Civilian protective agency in the communal attacks by the external groups in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The variables, such as structural inequalities, demographic differences, and law enforcement policies at the local level have been crucial for understanding the possibilities of the communal violence on the ground. However, less attention has been paid to the analysis of the civilian protective agency in non-democratic contexts during the attacks by the external groups on rural ethnic minorities. We ask what factors have contributed to different outcomes in two contiguous villages in Kazakhstan that faced attacks by the external armed groups. We show that one village fended the violence off, while the neighboring villages failed. Based on the narrative interviews with the witnesses of violence, lawyers, perpetrators, government officials, police, and residents, the article emphasizes that the resistance was successful because 1. The youth groups with access to multiple stakeholders stepped into leading roles. They obtained real-time information and organized the community in line with it; 2. They capitalized on the time lapse necessary for thugs to reach the second village and strengthened defense preparation in comparison with the first settlement. Future investigations of Conflict Management and Peace Studies in non-democratic contexts must take these factors into consideration.