An Uneven Revival: Gendered Ethno-Regional Intersections of Religiousness in Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACT Post-Soviet religious dynamics have attracted considerable scholarly attention, but their complexities remain poorly understood. Ethnic and gender intersections of religious identity and behavior are particularly understudied. This study examines these complexities and intersections using data of two rounds of a nationally representative survey from Kyrgyzstan, a multi-religious and multi-ethnic nation. The multivariable analyses of subjective religious salience and religious practice produced both expected and unexpected gendered variations by religion, ethnicity, and region, as well as instructive temporal trends in these variations. The findings are interpreted through the prism of broader societal transformations in Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere in post-Communist Central Eurasia.