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42
From historical perspective, what is happening in Kazakhstan is anything but unique. In fact, the Kazakhs experienced at least twice similar externally-induced shocks to their nomadic lifestyle, culture and traditions, when foreign powers such as Russia and particularly the Soviet Union have introduced foreign socio-economic systems into the Kazakh steppe. In a similar sense, current market economy reforms and privatization, driven primarily by foreign capital rather than guns, induce significant strain on the core values of Kazakh identity. While the present study focuses on the post-Soviet period in the history of Kazakhstan, such historical parallels provide a context to approaching current debates about the identity of Kazakhstan and the Kazakhs.
Kazakhstan is selected as the most-likely case56 to study the validity of this model. As already mentioned, the republic is a model case of the patronage network based political regime displaying a high level of fragmentation of its national identity, and it also demonstrates a relatively high level of integration into the global economy when compared to other post-Soviet states.57 If Kazakhstan provides enough evidence to support this project’s hypothesis, the latter might be a useful model for the analysis of identity processes in other post-Soviet and post-colonial countries.
56 Most likely case study offers a good starting point for examining worthiness of an untested hypothesis (Odell, 2004)
57 Indicated by the highest level of FDI per capita in the former Soviet Union and second highest among all post-communist states by 1997 (Cummings, 2005, p. 3 and 32)
Object Description
| Title | Market reforms, foreign direct investment and national identity: Non-national identity of Kazakhstan |
| Author | Zhanalin, Azamat |
| Author email | janalin_a@yahoo.com; zhanalin@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | International Relations |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-22 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-29 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | English, Robert |
| Advisor (committee member) |
James, Patrick Rorlich, Azade-Ayse |
| Abstract | The present study offers an analysis of the concept of non-national identity in application to the Republic of Kazakhstan as the most likely case. The primary hypothesis is that newly independent states, which are undergoing a rapid transition to market economy and actively pursue integration in the world economy and foreign direct investment, will experience fragmentation of their national identity, defined as non-national identity.; Three sites in Kazakhstan, Almaty, Astana and Aktau, were chosen for the study as representative of the market reforms in the republic as well as the best examples of the country’s pursuit of foreign direct investment and integration into the global economy. The data collected indicates that while Kazakhstan does demonstrate fragmentation of its national identity, it is not necessarily caused by the market reforms and the participation in the global trade. Alternative causal variables such as the Soviet and Russian colonial legacy, intra-ethnic cleavages among the Kazakhs and the prevalence of multi-vector foreign policy were found to contribute to the development of non-national identity of Kazakhstan. The study’s results also suggest that in the last few years, Kazakh identity is experiencing a rather strong revival as well, which may yet counteract the existing factors leading to the emergence of the non-national identity of Kazakhstan. |
| Keyword | identity; nationalism; Kazakhstan; market reforms; globalization; foreign direct investment; national identity; countries in transition; foreign policy; culture; former Soviet Union; Central Asia; patronage networks; energy; oil; post-colonial legacy; nation-state |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Almaty; Astana; Aktau |
| Geographic subject (country) | Kazakhstan |
| Coverage date | 1970/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3812 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Zhanalin, Azamat |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Zhanalin-4506 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume51/etd-Zhanalin-4506.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 48 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 42 From historical perspective, what is happening in Kazakhstan is anything but unique. In fact, the Kazakhs experienced at least twice similar externally-induced shocks to their nomadic lifestyle, culture and traditions, when foreign powers such as Russia and particularly the Soviet Union have introduced foreign socio-economic systems into the Kazakh steppe. In a similar sense, current market economy reforms and privatization, driven primarily by foreign capital rather than guns, induce significant strain on the core values of Kazakh identity. While the present study focuses on the post-Soviet period in the history of Kazakhstan, such historical parallels provide a context to approaching current debates about the identity of Kazakhstan and the Kazakhs. Kazakhstan is selected as the most-likely case56 to study the validity of this model. As already mentioned, the republic is a model case of the patronage network based political regime displaying a high level of fragmentation of its national identity, and it also demonstrates a relatively high level of integration into the global economy when compared to other post-Soviet states.57 If Kazakhstan provides enough evidence to support this project’s hypothesis, the latter might be a useful model for the analysis of identity processes in other post-Soviet and post-colonial countries. 56 Most likely case study offers a good starting point for examining worthiness of an untested hypothesis (Odell, 2004) 57 Indicated by the highest level of FDI per capita in the former Soviet Union and second highest among all post-communist states by 1997 (Cummings, 2005, p. 3 and 32) |
