Evolving notions of childhood: an example of Kazakhstan Anel Kulakhmetova Supervisor: Dr. Shailaja Fennell Centre of Development Studies Department of Politics and International Studies Clare Hall, University of Cambridge This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2017 Evolving notions of childhood: an example of Kazakhstan Anel Kulakhmetova Abstract This research is aimed at understanding versatile and evolving perceptions of childhood in Kazakhstan after the independence of the country. It draws on a variety of primary data including in-depth interviews and surveys with young people and representatives of non- governmental organisations working with young people. This research employs two concepts of sociology of childhood, which address the socio-historical condition of childhood as a social experience. It explores the role children played in traditional Kazakh families in the mid-19th- beginning of the 20th century. It also addresses state policy concerning children in Kazakhstan after independence. This research presents an analysis of how young participants perceive categories of ‘child’ and ‘adult.’ The question is raised whether traditional thresholds of childhood like education, marriage, and financial independence still play a role in understanding the transition from childhood to adulthood. Further, it presents a dialogue between young participants of this research with their older contemporaries on the characteristics of the young generation born after the independence. Finally, it sheds more light on discrimination of young females in the family and society. II Declaration I declare that this thesis is substantially my own work and no part of the dissertation has been previously submitted to any university for any degree, diploma or other qualification. Previously published work by the author in the form of conference proceedings is drawn on for parts of this thesis. When reference is made to the work of others the extent to which that work has been used is indicated in the text and the reference. This document contains 60,423 words, 13 tables and 10 figures, and therefore adheres to the limits of 80,000 words, tables and figures put forth by the Degree Committee of the Centre of Development Studies. Anel Kulakhmetova Cambridge, January 2017. III Acknowledgements The completion of this work would not have been possible without the intellectual, emotional, and financial support of many different individuals and organizations, which I am pleased to thank here. Faculty members in several departments at the University of Cambridge have played a fundamental role in the development of this project. Dr. Maha Abdelrahman and Dr. Tina Xu comments on the first-year report were invaluable. Of course, my greatest thanks is directed to my supervisor Dr. Shailaja Fennell, who provided timely and insightful commentary on each chapter, balancing thoughtful criticism with encouragement. I want to particularly thank Professor David Bridges for introducing me to the members of the Faculty of Education, and for subsequently encouraging me to participate in the seminars on education and Kazakhstan and to write more about other areas of my interest related to the secondary education and children with special needs. I am thankful for support and advice of Professor Colleen McLaughlin who was willing to provide commentary on the final draft of this dissertation. I am indebted to Dr. Natallia Yakavets for being a wonderful and patient co- author in my early attempts to formulate my thoughts. I would like to thank Professor David Bridges and Dr. Jenny Parkes for their detailed comments and suggestions. Their comments have identified important areas which required improvement My education at the University of Cambridge has been generously supported by two organizations. I am grateful to the Cambridge Trust for supporting four years of postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge. I was fortunate to become a participant in the Central Asian Faculty Development Programme funded by the Aga Khan Development Network. But before I came to Cambridge my education in the US at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver was supported by the Fulbright scholarship, administered by the US Department of State. In all, I have received six years of post-secondary education without spending my own money. One can only be grateful for such good fortune. During my fieldwork, I benefited tremendously from the help of colleagues and friends. In Almaty, I want particularly to thank Sholpan Baibolova for being the first person who agreed to talk to me about Kazakhstan children and youth, and for introducing me to her extensive network of colleagues. I am incredibly grateful to my friends Ainura Absemetova, Bota Ilyas, and Elena Norakidze for their willingness to reply to my obscure questions. I am also indebted IV to people working in the area of child protection, Zulfiya Baysakova, and Asiya Khairullina, who provided tremendous help in