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75
Chapter 3: Aktau
This chapter introduces Aktau, a small town on the shores of the Caspian Sea, passionately called the “Pearl of the Caspian” by its inhabitants. This name evokes a range of associations: first of all, it is the beauty of Aktau, designed and built by the Leningrad81 architects, considered to have been the best in the Soviet Union.82 It is also a reference to the black caviar that makes the Caspian Sea famous worldwide, and, of course, to oil that makes the Aktau region – Mangystau – prosperous. But most important of all, the Pearl of the Caspian is one of the major drivers of economic changes in the entire Republic of Kazakhstan thanks to the vast foreign direct investments poured into the region to develop its vast reserves of the precious black gold.
Not surprisingly, Aktau presents a very interesting and relevant case for examining the hypothesized relationship between FDI and Kazakh national identity. It is also a contrasting case, different from the other sites in this study and provides ample evidence to examine two important dimensions in the hypothesis. On the one hand, Aktau is dominated by the Kazakhs and therefore offers a strong case for the resilience of Kazakh culture and identity. On the other, the city and the region have a sizeable foreign population and investments that produce a notable impression on the local social environment.
In the course of this chapter, it will be shown that Aktau provides valuable data which does not seem to support the contention that FDI is indeed able to undermine the
81 Saint Petersburg in Russia today
82 Interview with a non-Kazakh journalist in Aktau, 8/10/2009
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 81 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 75 Chapter 3: Aktau This chapter introduces Aktau, a small town on the shores of the Caspian Sea, passionately called the “Pearl of the Caspian” by its inhabitants. This name evokes a range of associations: first of all, it is the beauty of Aktau, designed and built by the Leningrad81 architects, considered to have been the best in the Soviet Union.82 It is also a reference to the black caviar that makes the Caspian Sea famous worldwide, and, of course, to oil that makes the Aktau region – Mangystau – prosperous. But most important of all, the Pearl of the Caspian is one of the major drivers of economic changes in the entire Republic of Kazakhstan thanks to the vast foreign direct investments poured into the region to develop its vast reserves of the precious black gold. Not surprisingly, Aktau presents a very interesting and relevant case for examining the hypothesized relationship between FDI and Kazakh national identity. It is also a contrasting case, different from the other sites in this study and provides ample evidence to examine two important dimensions in the hypothesis. On the one hand, Aktau is dominated by the Kazakhs and therefore offers a strong case for the resilience of Kazakh culture and identity. On the other, the city and the region have a sizeable foreign population and investments that produce a notable impression on the local social environment. In the course of this chapter, it will be shown that Aktau provides valuable data which does not seem to support the contention that FDI is indeed able to undermine the 81 Saint Petersburg in Russia today 82 Interview with a non-Kazakh journalist in Aktau, 8/10/2009 |
