The Phenomenon of “Multiple Identity” in Modern Kyrgyz Society

The article considers political processes in the Kyrgyz Republic through the prism of complexly structured identity and historical memory of the Kyrgyz people. Manifestations of retraditionalization of the Kyrgyz social organization are considered as an inevitable consequence of disengagement from the Union center’s control. The author emphasizes multilayered and segmented character of the Kyrgyz political culture that integrates traditionalism and modernization. The formation of multiple identity is characterized as a consequence of objective processes of reformatting the social environment as a result of technological innovations, intensification of intercultural and intercivilizational contacts, increasing mobility of the population. The article shows the fundamental role of the folk epic Manas in formation of national identity with the dominant tendency to strengthen the position of Islam in the multi-layered and syncretic religious practice of the Kyrgyz. The influence of tribal and clan self-identification on the political processes in the country is considered. There are factors that led to differences in the self-identification of urban and rural strata, as well as the Kyrgyz "North" and "South" of the country. The processes of ethno-cultural sovereignization of the titular ethnos, as well as other national groups of Kyrgyzstan are considered. The evolution of the state policy regarding the formation of a common civil identity in Kyrgyzstan, which provided for the implementation of the local version of multiculturalism, involving the protection of the ethno-cultural identity of national minorities, is shown.