Author Archives: Julian Dierkes

About Julian Dierkes

Julian Dierkes is a sociologist by training (PhD Princeton Univ) and a Mongolist by choice and passion since around 2005. He teaches in the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He toots @jdierkes@sciences.social.

Guest Post: Gender Mainstreaming in Public Administration

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Oyuntuya Shagdarsuren At a glance, Mongolia may seem like a ‘paradise for men’ given the high status of men or a ‘paradise for women’ given the country’s high rankings on human development indices. Yet, the gender equality situation remains … Continue reading →

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Posted in Gender, Oyuntuya Shagdarsuren, Public Policy, Public Service, Social Change, Social Issues | Leave a comment

2019 Mongolia Focus in Review

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Our blog is in its 9th year. We smashed through our 600th post this year. Most notably we were recognized through a Public Outreach Award from the Central Eurasian Studies Society. Mendee defended his PhD. I’d say, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Reflection, Research on Mongolia, Social Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar December 2019

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping lists of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: June 2019 | April 2019 | December 2018 | August 2018 | October 2017 | June 2017 | May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013 | October 2011. More informal … Continue reading →

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Posted in Change, City Planning, Curios, Fashion, Heritage, Museums, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Back to the 2008 Future in Voting?

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Enkhtsetseg D and Julian Dierkes After toying with the idea of a mixed electoral system, in which 50 seats were to be distributed based on the FPTP system and 26 seats to be distributed proportionally from an open party … Continue reading →

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Posted in Elections, Enkhtsetseg Dagva, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ever-Creative Electoral System Discussions

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Long-time readers of our blog (really committed readers are looking back on 8 1/2 years of analyses!) will know that I get very interested in elections and that many of my collaborators have also chipped on an … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Constitutional Amendments Adopted

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes While some details remain curiously unclear (as is so frustratingly often the case with Mongolian legislation and reporting on it, the Ikh Khural approved a number of constitutional amendments on Nov 15. While these are subject to … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Governance, JD Democratization, JD Mining Governance, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Party Politics, Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Book Review S Ruhlmann “Inviting Happiness: Food Sharing in Post-Communist Mongolia”

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Jade Marie Richards Sandrine Ruhlmann. 2019. Inviting Happiness: Food Sharing in Post-Communist Mongolia. Leiden: Brill, 2019. 288pp. ISBN 978-90-04-41063-3 So much recent work in the anthropology of Mongolia focuses on broad scale politico-economic transformation, urbanisation or the divisive mining … Continue reading →

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Posted in Anthropology, Change, Countryside, Food, Jade Marie Richards, Publications, Research on Mongolia, Reviews | Leave a comment

CESS Public Outreach Award

Posted on October 13, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

The Central Eurasian Studies Society has awarded our blog their 2019 Public Outreach Award. Congrats to CESS’ Public Outreach awardee Mongolia Focus blog https://t.co/WhEMwkgbUB — CESS (@CESS_news) October 12, 2019 Thank you, @CESS_news, we’re so proud!#Mongolia #research pic.twitter.com/IrydpIogIC — Julian … Continue reading →

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Posted in Research on Mongolia | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Doping in Mongolian Wrestling

Posted on September 17, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Zorigtkhuu B Last year, I wrote a brief blog post about some of the political issues surrounding Mongolian wrestling. For example, military titles, associational rivalry, and doping, etc. This year’s wrestling tournament has become a hot topic for the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Naadam, Wrestling, Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Don’t Forget the Ground Game

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By David Chace You are in a rush for work, so you need to jog it. However, this means you need to beat the obstacle course outside. You need to weave through parked cars, ruts on the sidewalks and a … Continue reading →

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Posted in Change, City Planning, David Chace, eDemocracy, Governance, Public Policy, Social Change, Transportation, Ulaanbaatar | Leave a comment

US Offensive toward Mongolia

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Mendee Jargalsaikhan Suddenly, there has been a flurry of meetings between Mongolian and U.S. officials and, even more surprising, a flurry of official visits to Mongolia that looks likely to lead to a vice-presidential visit. The … Continue reading →

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Posted in China, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Russia, SCO, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

US Interactions Not a Win for Mongolia

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Together with Mendee, I’ve tried to describe the recent flurry of US-Mongolia interactions. In brief, interactions are motivated by a US desire to counter China in its own backyard. For Mongolia, a strategic partnership with the US … Continue reading →

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Posted in Cashmere, China, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Russia, SCO, United States | Leave a comment

Special License Plates

Posted on August 1, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Okay, I confess, I’m a bit of a license plate geek, but only a little bit. Maybe this is one of those things that growing up in (West) Berlin did to me. While the West German cousins … Continue reading →

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Posted in Curios, Mongolia and ..., Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

National Pride Without Museums

Posted on July 24, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes It’s tourist season in Mongolia again. Tourism has been discussed as a possible route to economic diversification, but also faces a number of challenges, for example short seasons and the lack of touring infrastructure. But during a … Continue reading →

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Posted in History, Museums, Nationalism, Society and Culture, Tourism, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Change in the Countryside June 2019

Posted on July 16, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes For some years, I have now taken notes about visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. I’ve kept a similar list for countryside changes, somewhat more regular as extended visits to the countryside don’t come nearly … Continue reading →

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Posted in Change, Countryside, Curios | Tagged | Leave a comment