The Kazaks and Kazakstan: The Struggle for Ethnic Identity and Nationhood

• Published in: Nationalities papers Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 395 - 419
• Main Author: Crowe, David M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.09.1998; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Cultural identity; Cultural Pluralism; Culture; Demonology; Ethnic Identity; Ethnicity; Government programmes; Historical text analysis; History; Identity; Kazakhstan; Nation; National identity; Nationalism; Natural resources; Political development; Russia; Sociocultural Factors; State Formation; Tribes; Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; Kazakhstan
• ISSN: 0090-5992; 1465-3923
• DOI: 10.1080/00905999808408574

In a recent article in Ulitsa, Moscow journalist Denis Dragunsky asked whether Russia was an Asian or a European country. Much the same question could be asked about Kazakstan (the land of the Kazaks), particularly given its long historical ties with Russia. And it is not an easy question to answer. While Kazakstan's history is a blend of Mongol, Turkic, Islamic, and Russian heritages, there are Cossacks and Russians both in and outside of Kazakstan who feel that parts of Kazakstan belong historically to Russia. While such claims have been long and vocal, the Kazak response has been forcibly silent during most of this century. However, with the emergence of Kazakstan as not only an independent country, but a potentially powerful regional player, Kazaks have begun to reclaim their history from the Russians. And with questions about how to construct a nation come queries about ethnicity and history. What is a Kazak? Given that the Russians referred to them as the Kirgiz during most of the period that they dominated the Kazaks, and thus robbed the Kazaks of their most basic linguistic identification term, there is much to be explored and reclaimed before this people and nation can truly define itself in the context of its rich history.