ASTRA BUS PER ASPERA: INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN COMMUNITY BUSES ON IDENTITY FORMATION

Abstract

Public transportation is very important for people, especially in big cities like Astana. People of all ages are using public buses, and forced to interact with each other one way or another on a daily basis. The study focuses on those interactions in public transport, and its influence on identity formation of people. The study is qualitative, consisting of 2 parts: participant observation and interviews. The participants were chosen using snowball sampling, and distributed into 3 age groups: young adults (18-30), middle-aged people (30-60), and elderly (60+). The content was analyzed by using the theory of symbolic interactionism. The result showed that public transport is not viewed as a place for public interactions. Instead it is a place of solitude despite the limited space the bus creates. Majority of the people prefer to keep to themselves, instead of interacting with strangers or even acquaintances. Public interactions are initiated only when needed, and only for the sake of everybody else’s comfort