Category Archives: Social Movements

Pervasive Sense of (Political) Crisis

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes During my most recent visit to Mongolia, I heard talk of political crisis everywhere. [A strong argument for visiting more often!] Not the kind of crisis that could be resolved by a change of government, although rumours … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Governance, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, Nationalism, Party Politics, Politics, Public Opinion, Social Media, Social Movements, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Mechanics of a Blank Ballot

Posted on July 4, 2017 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes First, the presidential election campaign was sleepy. Then it turned sleezy. Now, things got exciting because some Mongolians seem to have found a strategy to fight back against two-party dominance and the “offer” of a choice of … Continue reading →

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Posted in Governance, JD Democratization, Presidential 2017, Social Movements | Tagged | 1 Comment

My Biggest Question about the Election

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Of course, it is interesting to speculate about the likelihood of one candidate or another winning the election. On that front, a week into the campaign, an Enkhbold victory still seems more likely, though a second round … Continue reading →

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Posted in Corruption, Democracy, Party Politics, Politics, Populism, Presidential 2017, Protest, Social Change, Social Issues, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Civil Society Perspective on State’s Role in Large Resource Projects

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Julian Dierkes

By Bilguun N ICF Workshop “State’s Role in Large Resource Projects” – Perspectives of Civil Society When Ts Munkhbayar, was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, he was interviewed by Anthropologist Bumochir Dulam. He explained a truthful reason to come to the parliament house with a … Continue reading →

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Posted in Bilguun Nandinbilig, CIRDI, Governance, Mining, Social Movements | Leave a comment

Resource Nationalism?

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes One of the dominant foreign views of Mongolian politics is that they’re rife with “resource nationalism”. This perspective is reproduced in many conversations with people in the mining or financial industry and is often repeated by visiting … Continue reading →

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Posted in Foreign Investment, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mongolia and ..., Nationalism, Policy, Politics, Populism, Social Movements | Tagged | 4 Comments

Berkeley Conference “Deadly Modernity”

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes The Mongolia Initiative at UC Berkeley’s Institute of East Asian Studies hosted a conference entitled “Deadly Modernity: The Environmental Crisis Behind Mongolia’s Swift Development” March 10-12, 2016. I don’t think anyone was tweeting from the conference, but … Continue reading →

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Posted in Air Pollution, Conferences, Countryside, Environment, Environment, Environmental Movements, Grassland, Health, Mining, Nationalism, Policy, Politics, Research on Mongolia, River Movements, Social Movements, Water | Tagged | 1 Comment

Learning about Development Policy in Uvs Aimag

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Julian Dierkes

I just visited Uvs province in Western Mongolia for the first time and had the chance to meet with stakeholder representatives from government, civil society, small businesses, and the corporate sector to learn about their development policy. Fascinating 1st visit … Continue reading →

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Posted in CIRDI, Civil Society, Countryside, Development, Mining, Policy, Policy, Regulation, Social Issues, Social Movements, Water | Tagged | 2 Comments

Contract transparency in Mongolian Mining

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Julian Dierkes

 Unbundling contract transparency in the extractive industry: the case of Mongolia – Part I Contract transparency is crucial in ensuring deals in the extractive industry deliver better outcomes for the host nation and community. Civil society has long campaigned for … Continue reading →

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Posted in Corruption, International Agreements, Mining, Oyu Tolgoi, Social Movements | Tagged | 3 Comments

Corruption in India: Lessons for Mongolia?

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Julian Dierkes

A Conversation With Asim Arun One of the things I really like about the broad variety of disciplinary academic perspectives on Mongolia that I come in contact with (for example, a lot of the discussions at the recent Oxford Deserts … Continue reading →

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Posted in Asim Arun, Corruption, Governance, India, Party Politics, Politics, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: National Labour Party – Хөдөлмөрийн Үндэсний Нам

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Julian Dierkes

Bulgan Batdorj Since their first forum “National Development – Mongol Person” in February this year, the Development Hun (ХҮН/Hun = person, individual) club expressed its intent of becoming a political force, but had not settled on both type (political movement, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Bulgan Batdorj, Ikh Khural 2016, Party Politics, Politics, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Failed States Index

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Julian Dierkes

The Fund for Peace released its 2013 Failed States Index (FSI) earlier in July 2013 and I’ve included the ranking in our Mongolia Scorecard. Methodology The Failed States Index aims to identify ” pressures [that] are pushing a state towards the brink of … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Development, Global Indices, Governance, Inequality, JD Democratization, Politics, Population, Security Apparatus, Social Issues, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Major Revision of Mongolian Mining Regulations Is Underway

Posted on May 11, 2013 by mendee

The first public debate on the proposed revisions of Mongolia’s mining regulations was conducted at the Citizen’s Hall of the Mongolian government on January 18, 2013. Although the revisions are long overdue, legislators appear to be in agreement that more … Continue reading →

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Posted in Corruption, Eurasia Daily Monitor, Governance, Law, Mining, Mining, Oyu Tolgoi, Social Movements | Tagged | 2 Comments

Christianity in Mongolia since 1990

Posted on May 1, 2013 by D.Byambajav

Like mining, we witness a religious boom in Mongolia. Like many post-socialist countries where religion experienced state repression, Mongolia has seen the revival and diversity of religion since 1990. The expansion of Buddhism and Shamanism, Mongolian “traditional” religions, has been … Continue reading →

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Posted in Byambajav Dalaibuyan, Religion, Research on Mongolia, Social Issues, Social Movements, Society and Culture, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | 2 Comments

Book Chapter: Finding the Buddha Hidden Below the Sand

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Julian Dierkes

Matthew King describes his on-going research on the revival of Buddhism in Mongolia to expand upon his chapter in “Change in Democratic Mongolia”. Continue reading →

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Posted in Book: Change in Democratic Mongolia, Civil Society, Environmental Movements, Nationalism, Religion, Research on Mongolia, Social Movements, Society and Culture | Tagged | 1 Comment

Mongolia Jumps to Higher Category in Freedom House Political Rights

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Julian Dierkes

Mongolia’s political rights evaluated in top category by Freedom House. Continue reading →

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Posted in Civil Society, Corruption, Democracy, Education, Elections, Gender, Global Indices, Governance, Inequality, JD Democratization, Media and Press, Party Politics, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment