Paper long abstract:

Failed nation-building and colonial narratives in Kazakhstan

In this paper, I would like to pay attention to the problem of dispersion of Kazakhstani society, which was, once again, highlighted because of the events of January 2022, when the state decided to blame 20,000 mythical marauders for the unrest, and then to justify them starts persecution and torture of those who came out for a peaceful demonstration on January 5. Often they were members of the sensitive segments of the population, who came from the outskirts of the city of Almaty. The stigmatization of certain groups as backward and uneducated seen as an act of secondary colonization, where the command of the Russian language and belonging to an urban culture defined as modernization, progressiveness and success. In addition to the sensitive layer of the population defined as "living below Tashkentskaya street” of the city of Almaty, which is also defined as backward, there is another population group of those who do not speak Russian -Kazakh ethnic repatriates from non-Russian-speaking countries such as China and Mongolia. I draw attention to the following issues: the failure of state nation-building policies, the stratification of the population, the various groups of ethnic Kazakhs whose voices muted, including the social groups of vulnerable strata in the suburbs of Almaty and Almaty region.