Browsing by Subject "Kazakhstan"
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Item Identity of the ethnic Polish population in Kazakhstan and their repatriation to Poland(2004-12-18) Szwanke, Melissa Jadwiga; Supervisor unavailablenot availableItem Imagining the Shala-Kazakh : codeswitching and satire in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan(2017-05) Foster, Hannah Lofton; Webster, Anthony K., 1969-This report addresses Russian-Kazakh codeswitching in Kazakhstan through a study of satirical skits called Shala-Kazakh Language Lessons that were broadcast on the sketch comedy show Nasha KZasha (‘Our Kazakh’). Using the theoretical frameworks of heteroglossia, language ideologies, satire, role alignment and publics, I analyze the performances as socially recognizable characterizations of speakers who codeswitch and the reflexive relationship between these satires and their subjects. Shala-Kazakhs, literally “‘half’-Kazakhs,” are typically described as young, urban, Russified Kazakhs who are unable to speak Kazakh or are semi-speakers of Kazakh. The term is employed by linguistic authorities to critique the public use of language that they deem “impure.” However, I find that the term is often used in the skits to characterize any language variety or speaker that is perceived as heavily influenced by Russian language and culture or does not fit into a binary classification. I trace the history of this ideology of linguistic purism through Soviet models of ethnolinguistic categories and analyze the ways that Kazakhstanis in the present day use the circulating, satirical portraits to negotiate the complex social environment shaped by these ideologies. Through the use of heteroglossic language, or language that pulls all associations of a word into each use, speakers who codeswitch create fluidity in the clearly-defined categories. Through this analysis, I contribute to the body of work that addresses how language mixing disrupts the ideology of linguistic purism and how ordinary speakers shape their speech practices in relation to easily recognizable portraits of speakers through social interaction. In this way, heterglossic speech draws attention to the heterogeneous nature of language that is often erased through the language policies, education system, and cultural programs of elite, government authorities. By refocusing on the permeable boundaries between these categories and the criticisms the comedians make of purist language ideologies, I address the speakers and languages that are otherwise erased through ideology.Item Kazakhstan’s multivector foreign policy and its application in combating the rise of religious extremism(2021-05-04) Guerrero, Alexandra Nicole; Neuburger, Mary, 1966-This report analyzes how Kazakhstan uses multivector foreign policy to address the rise of radical Islam both domestically and in the greater Central Asian region. It seeks to understand how Kazakhstan balances its relationships with Russia, China, the US, and other Central Asian countries to maintain stability in the region and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for all countries involved. This report shows that Kazakhstan’s engagement in bilateral treaties and international organizations have helped it to prepare its military to counter terrorist and extremist threats. However, Kazakh government discourse on the severity of this threat is likely out of proportion to the small number of manifestations of terrorist and extremist activity. This report concludes that Kazakhstan’s multivector foreign policy helps Kazakhstan to maintain internal and external stability and successfully address the threat posed by religious extremism. Maintaining stability allows Kazakhstan to continue cooperating with its neighboring countries in other spheres of mutual interestItem Opening new doors : English Language Learning and entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan's capital(2023-04-20) Foster, Hannah Lofton; Webster, Anthony K., 1969-; Handman, Courtney, 1975-; Keating, Elizabeth; Dubuisson, Eva-MarieThis dissertation is an ethnographic study of English Language Learning conducted in private educational centers located in Astana, Kazakhstan over the course of 19 months of fieldwork. Though English is not a language that most people in Kazakhstan speak daily, more students than ever are enrolling in English language lessons and view English as the deciding factor in gaining new educational and employment opportunities. However, these opportunities alone cannot explain the growth of English. Many students find that English does not live up to its potential, yet they continue to learn it. I argue instead that the growth of English in Astana coincides with the consolidation of the middle class and is indicative of broader cultural and ideological shifts taking place in contemporary Kazakhstan. More specifically, I argue that English now offers the capacity for enacting a new entrepreneurial subjectivity which marks a departure from the ways that English was once exclusively part of elite practices. I explore this shift and its consequences by examining three experiences of learning English. First, analyzing the enregisterment of English as elite, I identify how learning English became part of a broader set of elite practices. Next, I analyze language learning testimonials from successful English students to argue that such narratives are a key means through which students take up this new entrepreneurial subjectivity by recruiting neoliberal ideologies of self-development for their language learning endeavors. Finally, I return to the question of why students who are frustrated in their language learning endeavors continue to learn English. Analyzing the discourse of “no practice” that students often employ to understand their unsuccessful efforts, I argue that the ideologies students encounter in the classroom and which underpin the ways that elite and entrepreneurial subjectivities are enacted through English also hold success out of reach for most English students in Kazakhstan. I examine each of these experiences in turn to trace this shift in subjectivities and to locate educational centers as the key spaces in which these practices are developed and ideologies are circulated.Item Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan : migration, language politics and their relations with Russia(2015-05) Miles, Steven Andrew; Garza, Thomas J.; Jordan, Bella BThis report compares and contrasts Uzbekistan's and Kazakhstan's relations with Russia and how domestic politics influences those relations. This report will analyze how these relations are conducted in three themes: language policy, migrant labor from these countries to Russia, and the international relations of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan vis-à-vis Russia. The first chapter provides an overview of the Soviet nationalities policy. First, the chapter will summarize the ethnogenesis of the Uzbeks and the Kazakhs. Second, it will explore Kazakh and Uzbek nationalist movements that were active in Central Asia before the formation of the Soviet Union. Finally, the chapter will explore process of the formation of the Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The second chapter is concerned with the language policies of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The chapter will show how the Soviet authorities promoted the use of the Uzbek and Kazakh languages. It will show how codification, standardization and orthographic reforms were not only components of Soviet language policy, but also language of polices of these modern, independent Central Asian states. The third chapter explores the international relations of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in vis-à-vis Russia. Using a theoretical framework, It will compare and contrast the approaches of the governments of these states towards Russia and how domestic policies concerning national security are connected with foreign policy. The fourth and final chapter examines labor migration from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to Russia. Using data from the Russian government, World Bank and other organization, It will look at how labor migrants from these countries contribute to their respective economies though remittances. Additionally, this chapter will examine how the government of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan view migrant labor originating from their respective countries.