Educating for Tolerance in Kazakhstan
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CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture ISSN 1481-4374 Purdue University Press ©Purdue University Volume 20 (2018) Issue 2 Article 10 Educating for Tolerance in Kazakhstan Shamshiya Rysbekova Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Ainura Kurmanaliyeva Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Karlygash Borbassova Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb Part of the Education Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Dedicated to the dissemination of scholarly and professional information, Purdue University Press selects, develops, and distributes quality resources in several key subject areas for which its parent university is famous, including business, technology, health, veterinary medicine, and other selected disciplines in the humanities and sciences. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the humanities and social sciences, publishes new scholarship following tenets of the discipline of comparative literature and the field of cultural studies designated as "comparative cultural studies." Publications in the journal are indexed in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Chadwyck-Healey), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI), the Humanities Index (Wilson), Humanities International Complete (EBSCO), the International Bibliography of the Modern Language Association of America, and Scopus (Elsevier). The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monograph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies. Contact: <[email protected]> Recommended Citation Rysbekova, Shamshiya; Kurmanaliyeva, Ainura; and Borbassova, Karlygash. "Educating for Tolerance in Kazakhstan." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 20.2 (2018): <https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.3237> This text has been double-blind peer reviewed by 2+1 experts in the field. The above text, published by Purdue University Press ©Purdue University, has been downloaded 92 times as of 11/ 07/19. This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. This is an Open Access journal. This means that it uses a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access. Readers may freely read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles. This journal is covered under the CC BY-NC-ND license. UNIVERSITY PRESS <http://www.thepress.purdue.edu> CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture ISSN 1481-4374 <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb> Purdue University Press ©Purdue University CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the humanities and social sciences, publishes new scholarship following tenets of the discipline of comparative literature and the field of cultural studies designated as "comparative cultural studies." In addition to the publication of articles, the journal publishes review articles of scholarly books and publishes research material in its Library Series. Publications in the journal are indexed in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Chadwyck-Healey), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI), the Humanities Index (Wilson), Humanities International Complete (EBSCO), the International Bibliography of the Modern Langua- ge Association of America, and Scopus (Elsevier). The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monog- raph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies. Contact: <[email protected]> Volume 20 Issue 2 (June 2018) Article 10 Shamshiya Rysbekova, Ainura Kurmanaliyeva and Karlygash Borbassova, "Educating for Tolerance in Kazakhstan" <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol20/iss2/10> Contents of CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 20.2 (2018) Thematic Issue The One Asia Foundation and its Cooperation and Peace-Making Project Ed. Asunción López-Varela Azcárate <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol20/iss2/> Abstract: In their paper "Educating for Tolerance in Kazakhstan" Shamshiya Rysbekova, Ainura Kurmanaliyeva and Karlygash Borbassova consider the problem of education intolerance amidst young people in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The authors hope to unveil some of the controversies and problems encountered with regards to the prevention of terrorism and extremism and illuminate the efforts of Kazakhstan for international transparency and EU convergence. The paper begins with a revision of Kazakhstan law on the matter of religious freedom, registration of religious groups, and religious education. These topics have created great controversies in the international community, and the paper goes on to present some of the external reports on this matter, elaborated by various sources such as the United Nations, the European Community, and the United States, among others. Shamshiya Rysbekova, Ainura Kurmanaliyeva and Karlygash Borbassova, "Educating in Tolerance in Kazakhstan" page 2 of 10 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 20.2 (2018): http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol20/iss2/10 Thematic Issue The One Asia Foundation and its Cooperation and Peace-Making Project. Ed. Asunción López-Varela Azcárate Shamshiya RYSBEKOVA, Ainura KURMANALIYEVA and Karlygash BORBASSOVA Educating in Tolerance in Kazakhstan Kazakhstan is a multiethnic nation with the largest territory in Central Asia, home to over one hundred ethnic groups. It occupies a strategic position, and educational institutions have as important role in the organization and development of tolerance skills. In this respect, a few years ago the Kazakh government introduced in the educational curricula the subject of "Religious Studies," which seeks to open people's minds to tolerance and illuminate the problem of religious extremism. These courses are aimed at helping young people estimate potentially dangerous situations associated with the appearance of intolerance and teach them how to behave when encountering manipulation. They also provide information on assistance to victims who fall under the influence of religious organizations and cults with totalitarian and extremist orientations. The lessons have a secular format and avoid imposing any particular belief on the young people. However, in many parts of the world, the introduction of these courses has been criticized. Kazakhstan was populated first by tribes from Turkic origins - Argyns, Khazars, Qarluqs, and of the Wusuns, Kipchaksand Cumans. The Khanate of Abu'l-Khayr Khan also settled in the territory (1456- 1465). Islamic Tatar missionaries were instrumental in the spread of cultural traditions and inter- ethnic relations across the steppes of Central Asia. In the seventeenth century, Russia gradually colonized the region, resulting in its total annexation by mid 1800s. The consolidation of Stalin's power in the Soviet era brought large numbers of Russians, dissidents, and minority groups (i.e. Germans, Chechens, Tatars, Kalmyks) from other soviet territories. After independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has become home to disparate groups of migrants from Indo-Iranian, Koreans and Chechen origins (Akiner; Olcott). Despite the fact that Kazakhstan is considered a Muslim country, its religious composition is complex. According to the 2010 Report on International Religious Freedom elaborated by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of United States, approximately sixty-five percent of the population professes to be Muslim. Ethnic Kazakhs, who constitute almost sixty percent of the population, and ethnic Uzbeks, Uighurs, and Tatars, who collectively make up less than ten percent, are historically Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi School. Other Islamic groups account for less than 1 percent of the population. Approximately one-third of the population, comprising ethnic Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, are Russian Orthodox by tradition. Members of a Roman Catholic (Ukrainians and Germans) account for 1 percent of the population. Other Christian religious groups include Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Pentecostals, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses. Smaller communities of Methodists, Mennonites, and Mormons are registered by in a special Kazakh registry for religious organizations. The Jewish community is estimated at less than one percent of the population. The report also mentions Buddhist groups, Hare Krishna movement, the Church of Scientology, Baha'is, Christian Scientists, and the Unification Church. The principles of interrelations between religions and the Kazakh state were formulated in the "Law on Religious Freedom and Religious Associations" (Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta Respubliki Shamshiya Rysbekova, Ainura Kurmanaliyeva and Karlygash Borbassova, "Educating in Tolerance in Kazakhstan" page 3 of 10 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 20.2 (2018): http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol20/iss2/10 Thematic Issue The One Asia Foundation and its Cooperation and Peace-Making Project. Ed. Asunción López-Varela Azcárate Kazakhstan), in January 15 1992. The first Constitution of independent Kazakhstan was adopted in 1993, modified in 1995 after a national referendum. In his report on Kazakhstan for the IACL Congress (International Association of Comparative Law<http://www.iacl-aidc.org/en/events/previou s-events>), Roman Podoprigora (2009) summarizes the main points included in the Constitution in relation to religious