Paper short abstract:

Schedule for Oct 12 or Oct 13

Paper long abstract:

Amongst the darkest moments in Soviet history were the 1930s famines that occurred in several Soviet republics most notably Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Although Ukraine's case has been well-researched and analyzed, famine in Kazakhstan has received much less attention both in public sphere and academic world. This paper takes on a post-structural approach in analysis of relationship between Soviet power and Kazakh population in time of the 1930s famine.

The famine that occurred in Kazakhstan might have been caused by policy failures and neglect by the Soviet power, however, there was also another powerful dynamic behind this tragedy. It was in essence a relationship between the Soviet nation and the Other represented by Kazakh nomads. Soviet authorities viewed and treated nomads and their needs as the Other failing to understand their history, economy, social structure, and environmental aspect of nomadic household resulting in a large number of human casualties caused by actions of Soviet representatives. The paper contributes to the production of knowledge about how relationship between titular nation and the Other was intimately interweaved with the tragedy of famine in Kazakhstan in 1930s by analyzing archival data available from that time such as newspapers and official documents including local reports and books.