Philipp Schröder is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Asian and African Studies. Until 2011 he was a member of the research group ‘Integration and Conflict’ at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle/Saale and received his PhD from the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg.

“…rich, detailed, and scrupulous ethnographic descriptions…Bishkek Boys should be read by researchers and students in courses on Central Asia and post-Soviet space, as well as in youth and urban communities studies.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)“The merit of a micro-ethnography is the ability to document a rich tapestry of interpersonal exchanges, storytelling and self-presentations that assemble and capture emergent social organisation. This is an engaging insight into how community bonds are fragmented and recreated.” • Newbooks.asia“Meticulously researched, theoretically strong, scrupulously annotated – in other words, this is an excellent book.” · Shirin Akiner, School of Oriental and African Studies, London University“This attractively written book is a tribute to the realities of urban life in Central Asia, as seen through the perspective of young men in search of respect and authority, while dealing with the fall out of larger socio-political upheavals” · Mathijs Pelkmans, London School of Economics

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsNotes on Transliteration and NamingIntroduction: The Playground Incident, the Field and a Conceptual FrameChapter 1. Authority and Resource: Batyr as a Leader in ShanghaiChapter 2. Territory: Kanat and the Other YardsChapter 3. Disconnection: Bolot and the Generation ‘Off the Streets’Chapter 4. Respect and Responsibility: Semetei and the Other BratishkiChapter 5. Solidarity: Metis, Ulan and Friendship RelationsChapter 6. Acquaintances: Maks and Interethnic RelationsChapter 7. Urban Socialization: Tilek and the NewcomersConclusion: From Shanghai to Iug-2 and Bishkek’s Postsocialist TrajectoryList of Main CharactersGlossary of Selected TermsReferencesIndex