Abstract:

Ostrom’s Common Pool Resource (CPR) theory posits that small-scale, homogeneous groups are more likely to promote collective actions and achieve sustainable resource utilization through self-organization and self-management. However, this case study shows the failure of a traditional Kazakh community based on kinship to achieve collective action. This article further examines how homogeneity among community members impacts the outcomes of collective actions.

This article employs oral history methodology to explore the relationship between social networks and property rights. Based on two years of fieldwork, using the kinship value to quantify the interaction between community members. The practice of Daiyang in winter among members represents the effectiveness of collective action; the Daimu actions signify the failure. Through quantitative analysis, the study finds that when the herders are immediate relatives, it is easier to promote collective action; however, when herders are non-direct relatives, violations such as Daimu are more likely to be tolerated.

This article offers a new perspective within the institutional economics school by examining the relationship between member heterogeneity and collective action through kinship relationships. It addresses the limitations of CPR theory, which often views communities as homogeneous wholes. The research findings reveal that under the pasture contracting policy and the influence of market forces differentiation has occurred within what was previously considered a homogeneous community. This article provides a more nuanced view of "homogeneity" in CPR theory by showing Kazakh traditional communities' kinship relationships have evolved under market influences.

Note： Daiyang refers to the act of taking care of livestock for group members, which is a reciprocal behavior; Daimu refers to grazing livestock on common pastures for non-Kazakhs in agricultural areas outside the village, making the common (summer) pasture open access, thereby signifying the failure of collective action.

Abstract:

At the end of the 19th century, Russian farmers gradually entered the steppes of Kazakhstan, and the resulting land issues gradually became the focus of Kazakh newspapers from the 1880s onward. As Russian immigrants successfully reclaimed pastoral areas into farmland, they greatly reduced the space available for Kazakh communities. In response, Kazakhs began to engage in agriculture to supplement their pastoral practices. Intellectuals also had heated discussions about the future of Kazakhstan: Is settled life an inevitable outcome for Kazakhs? If there is not enough land per capita in the future, the future of animal husbandry is in jeopardy.

Kazakh intellectuals did not simply "reject" Russian immigrants. Settlement was considered a sign of modernization, and many intellectuals expected Kazakhs to move toward a combination of agriculture and animal husbandry. However, these intellectuals also criticized numerous unfair policies that placed Kazakh communities in a subordinate position, thereby disadvantaging Kazakh farmers and herders.

This study emphasizes the perspective from below, using existing Kazakh written materials to elucidate the views of Kazakh intellectuals on Russian immigration and the expansion of agricultural areas. This research breaks away from the dichotomy between agriculture and animal husbandry. In fact, this type of agriculture is only perceived as belonging to "Russians," resulting in many systemic inequalities.These materials also aid in better understanding Kazakh intellectuals at the end of the 19th century. As middlemen, they hoped for cooperation with the empire to achieve local modernization, while simultaneously acting as advocates for Kazakh culture and opposing unfair practices. Additionally, this examination of Kazakh grasslands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries will serve as a basis for understanding the famines occurring on the steppes and the subsequent conflicts between agriculture and animal husbandry.

Abstract:

This is an interactive GIS web-based project presentation, illustrating the population changes of various nationalities in different regions of Kazakhstan from the 1950s to the 1970s through the analysis of demographic data.