Paper short abstract:

This paper presents the protean Kök zhajlau environmental movement that has spread between 2011 and 2019, against a project of a ski resort in the south of Kazakstan whose origins date back to 2001 and whose shadow has not yet completely faded.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents this protean movement that has spread between 2011 and 2019, against a project whose origins date back to 2001 and whose shadow has not yet completely faded. This work is based on interviews conducted with many actors of the movement, press articles and sources available on the internet. The project, which was repeatedly reformulated by the Kazakhstani authorities, had the goal of constructing to construct a large ski resort near the city of Almaty including the establishment of a residential area and essential infrastructures. The Kök zhajlau plateau is an accessible and popular walking area, a nature reserve that is part of the Ile-Alatau National Park as well as a summer pasture-land (zhajlau). We will look at how this movement forms part of mountain hiking and trekking practices which had been largely promoted by the Soviet power and was seized by the population. The aim is to show the relationship between government policies and practices and aspirations within civil society. The attention will then be focused on the form of the movement which joined together a great diversity of actors without a leader nor organizations centralizing the initiatives and the actions. The nature of the Kazakhstani regime and the relative weakness of environmental and social mobilizations had an influence on the construction of the movement in this unstructured form, but this context also resulted in the combination of a great diversity of competences and commitment. It opened to numerous contestations on the basis that the project did not comply with Kazakhstani laws, international conventions, and to criticisms as to the viability of the project. This movement succeeded in taking up a very large place in the public space despite the efforts of the authorities, and created a vision of environmental activism in connection with central issues for Kazakhstan, namely corruption and the creation of a national identity through a relationship to the land and the conservation of environmental heritage. This movement, which obtained the official ban of the construction by the president of Kazakhstan Kasym-zhomart Tokaev in 2019, involved many people who were sensitized to environmental issues and also gave rise to various initiatives and a sharing of experiences with current movements in other regions, such as Astana or Manghystau.

Paper short abstract:

This small-scale research explores challenges women experience in intercultural marriage in Kazakhstan and their strategies to overcome these challenges. Different attitudes regarding gender roles, societal judgment, and lack of support from parents are discussed.

Paper long abstract:

Kazakhstan is a multiethnic country where thousands of interethnic marriages are registered every year (Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2021). Cultural differences and other challenges such as societal judgment and lack of parental support can often lead to additional difficulties and disagreements in marriage (Bell & Hastings, 2015; Bustamante et al., 2011; Skowroński et al., 2014). This small-scale research aims to study intercultural families' experiences and strategies used in marriage. The study was conducted using a qualitative method. Ten Kazakhstani women residing in Kazakhstan and married outside of their ethnicity participated in individual semi-structured interviews. The interview protocol included questions about gender roles differences, parental support of women's decision to marry outside of their ethnicity, perceptions of societal attitude towards the couples, and strategies used to address these challenges. The recorded interviews were later transcribed and analyzed. The findings revealed that Slavic women married to Kazakh men experienced more challenges related to the differences in gender roles, whereas Kazakh women married to Slavic-looking men tended to struggle more with societal judgment and gaining their parents' approval and support. Strategies used by the women to cope with gender roles differences included discussing expectations regarding gender roles in families before marriage, respecting the culture, family, and parents of their spouse, and paying equal attention to both cultures in the family. Women who struggled with societal judgment reported gaining confidence over time and paying less attention to other people’s opinions.

Bell, G. C., & Hastings, S. O. (2015). Exploring parental approval and disapproval for black and white interracial couples. Journal of Social Issues, 71(4), 755–771.

Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2021). Demographic Yearbook of Kazakhstan. www.stat.gov.kz .

Bustamante, R. M., Nelson, J. A., Henriksen, R. C., & Monakes, S. (2011). Intercultural couples: Сoping with culture-related stressors. The Family Journal, 19(2), 154–164.

Skowroński, D. P., Othman, A. B., Siang, D. T. W., Han, G. L. W., Yang, J. W. J., & Waszyńska, K. (2014). The outline of selected marital satisfaction factors in the intercultural couples based on the Westerner and non-Westerner relationships. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 45(3), 346–356. https://doi.org/10.2478/ppb-2014-0042

Paper long abstract:

Unemployment was an almost unknown phenomenon in the Soviet Union, a country officially based on a full employment policy where the ‘parasitic lifestyle’ was criminalized and employment was both a right and an obligation. After 1991, the development of labour market institutions in the new independent states often followed the example of high-income countries, based on models of public employment services funded through employment insurance schemes, and on labour market programs aimed at the activation of the labour force (Lubyova 2009).

As a matter of fact, starting from the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the neoliberal imperatives of state retrenchment, privatization of social services, and cost containments have been replaced by an activating welfare state globally (Bonoli and Natali 2011). Within the sphere of employment support, passive labour market policies (like unemployment benefits) have been integrated with a wide range of active labour market programs promoting employability and showing an increasing correlation between labour market participation and social security (Freier and Senghaas 2021).

Central Asian countries have also taken this activating turn and started reforming their social policies from a passive mode of helping those in need to helping those who are willing to undertake active steps to overcome poverty (Dugarova 2019). Concepts such as the “active welfare state”, “social investment”, and responsibilisation of welfare recipients are being integrated in employment support policies and labour market programs.

Drawing on policy analysis and expert interviews with policy experts Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in this paper I will reflect on how policy transfer (Dolowitz and Marsh 2000) and travelling of ideas and beliefs have been adapted and embedded in the local context.

References

Bonoli, Giuliano, and David Natali. 2011. The Politics of the New Welfare States in Western Europe. Vol. RSCAS 2011. Florence.

Dolowitz, David P., and David Marsh. 2000. “Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making.” Governance 13(1):5–23.

Dugarova, Esuna. 2019. “Labor Activation, Social Protection and Poverty Reduction: The Case of Russia.” Russian Politics 4(3):328–53. doi: 10.1163/2451-8921-00403003.

Freier, Carolin, and Monika Senghaas. 2021. “Placement Advisors as Innovators. How Professionals Use Enhanced Discretion in Germany’s Public Employment Services.” Journal of Social Policy 1–18.

Lubyova, Martina. 2009. Labour Market Institutions and Policies in the CIS: Post-Transition Outcomes. Moscow.