Edward Schatz is author of the book Slow Anti-Americanism: Social Movements and Symbolic Politics in Central Asia, and other influential books and articles in political science, and on Kazakhstan. He is a professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, and directs the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies at the Munk School.

In this conversation we discuss:

* The significant differences between authoritarian regimes in Central Asia

* The Soviet inheritance of Central Asian states

* The hopes of the 1990s and mistaking the whiff of a weak state for the smell of freedom

* What authoritarianism means

* Clan Politics in Central Asia

* The nature of Kazakhstan’s government and responsive authoritarianism

* The 2022 protests in Kazakhstan

* Russia’s role in suppressing the protests and the influence of Russian media

* Acts of resistance

* The shift from pro- to anti-Americanism

* Defending democracy

The Rhyming Chaos podcast is produced by Jeremy Goldkorn and Maria Repnikova, and edited by Cadre Scripts. The theme music is Paper Boy, composed and performed on the guzheng by Wu Fei. Our closing music is Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, arranged and performed by Wu Fei. Our cover art is by Li Yunfei.

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