Critical reflection on the extractive industries transparency initiative in Kyrgyzstan

The purpose of this article is to shed light on the implementation of anti-corruption efforts in extractive industries. Through the case study of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Kyrgyzstan, the article aims to capture how the transparency norm is enacted in a development and 'resource cursed' context. Building on the literature on resource governance and anti-corruption and on fieldwork conducted in Kyrgyzstan, this article discusses the implementation of EITI at national and subnational levels, as well as, community discourses and practices around transparent resource governance. It attempts to explain how anti-corruption initiatives function in authoritarian settings and why they fail to deliver the promised outcomes. The study highlights the incongruence between normative claims underlying global anti-corruption standards and actual policy and community practices on the ground. It argues that the implementation and outcomes of global anti-corruption interventions such as the EITI are conditioned by the local domestic context. The article stresses the need for scholars and policymakers to examine how transparency is articulated and implemented at national and subnational levels. (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.