Category Archives: Social Change

Recollections of an Airport

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes An international airport is a gateway to a country. For me, apart from a Transsiberian trip in 1991 (watch my Twitter account later in July for a mini 30-year commemoration of my trip), the Ulaanbaatar airport has … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Infrastructure, Social Change, Tourism, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Panel: New Film “Echoes of Empire”

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

On October 23, 2020, we came together for a panel discussion of Robert Lieberman’s new film, “Echoes of Empire“. Participants in the panel discussion: Robert Lieberman, filmmaker Morris Rossabi, History, Graduate Center, CUNY Orhon Myadar, School of Geography, Development and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, History, Media and Press, Social Change | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Gender, Oyuntuya Shagdarsuren, Public Policy, Public Service, Social Change, Social Issues | 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 →

Posted in Change, City Planning, Curios, Fashion, Heritage, Museums, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | 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 →

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

Security Cameras Everywhere

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Maybe this will turn out to be a longterm series of posts on “contemporary Mongolia dissertations I wish someone was working on”. On visits to Mongolia, I see the streets and hills paved with dissertation topics, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Dissertation Ideas, Morals, Research on Mongolia, Social Change, Social Issues | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Cybersecurity or Cybercensorship?

Posted on April 26, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Otgonpurev M According to an article by ikon.mn policymakers in the Mongolian parliament perceive fake news that appear on social networks as a cyber attack.  Officials have responded to the demand to combat cyber harassment and the spread of … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Media and Press, Otgonpurev Mendsaikhan, Security Apparatus, Social Change, Social Media | Leave a comment

From Transparency to a Participatory Revolution

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Damdinnyam G [Mongolian Version: “МОНГОЛЧУУД: Ил тод байдлаас зѳв оролцооны хувьсгал руу…“] Even by the standards of Mongolian politics, the last two months have been eventful. Scandals, no confidence votes, demonstrations… one might think it’s an … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Damdinnyam Gongor, Law, Politics, Public Opinion, Social Change, Social Movements, Taxes | Tagged | 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 →

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

Genuine Protests or Political Grandstanding

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes A group of MPs is clearly trying to mobilize against M Enkhbold through the organization of public protests. We saw such protests at the ever end of 2018, but they have been announced for January 10 as … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Public Opinion, Social Change, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Camping Nomads

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Historically, Mongolians are a nation of “campers”. While perhaps less than a third of them still are mobile pastoralists, and even they are less mobile than they once were, nomadism and the movable home still play large … Continue reading →

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

Guest Post: Podcasting Mongolia

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Tsenguun T & Aldarsaikhan T The Mongolian podcasting scene is growing rapidly since the production of the first Mongolian podcast Үлдэх Үг in mid-2016. There are close to 20 Mongolian podcasts covering various topics today, and this number is … Continue reading →

Posted in Aldarsaikhan Tuvshinbat, Business, City Planning, Environment, Gender, Higher Education, LGBTI, Media and Press, Podcast, Politics, Social Change, Social Media, Society and Culture, Tsenguun Tumurkhuyag, Ulaanbaatar | Leave a comment

Triggers of Upheaval

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes The sense of political crisis and frustration is rampant in Mongolia at the moment. But, there does not seem to be any widespread mobilization against the government, either main party, or the political system. Whether that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Pollution, Corruption, Democracy, Human Rights, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, Judiciary, Party Politics, Politics, Populism, Protest, Public Opinion, Security Apparatus, Social Change, Social Movements, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Reducing Garbage by Re-establishing Bowl Use

Posted on September 23, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes In recent workshops we asked participants to list the most pressing policy challenges that Mongolia faced. A relatively small number of problems were listed repeatedly, by participants based in Ulaanbaatar as well as those from other aimags. … Continue reading →

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

Present and Past of Mongolia: 15 Years of Changes as Observed by a Civil Engineer

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Kenji Maruoka Translated from Japanese by Ts Jangar Originally published as 「谷川,　聡. (Tanigawa Satoru).(2017). モンゴルの今と昔～2000 年から土木技術者として見てきた15 年の変遷～. KON BAINA UU. No１６ It was my first visit of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where I came to work for Japan’s ODA program in the early May … Continue reading →

Posted in Bilateral Aid, Change, Development, Infrastructure, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar | Leave a comment