Ethnographic Studies of Everyday Situated Peace between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in Osh Bazaars and Workplaces

Abstract Since the violent 1990 and 2010 clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in Osh, peace-oriented scholarship has been preoccupied with conflict analysis, the prevention of interethnic divides and the critique of international peacebuilding. Following the post-liberal concept of Ethnographic Peace Research, this article goes beyond these approaches through ethnographic exploration and an understanding of situated micro-level peacemaking from below. Drawing on vignettes from bazaars, business and work relationships, it presents examples of everyday interethnic peacemaking in post-conflict Osh. Based on these observations, this article argues that sources and capacities for situated peaceful coexistence between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz can be found in joint worldviews, common customs, shared everyday practices and historical legacies. From these findings, it concludes that peace studies could benefit from openness to ethnographic micro-level studies of situated peacemaking. Furthermore, it recommends that peacebuilding interventions broaden their views, strengthen peacemaking from below and support local peace agents through adapted projects.