Table of Contents
List of Maps, Figures and Tables x
Acknowledgements xii
Note on Transliteration xiv
Introduction 1
Kazakhstani Germans and the Study of Nationalities in Central Asia 4
Concepts of Ethnicity 6
Based on Cultural Grounds
Ethnicity as a Resource
Categorization and Power
A Product of Individual Life Experience
Ethnic Boundaries as Cultural Schemas
Fieldwork in Taldykorgan 15
Part I Memories, Histories and Life Stories
Chapter 1 Memories and Histories 23
Shifting Memories of the Past 23
The Deportation of 1941
Discrimination against Germans
Transition and Continuity
The Hard-Working German
The Russian Empire: Colonization of the Kazakh Steppe 30
The Russian Empire: The Settlers from the German States 33
The Soviet Union: Concepts of Nation and Nationality 35
The Soviet Union: Its Formation and Nationality Policies 37
National Delineation
Collectivization
Facing the Menace of the German Reich: The Passport System and Deportations
The Kazakh SSR after 1945
Kazakhstan: The Formation of a Nation State and the Role of Nationality 45
'Kazakhization
Language Policies
Kazakhstani Identity
Kazakhstani Germans
Chapter 2 The Enmeshment of Identities and Life Stories 60
The Truth of Life Stories 61
Four Life Stories, Four Identity Types 62
Soviet Identity
Kazakhstani Identity
Russian-German Identity
Kazakhstani-German Identity
Summary 87
Part II Nationality, Power and Change
Chapter 3 Assessing Nationality 95
Nationality as a Unifier or Territorial Belonging, Language, Religion and 'Mentality' 97
Common Ancestry
Language
Religion
'Mentality'
National Dichotomies 106
Kazakh Primordialism vs. Russian Constructionism 110
Kazakhs' Esteem
Russians' Inclusiveness
Normative Entanglements 116
Summary 119
Chapter 4 Everyday Nationality in the Kazakh Nation State 123
'The Friendship of Peoples - Is Our Wealth!' 124
Losing Language Hegemony 130
Identification: Strategies and Emotions 133
Kazakhstan as a Homeland 137
Summary 140
Part III Non-Migrants' Social Ties
Chapter 5 Relations in the Locality: Ethnic Mixing and Missing Kazakhs 147
The Relevance of Nationality in Personal Networks 147
The Relevance of Nationality in Marriages 155
Is There a 'German Community' in Taldykorgan? 157
Summary 159
Chapter 6 Disruption in the Transnational Social Field 162
Relatives and Friends Abroad 163
Exodus to an 'Historic Homeland' 166
Views on Germany 173
Networks and Identity 178
Summary 181
Part IV The Effect of Two States' Policies of 'Germanness' on Kazakhstan! Germans
Chapter 7 Changing Transnational Institutions 189
The 'German House' 189
Support from Germany 192
Socializing with Other Germans 195
A Parish in Transition from 'German' to 'Lutheran' 198
The German House in Transition 202
Summary 204
Chapter 8 The Divergent Ethnic Policies of Kazakhstan and Germany 207
The Kazakh State's Official Promotion of Inter/ethnic Harmony 208
The German State's Contradictory Policies 216
Summary 222
Conclusion: Germans at Home in Kazakhstan 225
Identity and Memories 226
Identities and Identifications 226
Friendship of the Peoples? 228
Exclusion through Inclusion: The Role of Personal and Institutional Links to Germany 231
References 235
Appendix 250
Index 251
