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Discourses of Russian-speaking youth in Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan: Soviet legacies and responses to nation-building

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  • Matthew Blackburn

Abstract

Research into post-independence identity shifts among Kazakhstan’s Russian-speaking minorities has outlined a number of possible pathways, such as diasporization, integrated national minority status and ethnic separatism. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with young people in Almaty and Karaganda, I examine how Russian-speaking minorities identify with the state and imagine their place in a ‘soft’ or ‘hybrid’ post-Soviet authoritarian system. What is found is that Russian-speaking minorities largely accept their status beneath the Kazakh ‘elder brother’ and do not wish to identify as a ‘national minority’. Furthermore, they affirm passive loyalty to the political status quo while remaining disinterested in political representation. Russian-speaking minorities are also ambivalent towards Kazakh language promotion and anxious about the increasing presence of Kazakh-speakers in urban spaces. This article argues that two factors are central to these stances among Kazakhstan’s Russian-speaking minorities: the persistence of Soviet legacies and the effects of state discourse and policy since 1991.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Blackburn, 2019. "Discourses of Russian-speaking youth in Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan: Soviet legacies and responses to nation-building," Central Asian Survey, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 217-236, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:ccasxx:v:38:y:2019:i:2:p:217-236
    DOI: 10.1080/02634937.2019.1615409
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    Cited by:

    1. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Runschke, David & Schmeidl, Susanne & Herzfeld, Thomas & Sagyndykova, Galiya, 2024. "Migrant agency in an institutional context: The Akmola–Astana migration system," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 76(3), pages 433-460.

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