Category Archives: Pop Culture

Guest Post: Mongolian Hoops Dreams — Creation of Soft Power Through Basketball

Posted on September 17, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Benjamin Nuland Basketball was introduced to Mongolia in the 1960s by the Russians and Chinese.  More recently, basketball has become Mongolia’s most popular sport, but Mongolians’ associations are primarily American. This fascination lives under the halo of the NBA … Continue reading →

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Posted in Benjamin Nuland, Curios, Pop Culture, Sports, United States | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Mongolian Participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Posted on August 13, 2024 by bulgan batdorj

By Zorig Bat-Erdene Mongolia completed its participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games from July 26 to August 11, 2024. A total of 32 athletes competed in 9 different sports:   Sport Number of athletes Men Women Athletics 1 2 … Continue reading →

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Posted in Author, Corruption, Fashion, History, Olympics, Pop Culture, Public Opinion, Social Media, Society and Culture, Sports, Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene | Leave a comment

Charting a New Path: Understanding the Effects of Generational Shift on Politics and Economics

Posted on May 1, 2023 by bulgan batdorj

By Bulgan Batdorj  Mongolians born in the 1970s and 80s experienced the country’s transition from communism to democracy in 1990 at a relatively young age. This is a generation that grew up during shaky economic times and a shifting cultural … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Demography, Politics, Pop Culture, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest post: Mongolia’s Success in Team Sports

Posted on April 3, 2023 by bulgan batdorj

By Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene  On April 1, 2023, the Mongolian male basketball team repeated their historic success by winning the 3×3 Asian Cup, defeating the Australian team twice, the first time being in 2017. This remarkable achievement has sparked widespread celebration … Continue reading →

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Posted in Cultural Diplomacy, Demography, Diaspora, Mining, Pop Culture, Population, Public Opinion, Society and Culture, Sports, Tokyo 2020, United States, Younger Mongolians, Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar, Feb 2022

Posted on May 1, 2022 by bulgan batdorj

By Bulgan Batdorj  After four years, I finally got to go to Ulaanbaatar in February 2022. Although I was in regular contact with my family and friends, I was overjoyed to see them in person. The home welcoming of UB … Continue reading →

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Posted in Air Pollution, Bulgan Batdorj, Change, Food, Pop Culture, Reflection, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Mongolian Olympic Team in Tokyo 2020

Posted on August 17, 2021 by bulgan batdorj

By Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene  A Mongolian National Olympic Team of 43 athletes participated in the 2020 Summer Olympic Game in Tokyo, Japan in ten different sports.  Mongolian athletes have been participating in every Summer Olympic Games since 1964 in Tokyo, except … Continue reading →

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Posted in Cultural Diplomacy, London 2012, Nationalism, Olympics, Pop Culture, Society and Culture, Sports, Tokyo 2020, Wrestling, Youth, Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene | Leave a comment

Voting with Enthusiasm

Posted on June 25, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes There was a lot of enthusiasm on display early on June 24 as the polls opened. Expressions of enthusiasm built in part on the very active өглөө campaign that had been part of a bring-out-the-youth-vote effort.   … Continue reading →

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Posted in Curios, Ikh Khural 2020, Pop Culture, Social Media, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Fascist Symbolism in Mongolia

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Niels Hegewisch and Julian Dierkes Recent attention to ethno-rock sensation The Hu has revived concerns about the (seeming) use of fascist iconography in Mongolian politics. While fascist symbols are immediately distasteful to Western observers, in Asia such symbols need … Continue reading →

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Posted in Music, Music, Nationalism, Niels Hegewisch, Politics, Pop Culture, Populism, Protest, Social Issues, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Hip Hop in Politics

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Paweł Szczap With hip-hop culture being often highly saturated with political and social commentaries, so far I have mostly concentrated on the presence of nationalist discourse within the Mongolian hip-hop scene. There are loads of material for research and … Continue reading →

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Posted in Ikh Khural 2016, Music, Music, Party Politics, Paweł Szczap, Politics, Pop Culture, Presidential 2017, Ulaanbaatar, Youth | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Connecting Mongols Between Mongolia and China Through Hip Hop

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Thalea Stokes The Project My time in Mongolia and China has been towards the aim of coming to a deeper understanding of Mongolian hip hop culture in both nations, and how those cultures interact, intertwine, and inform each other. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Mongolians in China, Music, Nationalism, Pop Culture, Research on Mongolia, Social Change, Society and Culture, Thalea Stokes | Leave a comment

Where did the Conspiracy Conspiracy Come From?

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Mongolia is not unique in the presence of conspiracy theories, nor in the presence of events and factors in those events that may lend themselves to conspiracy theories. Yet, in my experience, conspiracy theories have become dominant … Continue reading →

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Posted in Corruption, Curios, History, JD Democratization, JD Mining Governance, Party Politics, Politics, Pop Culture, Social Issues, Social Media | Tagged | 1 Comment

Mongolian Presence in Germany

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes I spent the past year on a research leave from the University of British Columbia in Berlin, Germany, at the Free University’s Graduate School of East Asian Studies. I found Mongolia to be much more visible in … Continue reading →

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Posted in Canada, Cinema, Curios, Diaspora, Germany, Mongolian Diaspora, Pop Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Funny Thing Happened Last Week: John Oliver, Dalai Lama, Mongolia

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes One of the reasons I encourage graduate students to be strategic about communicating their research results is that you never know when and on what topic the public comes knocking on your door. Sometimes the public comes … Continue reading →

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Posted in Curios, Dalai Lama, Health, Media and Press, Pop Culture, Social Issues, Social Media, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: The Construction of Mining Image in Socialist Mongolia

Posted on March 26, 2016 by mendee

By Enkhbat Avirmed Although Mongolians were relying on the pastoral economy up through the early 20th century, there were about 20 coal and gold mines operating in Mongolia by 1911. However, after the 1921 revolution, Mongolian leaders came under pressure … Continue reading →

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Posted in Cinema, CIRDI, Enkhbat Avirmed, Media and Press, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, Pop Culture, Society and Culture | Tagged | 1 Comment

Guest Post: Mongols on the International Film Stage

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Julian Dierkes

Marissa Smith Mongols on the International Film Stage: Negotiating the International Relations of Mongolia By Means of Their Understanding by Others During a press conference in Berlin March 3rd with Chancellor Merkel, President Elbegdorj quipped, “Die Mongolen sind wieder da, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Cinema, Marissa Smith, Mongolia and ..., Pop Culture | 1 Comment