In the marketplace for styles and identities: globalization and youth culture in southern Kyrgyzstan

This article discusses experiences of cultural globalization among young Muslims in Osh,
Kyrgyzstan, and male students in particular. Drawing on studies of globalization and youth
culture, the article suggests that the everyday lives of boys and young men can be understood
as negotiations in a ‘marketplace for styles and identities’. The students engage with an
unprecedented range of cultural repertoires, from ‘true Islam’ and Christian messages to
global capitalism and Russian rap music. Based on extensive ethnographic research, the
article discusses young people’s interactions with transnational actors and media images, and
their appropriation of a number of ‘spaces’ made available by globalization. In commercial
outlets like Internet cafés, in religious circles and sports clubs, male students experiment with
styles and identities, often without experiencing contradictions. And yet, their choices are not
random. Their reception and utilization of ‘global’ cultural goods and ideas are constrained by
their socio-economic, linguistic, ethnic, religious and gender backgrounds and by various
rules at the local, regional and national levels.