Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The Kyrgyzstani apparel industry has seen spectacular growth in recent years, despite informal structures, a predatory business environment, and intersecting crises.Contrary to other apparel producers in the Global South, 'Made in Kyrgyzstan' (MiK) has emerged from below and independently of multinational corporations or state-funded development initiatives.This article takes an ethnographic approach to examine how apparel producers navigate the challenging national and geopolitical environment in which their businesses are embedded.It does so based on long-term fieldwork, conducted before (2019), during (2020, online), and after (2021) the pandemic at the Dordoi Bazaar in Bishkek, the main distribution platform for locally produced apparel.Based on the ethnographic material, this article questions the meaningfulness of an informality framework in the corrupt context of the Kyrgyzstani state, and instead shifts the focus on attempts to build durable businesses that are capable of dealing with local and global constraints.Doing so, it makes two related points.Firstly, it traces the unique nature of post-Soviet economic transformation in Kyrgyzstan through the peculiar growth of the informal apparel industry.Secondly, it emphasises the relevance of endemic state corruption when studying informal economic practices on the ground. Building durable structures in a corrupt stateOver the past two decades, Kyrgyzstani apparel producers have been able to develop a thriving industry that, after the post-Soviet era of de-industrialisation, offers relatively stable jobs and displays constant growth with high revenues for workshop owners.Between 2010 and 2022, exports of locally produced apparel grew from $127.7 million (ADB 2013, 14)about 5-15% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) (Jieun 2016, 105) -to 17.5% ($326 million) in 2022 (Statista 2023).Interestingly, sales figures increased threefold even during the pandemic, from 2021 to 2022 (AKIpress 2023), 1 when borders, bazaars and factories were temporarily closed and the international circulation of goods and people was restricted.
Source: Third World Quarterly
Author: Claudia Eggart
Institution: University of Manchester
Language: English
Subfield: Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4386931154