Mothers as nation-building agents in Kazakhstan: the effect of neoliberalism

Abstract

With one-third of the population being children, Kazakhstan is a young state that now has a life-turning moment. High share of children may be both a curse and an opportunity for the country to strive and flourish, and it depends highly on the interaction of the many actors that influence development of children. In Kazakhstan, traditional perception of gender roles in family led to the disbalanced and increased role of mothers in raising children, and, thus, making them the primary and the main agents of national code and values transmission. Simultaneously, global neoliberalization of all spheres of life led to the responsibilization of mothers not only for moral upbringing, but also for most of strategically important decisions that shape their future lives. Eventually, it is mothers who create and define the new citizens.

In my study, I focused on 3 generations of mothers in 3 families to see the transforming perceptions of their role in nation-building processes, what values they believe necessary for developing in their children, how neoliberalism affected their engagement in the children’s lives, and whether social class has an influence on nation-building in Kazakhstan. The results showed that the perception of a mother’s role is changing through generations, and now raising children is considered totally a private matter. Mothers of the last generation are primary and only decision-makers about their kids – sometimes sharing this only with their husband. This may be beneficial for government in short terms, because such mothers don’t expect any support from state, but in the long run this may lead to the decreased sense of belonging to a country in their children.