researching the subject. I am especially grateful to Tatiana Aderikhina, Dr. Rakhima Dzhumasheva, Irina Mednikova, Anna Stativkina, Maira Sulyeeva, Viktoriya Tyuleneva, and Claudia Volmer. I want to thank wonderful students of the Kazakh National Medical University, KIMEP, Nazarbayev University and AlmaUniversity who were so enthusiastic about my research and who tolerated my questions, and who sat with me through long and hot summer days in Almaty. Without them, this research would never have gotten beyond literature review. Friends within and outside of Cambridge were tremendously supportive throughout a process of writing this thesis. Our walks, lunches, dinners, and discussions over coffee and tea (and occasional wine) helped to maintain my sanity. I am especially thankful to José Miguel Ahumada, Kseniya Barabash, Yulia Darmenova, EunJoo Koo, Nurkhat Kushimov, Ioannis Mastoris, Bojana Radovanovic, Mariana Riestra, Ga-Young So, Olga Ulybina, Mariya Vitrukh, Tina Xu, and Bjoern Alexander Zeeb. I would like to express my gratitude to my friends who live in New York, Katya Mussachio and Professor Henry Godfrey, who supported my dream of applying to the doctoral programme and who were patient of my attempts to explain what I was trying to do. I met Nazipa Ayubayeva and Weeda Mehran during my first week in Cambridge, and our friendship developed through next four years. Their love did not observe any geographical borders or time zones: they were always available to help with a word of encouragement, advice or real action. My beautiful family always has been unfailingly supportive of my career and life choices. I would like to express my gratitude to my cousin Adelya Sapargaliyeva for helping me go through the first lonely months in the UK, and the last months of writing-up. My interest in development studies began in 2006 when I started working with UNICEF, and both my mother, Aigul Sapargaliyeva, and my late grandmother, Sophia Chagirova, encouraged my move from Almaty to Astana. My mother placed no barriers to my curiosity as a child and believed in me during the moments when I doubted myself. She is still my most critical and passionate reader. I admire her deeply for her courage and passion and treasure what our relationship has become. I dedicate this work to my family who always believed in me. I dedicate this work as a small and inadequate token of my gratitude for the light you have brought to my life. V Table of contents: Chapter 1. Introduction. Defining “childhood”: some theoretical 3 approaches Chapter 2. Place of a child in a traditional Kazakh family in the 19th- 11 beginning of the 20th centuries Chapter 3. ‘Oh, that is so good to live in a Soviet country’: Soviet ‘happy 29 childhood’ Chapter 4. Childhood in ‘transition’: children and child policies in the 41 1990s-2000s in Kazakhstan Chapter 5. Research design 56 Chapter 6. Childhood versus adulthood: being young in Kazakhstan 67 Chapter 7: “We are the future”: young people and society 94 Chapter 8. Raising a girl in Kazakhstan: role of a young woman in society 114 Chapter 9. Discussion of the results 130 Appendix 1. Form of informed consent 138 Appendix 2. Interview questions for young participants 140 Appendix 3. Interview questions for experts 141 Appendix 4. Questionnaire on perception of childhood 142 Bibliography 154 VI 1 Note on transliteration In transliterating Russian and other Cyrillic names and places, I have applied the Library of Congress system of transliteration, except when another spelling has become commonly accepted in English, for example Mayakovsky instead of Maiakovskii. For Kazakh names and words, I have applied transliteration table developed by UNESCO. 2 Chapter 1. Introduction. Defining ‘childhood’: some theoretical approaches In the first pages of ‘Before and after’ Vladimir Sharov ponders how his perception of Bolsheviks was shaped by the proximity of the chocolate factory Bolshevichka: ‘When I was around three-year-old, I learned that the candies were produces at the factory called ‘Bolshevichka,’ and this finally shaped my idea of the Bolsheviks... Whenever I had to write about the Bolsheviks, I would present them as soft and tender... (My) characters were written with such genuine love and affection that our old newspaper wolves said they envied my sincerity.’ Like Sharov’s character I was born in the Soviet Union but in the family of the Party bureaucrat, and my childhood was a privileged experience. I lived in a beautiful spacious apartment in the centre of the green city, the capital of one of the republics of a vast country called the Soviet Union. I went to a kindergarten close to my house. Both of my parents were employed and were receiving high salaries, and during their summer vacations, they were taking me to the Black, Baltic and Caspian seas. At the age of three, I travelled abroad for the very first time. From my childhood, I believed in a just, free and prosperous society, a peaceful world in which equality reigns because I inhabited it.