Lydia sells blankets. Blankets from Turkey, mostly, but also from the UAE, China and Korea. The blankets get to Kyrgyzstan via truck. It is quite a haul and one which crosses many frontiers. The transport doesn’t come cheap, it costs $1/kilo on the ground. In the rare event of an air delivery, the cost rises to $4/kilo.
Business for Lydia is not good right now. “It is the crisis.” According to Lydia, with less trade in Russia and Kazakhstan fewer people have business at the bazaar so fewer people come to the bazaar. Everyday she says, “today will be the day I make a sale.” But that did not occur over the course of the three days in which I stopped by to chat. When a couple of other leaders were leaving the bazaar she made conversation and with a grimace asked each in turn if they had made a sale. No one had today. Most made some sort joke or dour comment about the tough times. One such acquaintance said, “Why would I be leaving at 3[pm] if I had any business?” Lydia responded to each such comment with an upbeat chuckle that seemed to thinly disguise a rueful laugh, “Yeah, its really cold. You’re smart to get outta here. I’ll be right behind you.”
Though business is slow now, Lydia appears to have built up a decent business for herself. After a shipment arrives she fills four containers with storage in addition to the container she utilizes for retail sales. She is able to let the containers turn over to other merchants as her stock diminishes. With so much warehoused stock, and deliveries arriving every 3 months on average, it is likely that Lydia manages a small but sufficient wholesale business in addition to the everyday retail.
Sometimes shipments get caught up on their way to Kyrgyzstan as they cross the considerable number of obstacles and potential delays between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. The most recent shipment arrived in December four months late. This is almost certainly a problem when you deal in warm felt blankets, an item people usually take care up in late autumn or early winter (Late October-November) here.
In addition to being a salesperson, Lydia is an activist or row leader for the traders’ union. The union is not a union in the sense of the United Auto Workers, but it does express grievances and concerns on behalf of the sellers and in moments of stress, coordinates collective action on the part of the sellers. It is a cooperative or trade association of sorts. There are not formal mechanisms or elections to decide who will represent sellers but in each row or section of the bazaar, the more outspoken and socially active sellers become active in the cooperative body, and in a way “represent” their fellow sellsers.
The organization negotiates with the administration and the government about issues relevant to doing business in the bazaar. For example, the organization successfully lobbied and negotiated with the administration for price differentiation for the containers. Now containers nearer to the center of the bazaar pay more than those on the periphery. Also, the organization recently negotiated with the government to reduce a tax/permit fee increase which traders have to pay to work. The government wanted to collect a licensing fee of 1500 som (about $35). This would have been a dramatic increase. The organization argued that the increase was excessive and would only prohibit trade and encourage corruption.
The traders’ association has also organized collective action, specifically security at the bazaar during the “Tulip Revolution,” which I will call a ‘power change’ because nothing about how government or society operates changed as a result of the “Revolution.” During the power change of 2004, Bishkek was quite unstable. Many townsfolk had journeyed to Bishkek in angry protest and the authorities were reluctant to defend the regime or risk the wrath of the mob by attempting to enforce the law. A great deal of vandalism and looting occurred during the power change. The lawlessness was confined to Bishkek and satellite towns but it was not limited to the very center of Bishkek where the capitol, parliament and central government administrations are located. Dordoi bazaar is somewhat removed from the city and in many ways its geography resembles a satellite town. But there was no looting at the bazaar. Traders established a system of 24 hour guard throughout the bazaar for the duration of the unrest. They protected their property collectively, and almost certainly prevented a massive loss in property and general destruction by doing so.
I asked Lydia pointedly about if the traders’ association held any political affiliations. She replied that the bazaar traders just do what they can to protect their interests. They took no side in the Tulip Revolution and do not support one party or another. Rather, the association negotiates with the administration or the government pursuant to their interests. Political parties in Kyrgyzstan are not ideological and most people view them as simply a stage for controlling influence and resources for the President and his allies. As such, the association has taken a pragmatic approach of opposing specific policies but never working to undermine specific politicians. This approach makes sense. The state has made moves that occasionally impinge upon profit or trade but on the whole but has not attempted to control trade flows or force people out of the bazaar. Were the bazaar traders to mobilize in some way they would risk severe backlash. Therefore it makes sense to pursue a more modest agenda of assuring no egregious changes to regulation of the bazaar. It is important to note however, that the bazaar is organized along the lines of self-interest and that it is capable of mobilizing both politically (for economic reasons) in order to negotiate with other powerful parties (such as the administration or the government) and physically, such as when they arranged for traders to guard the bazaar. It stands to reason then, that should the government, the administration or some other power threaten the fundamental interests of the bazaar that there is a strong possibility for the bazaar to mobilize more proactively.
Lydia is a card carrying Communist, “because of the ideals of the party.” Though not because she actual aims to bring Communism back to Kyrgyzstan. This sort of fond remembrance intermingles freely with the resignation that the old days of complete social, political and economic stability are not coming back.
I also discussed the mosque with Lydia. The mosque was funded by a collection put up by the traders in conjunction with the administration. Though she is herself Russian Orthodox, Lydia is happy to have the mosque active. She believes that people behave better when they believe in a higher power. The mosque serves as a madrassa as well. Students gather daily to learn the teachings of Islam and memorize verses in Arabic. Unprompted, Lydia offered that there were no fanatics at the mosque or in the bazaar. Though Kyrgyzstan has experienced very little in the way of Islamist extremism, the stigma of rigid reactionary interpretations of Islam weighs heavily on how people broach the subject. Often a Kyrgyz believer, when discussing women’s place in the religion, will phrase the point by stating, “Actually, Islam respects women,” despite the fact that no one made an assertion to the contrary.
