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This collection is a multidisciplinary examination of modern-day Kazakhstan. It analyzes the country's fast-changing national identity, the current regime's ongoing quest for popular support, relations between the Kazakh majority and the Russian-speaking minorities, and various other issues.
List of contents
Introduction, Marlene Laruelle
Part I: The State: Ruling Mechanisms and Symbols
Chapter 1: The Rule by Law: Negotiating Stability in Kazakhstan, Assel Tutumlu
Chapter 2: The Kazakh Neopatrimonial Regime: Balancing Uncertainties among the Family, Oligarchs, and Technocrats, Sebastien Peyrouse
Chapter 3: Shrek Meets the President: Magical Authoritarianism in a Fairy-Tale City, Mateusz Laszczkowski
Chapter 4: Shrine and Neopatrimonialism in southern Kazakhstan, Wendell Schwab and Ulan Bigozhin
Part II: The Nation: Conflicting Legitimacies and Repertoires
Chapter 5: Nationalizing Elites and Regimes: Nation-building in Post-Soviet Authoritarian and Democratic Contexts, Diana T. Kudaibergenova
Chapter 6: Imagining Kazakhstani-stan: Negotiations of Homeland and Titular-Nationality, Alexander C. Diener
Chapter 7: Which Future for National-Patriots?: The Landscape of Kazakh Nationalism, Marlene Laruelle
Chapter 8: Cowboys, Gangsters, and Rural Bumpkins: Constructing the "Other" in Kazakhstan's "Texas," Natalie R. Koch and Kristopher White
Part III: The Society: Negotiating Cultural Changes
Chapter 9: Islam in Good Taste: About Suitable Forms of Public Religiosity, Alima Bissenova
Chapter 10: The "Spirit of Tengri': Spirituality, Nationalism, and Emerging Trends in Kazakh Ethno-Pop, Megan Rancier
Chapter 11: Return Migration from the United States: Exploring the Dynamics of Cultural Change in Kazakhstan, Douglas Blum
About the author
Marlene Laruelle is research professor, director of the Central Asia Program, and associate director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at the Elliott School of International Affairs of George Washington University.
Summary
This collection is a multidisciplinary examination of modern-day Kazakhstan. It analyzes the country's fast-changing national identity, the current regime's ongoing quest for popular support, relations between the Kazakh majority and the Russian-speaking minorities, and various other issues.