Florian Coppenrath

Florian Coppenrath is an Associated Research Fellow at the Leibniz Centre for Modern Oriental Studies (ZMO) in Berlin, working within the State and Society research programme. His doctoral research at Humboldt University of Berlin examines the hip-hop music production economy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, focusing on creative labor dynamics and translocal cultural flows since the 1990s.

His educational background includes a Dual MA in International Public Management and Political Science from Sciences Po Paris and Freie Universität Berlin (2012-2014), a BA Diploma from Sciences Po Paris (2012-2019), and an exchange year at the Higher School of Economics, Moscow (2011-2012). He completed his PhD candidacy in Central Asian Studies at Humboldt University (2018-2022) with Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation support.

Coppenrath's research centers on Central Asian ethnomusicology and political economy, analyzing hip-hop as a collective 'art world' where creative labor intersects with socio-political change. His work explores how Kyrgyz musicians navigate technological shifts, streaming platforms, and peripheral positioning within global cultural flows, emphasizing DIY organization and economic adaptation in post-Soviet contexts.

His publications reveal consistent focus on Kyrgyzstan's cultural-political landscape, with hip-hop serving as a lens for examining protest dynamics, public mood, and translocal entrepreneurship. The scholarship collectively demonstrates how peripheral music economies creatively appropriate global trends while maintaining local agency.

His scientific recognition includes:

• PhD Scholarship from the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (2018)
• Innovation scholarship of the Robert Bosch Foundation (2017)
• DAAD scholarship (2014)

Coppenrath has served as a Robert-Bosch Foundation lecturer at Osh State University and contributed to academic networks like the European Society for Central Asian Studies. His media work for Novastan.org bridges scholarly analysis with public discourse on Central Asian cultural developments.

His research involves extensive transnational collaboration, including fieldwork in Bishkek with local musicians and participation in workshops fostering South-North knowledge exchange in Central Asian studies, supported by ZMO's infrastructure for transregional research.