory, among other themes. It contains a fictional folk tale of men made into mindless slaves \u2013 mankurt \u2013 who do not recognize their name, family, or tribe. Although the book was written during the Soviet period, and not necessarily written as a critique of the Soviet Union itself, <\/span>Aitmatov\u2019s word<\/span><\/a> nevertheless provide a framework for understanding the interplay between memory, history, and meaning in Central Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople without a past, without memory, without history are weak, disoriented, powerless, and obedient,\u201d Kassymbekova told The Diplomat. \u201cHaving a history that one studies and interprets is a form of agency; interpretation is a form of freedom, freedom to think, to know, understand and possibly act.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ala-Too Square, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, summer 2025. Credit: Catherine Putz In mid-May an old debate with deep roots surfaced during a meeting of the Russian-Kyrgyz Expert-Advisory Council on History. The Russian scholars present, after having examined Kyrgyz history textbooks for 8th, 9th, and 10th-grade students, complained about the portrayal of the Soviet Union and the use […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Textbook Debate: Why Russian Historians Told Kyrgyz Historians to Ditch the Term \u2018Colonialism\u2019 - Asia Newscast<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=856\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Textbook Debate: Why Russian Historians Told Kyrgyz Historians to Ditch the Term \u2018Colonialism\u2019 - Asia Newscast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ala-Too Square, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, summer 2025. 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