Category Archives: Social Movements

State-Socialist Legacies and Selective Perception of Propaganda

By Julian Dierkes Every so often, my conversations, especially on visits to Mongolia which are so valuable for my thinking, touch on bigger issues that are challenging to frame as a blog post. This is one of those attempts to … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Dissertation Ideas, Gender, History, JD Democratization, Policy, Politics, Protest, Protest, Reflection, Social Issues, Social Movements, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Media Notes for Future Revolution

By Julian Dierkes Two important notes up front: I cast sideways glances at Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan more than other countries, for historical/cultural similarities, resource-based development trajectories and landlocked-next-to-Russia-and-China status shared with Mongolia. I have no particular expertise on Kazakhstan. I … Continue reading

Posted in Central Asia, Democracy, Kazakhstan, Media and Press, Reflection, Social Media, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: #NONAADAM vs #YESNAADAM – Conflict Between Urban and Rural Values in Mongolia

By Usukhbold Chimedregzen During the first week of July 2021, Mongolia has seen two opposing protest groups who gathered at Sukhbaatar Square in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. On the surface, it appeared that the protestors had grievances related to celebrating … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Elections, Health, Mongolian People's Party, Naadam, Protest, Public Policy, Social Issues, Social Movements, Ulaanbaatar, Usukhbold Chimedregzen | Leave a comment

Mongolian Hunger Striking — DP to MPRP?

By Marissa J. Smith After the massive #уокогцор strikes last week that preceded the resignation of Prime Minister U. Khurelsukh and his Cabinet, the weekend also saw demonstrations with fewer participants begin on Sukhbaatar Square, focusing on the OT agreement. … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, History, Human Rights, Marissa Smith, Mining, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Politics, Social Media, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

PM Khurelsukh Resigns Suddenly

By Julian Dierkes Over 30 years of Mongolia’s democratic history we have seen a lot of surprising developments. By comparison, recent months seemed relatively calm. The Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) cruised to a first-ever consecutive election victory, seemingly on the … Continue reading

Posted in Health, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021, Protest, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Current and Previous Mongolian Presidents Weigh In on Mongolian Language Education

By Marissa J. Smith Since Julian’s post on the unfolding events around China’s cancellation of Mongolian-medium education, the current Mongolian president, Kh. Battulga, and his predecessor, Ts. Elbegdorj, have released statements. As a brief update on the situation, Southern Mongolian … Continue reading

Posted in Author, China, Cultural Diplomacy, Digital Diplomacy, Education, Foreign Policy, Inner Mongolia, Literature, Marissa Smith, Mongolia and ..., Mongolians in China, Nationalism, Politics, Primary and Secondary Education, Social Media, Social Movements, Video | Leave a comment

Noticing Inner Mongolia

By Julian Dierkes I generally have not paid very much attention to Inner Mongolia. Even beginning to understand the setting of Mongolians within the People’s Republic seems like a daunting task. I also find many of the current actions of … Continue reading

Posted in China, Education, Ethnic Groups, Inner Mongolia, Nationalism, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Making News in November 2019

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan Constitutional Revision Just days before the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the abolition of the monarchy, the MPP-ruled parliament and DP president reached a compromise on a set of amendments to the 1992 constitution.  Today, at … Continue reading

Posted in China, Constitution, Democracy, Foreign Policy, Governance, Ikh Khural 2020, Judiciary, Military, Mining, Mining Governance, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021, Protest, Russia, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Likelihood of Political Renewal

By  Julian Dierkes Why I am generally optimistic about Mongolian developments, Mongolian politics presents a lot of challenges and the current state of affairs causes more despair than it has in the previous 12+ years that I’ve been paying attention. … Continue reading

Posted in Constitution, Corruption, Democracy, Democratic Party, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Nationalism, Party Politics, Policy, Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

From Transparency to a Participatory Revolution

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

Genuine Protests or Political Grandstanding

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 JD Democratization, Politics, Public Opinion, Social Change, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Party Implications of SME Fund Scandal

By Julian Dierkes Since late summer, I have been speculating about different scenarios to bring about a change in political culture and in the party landscape. These speculations focused on trigger evens that might lead to protests which would lead … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Will Green Party, Constitution, Corruption, Democracy, Governance, Ikh Khural 2020, Law, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Policy, Politics, Populism, Protest, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Not a Political SMEar Campaign

By Mendee J and Julian Dierkes A massive corruption scandal is brewing in Mongolia. Alhtough the scandal was skillfully picked up by President Battulga and Democratic Party MPs for partisan politicking, now it literally opened a pandora’s box of corruption. … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Corruption, Diversification, Media and Press, Mongolian People's Party, Policy, Politics, Protest, Social Media, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Protests… and then?

By Julian Dierkes I have recently written about widespread political frustration in 2018 and speculated on the kind of events/issues that might trigger mass protests. Now, let me consider what would happen in the event of such protests. I am only … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Society, Corruption, Democracy, Human Rights, Inequality, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Nationalism, Policy, Politics, Protest, Public Opinion, Security Apparatus, Social Movements, Ulaanbaatar, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Triggers of Upheaval

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, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Party Politics, Politics, Populism, Protest, Public Opinion, Security Apparatus, Social Change, Social Movements, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment