Two of our second-year students presented their research at the “Migration Bridges in Eurasia: Migration as a Resource for Socioecomonic and Demographic Development” conference at MGIMO
Gaukhar Baltabayeva presented her paper “US immigration policies and Bolashak scholarship conditionality as shaping forces of international student migration from Kazakhstan to the US”
and
Adel Kosherbayeva presented her paper entitled “Ageing experience of women migrants in Germany: qualitative study”
On December 5 at 09:00, Xeniya Udod will be defending her thesis in a viva-voce examination. The viva is public and all are welcome to attend.
Room 8.105, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Title: Feminisms in Kazakhstan: at the intersection of global influences and local contexts
Feminism has been gaining its momentum in Kazakhstan, with several feminist unions and numerous individual activists publicly promoting feminist ideas, advocating for gender equality and LBTIQ rights in the country. By drawing on in-depth interviews with the outspoken feminist activists, I posit that contemporary feminisms in Kazakhstan are now entering the stage of reflecting on their specific stance vis-à-vis the complex set of gender ideologies and practices concerning Central Asian women and their space in society, ranging from (but not limited to) the system of patriarchy, controversial Soviet project of “women’s liberation,” more recent influences of Western neoliberalism and capitalism, and the dominant discourse of “Western feminism.” My research data demonstrate that by admitting the constructed, complex nature of contemporary Kazakhstani feminisms, my respondents move to the elaboration of the modalities of the movement’s further prospects, which has the potential to form a particular postsocialist local feminism embedded in the region’s tangled geo-temporal realities.
Internal Advisers: Elizabeth Mount & Alima Bissenova
External Adviser: Marianne Kamp, Indiana University
Gauhar Baltabayeva
International student migration from Kazakhstan to the US
Advisers: Caress Schenck & Saltanat Akhmetova
11:00-11:30
Sandra Real
Narratives of Kumis Consumption and Production in Contemporary Kazakhstan
Advisers: Alima Bissenova & Christina Pugh
11:30-12:00
Merey Otan
Contemporary music in Kazakhstan and Youth identity
Advisers: Gabriel McGuire & Meiramgul Kussainova
12:00-12:30
Adel Kudaibergenova
Elderly Women in Kazakhstan: Ageing Experience and Popular Representations
Advisers: Sofiya An & Erika Alpert
12:30-13:00 Lunch Break
13:00-13:30
Zhuldyz Tashmanbetova
The indigenous Christianity of Kazakh steppe: Adoption of Nestorian Christianity in Medieval Central Asia
Advisers: Daniel Scarborough & Paula Dupuy
13:30- 14:00
Assem Kaliyeva
The waste management system in Astana: The social hierarchy and self-perception among the employees of waste management sector
Advisers: Eva-Marie Duibusson & Paula Dupuy
Приглашаем вас принять участие в научном семинаре «Интеллектуальнo-академические сети и политическая экономика производства и трансфера знания в Казахстане», который состоится в субботу (16 июня) в Школе гуманитарных и социальных наук, аудитория 8.105.
11:00 – 13:00
«Развал-схождениe академии», Алима Бисенова, Назарбаев Университет
«Серая зона» академии», Кульшат Медеуова, Евразийский национальный университет
«Грантовая экономика казахстанской науки», Адиль Родионов, Евразийский национальный университет
14:00 – 16:00
«Диспициплина как ритуал и миф и ретроспективная рационализация в социальных науках», Михаил Соколов
Михаил Соколов – социолог из Европейского университета Санкт-Петербурга, специалист по социологии науки, автор книги «Как становятся профессорами: академические карьеры, рынки и власть в пяти странах» (Москва: НЛО, 2015)
Internal Advisers: Gabriel McGuire & Alima Bissenova
External Adviser: Cynthia Werner, Texas A&M University
On Thursday (May 3) at 18:00, Nurgul Zhanabayeva will be defending her thesis in a viva-voce examination. The viva is public and all are welcome to attend.
Room 8.105, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Title:
Restrained by Uyat [Shame]: Culture of Dating and Romantic Relationships among Urban Kyrgyz Youth
Abstract:
This thesis is an exploratory qualitative study of the culture of premarital dating and romantic relationships among urban Kyrgyz youth in the city of Bishkek. Drawing from focus group discussions and individual in-depth interviews with young people, I aim to analyze socio-cultural norms and expectations regarding premarital relationships in Kyrgyz society, as well as to present young urbanites’ experiences of these phenomena. Applying the theory of dating and sexual scripts, I discuss what appropriate dating behaviors should be like in the given context. I argue that dating and romantic relationships are socially approved practices in Kyrgyz society mainly because they are seen as precursors to marriage – an important social institution.
However, the approval comes with certain limitations – among them, the most pronounced is the condemnation of premarital sex in relation to women. While young men allegedly enjoy the freedom of their sexuality, young Kyrgyz women are strongly discouraged from engaging in premarital sex. Uyat – a local concept of shame is used as a mechanism for controlling correct sexual performance, as well as an instrument of punishment for deviant behavior. Restrained by uyat, women are finding creative ways of upholding the social norms – their aim is neither subordination nor subversion, but rather finding new ways of operating in the given reality. Moreover, I posit that men, given their sexual freedom, also face sexual pressure, although of a different nature than women.
Furthermore, it is not only the larger society which sees premarital dating as a prelude to marriage, young people also view dating as leading to marriage. Thus, they approach the choice of a potential partner with care. Among the factors of primary importance for young people is one’s socio-economic status – such as quality of received education and financial background. Less important for young people are their prospective mate’s ethnic, religious and regional background, however, they understand that these factors are important for their families, relatives, and even the larger society.
Internal Advisers: Zohra Ismail Beben & Sofiya An
External Adviser: Dr. Noor Borbieva, Indiana University
On Thursday (May 3) at 15:00, Togzhan Kalamysheva will be defending her thesis in a viva-voce examination. The viva is public and all are welcome to attend.
Room 8.105, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Title:
The Sociocultural Underpinnings of the Life Insurance Market in Kazakhstan
Abstract:
Life insurance is a financial tool used to provide for well-being of dependents in case of premature death or other risks that stop the income flow. The perception of life insurance differs across nations because of the differences in their social norms. This study is about Kazakhs’ perception of life insurance and the extent to which the idea of ensuring life is compatible with their norms and values. In the framework of this study, based on a large database of the life insurance company, I construct the profile of the Kazakhstani life insurance market and define consumption pattern across regions, the occupation of individuals, their age, gender and marital status. Further, I explain this consumption pattern by employing interviews with local people. I analyze my findings through concepts like risk-perception and death-perception that are central to the idea of ensuring life. As life insurance turns out to be incompatible with Kazakhs’ social norms, I explore local sales agents’ marketing strategies to overcome this cultural barrier.
Internal Advisers: Edwin Sayes & Zhanna Kapsalyamova
External Adviser: Prof. Bruno De Cordier, Ghent University
On Thursday (May 3) at 11:00, Karina Matkarimova will be defending her thesis in a viva-voce examination. The viva is public and all are welcome to attend.
Room 8.105, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Title:
Germany’s “Soft Power” Strategy in Kazakhstan: Educational and Cultural Aspects
Abstract:
The research represents a case study and explores Germany’s “soft power” strategy in Kazakhstan in terms of education and culture. Since no research has been done before on this matter, the author attempts to provide the key information of the strategy, by analyzing its features, actors and the role of the German diaspora. In terms of the conceptual framework, the research is based on Joseph Nye’s concept of “soft power” and its interconnection with the “public diplomacy”. The fieldwork results show that German officials do not use so-called “soft power” concept in their rhetoric, but there is German “cultural relations and education policy”. Moreover, the research describes the role of the state, non-state actors and also of the German diaspora, and their level of cooperation in Kazakhstan.
Internal Advisers: Charles Sullivan & Gabriel McGuire
External Adviser: Dr. Markus Kaiser, German-Kazakh University
On Thursday (May 3) at 09.00, Di Wang will be defending her thesis in a viva-voce examination. The viva is public and all are welcome to attend.
Room 8.105, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Title:
The Unofficial Russo-Qing Trade on the Eastern Kazakh Steppe and in Northern Xinjiang in the First Half of the 19th Century
Abstract:
The Treaty of Kuldja (Ili) signed in 1851 between the Russian empire and the Qing empire marked the start of the official Russo-Qing trade in Xinjiang. This thesis aims to explore the generally neglected pre-1851 unofficial Russo-Qing trade on the Eastern Kazakh steppe and in Northern Xinjiang by examining the trade in three area: Semipalatinsk, Tarbagatai and Ili. This pre-treaty era Russo-Qing trade was regarded as illegal on the Qing side with little information available, but legal on the Russian side with abundant data. By comparing the information in Chinese and Russian sources, this thesis argues that the original legal and official Kazakh-Qing trade established in the 1760s was gradually transformed into an unofficial Russo-Qing trade in the first half of the 19th century. Besides analyzing the motivation and the stance of the Russian empire and the Qing empire, this thesis highlights the role of individual actors such as merchants, nomads, government officials and border guards in forging the trade. This thesis also discusses the commodities in the trade, the myth of silver flow and the discovery of the dramatic price change in the year of 1840. The analysis of travelogues and quantitative archival data of the imports and exports of the Semipalatinsk custom post from the 1820s to the 1840s complement the existing scholarship on this topic. By discussing the above-mentioned themes, the author reaches the conclusion that the pre-Treaty era unofficial trade was already marked by established institutions and diverse commodities, though with a high degree of informality. The 1851 Treaty of Kuldja which officialized the Russo-Qing trade in Ili and Tarbagatai did not establish a new trade, but was a result of the pre-Treaty period unofficial trade and carried many characteristics of the pre-treaty era trade.
Internal Advisers: Nikolay Tsyrempilov & Clare Griffin
External Adviser: Prof. Erika Monahan, University of New Mexico
Advisers: Caress Schenck & Saltanat Akhmetova
The waste management system in Astana: The social hierarchy and self-perception among the employees of waste management sector
Advisers: Zohra Ismail Beben & Paula Dupuy
Advisers: Gabriel McGuire & Meiramgul Kussainova
16:00-16:30
Adel Kudaibergenova
Elderly Women in Kazakhstan: Ageing Experience and Popular Representations
Advisers: Sofiya An & Erika Alpert
