Abstract:

This project examines contemporary understanding of identity and nationalism in Kazakhstan through the analysis of societal perceptions. The rationale behind this project is theoretically informed by the works of Hobsbawm (1990) and Billig (1995), in particular by the discussion of “everyday nationalism”.

Using data from an original nation-wide survey (N=4,000) conducted in 2023, the paper explores various influence of various sociodemographic factors on the respondents’ perceptions of identity and belonging. This paper also serves as an expanded and enhanced follow-up study of another survey-based project conducted in January 2016 with 1,600 respondents across Kazakhstan (Sharipova, Burkhanov and Alpeissova 2017).

Usage and cross-comparison of these comprehensive datasets collected in 2016 and 2023 will permit to trace changes and dynamics in the national identity perception in Kazakhstan and to assess the interplay between the civic nation-building policies of the Kazakhstani state and perceptions of ordinary Kazakhstanis. Since Kazakhstan became an independent nation in 1991, the state has pursued various processes of nation-building intended to establish a cohesive civic identity among the multiethnic population of the country. The main findings point to a challenge for the official nation-building effort in Kazakhstan: on the one hand, Kazakhstan’s official civic nation-building policies shape how Kazakhstanis perceive their attachment to the state; on the other, there remains no widespread evidence of the decoupling of ethnicity from nationality as suggested by official rhetoric.