GENDER RHETORIC IN POLICY AND NATIONAL DISCOURSES IN KAZAKHSTAN
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Date
2023
Authors
Sadykova, Kulyash
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
School of Sciences and Humanities
Abstract
Gender policy is known to be an important part of the nation-building processes of countries
all around the world, and Kazakhstan is no exception. Overview of the history of gender in
Central Asia in the pre-Soviet period and during the Soviet Union showed that it was Soviet
authorities who introduced the first gender policy to the Kazakh steppe. With the arrival of
the Soviet power, Kazakh and Central Asian women became objects of a national and
political agenda, and such an approach survives up to the present. Present study is an attempt
to analyze state-level discourse on gender through state policy documents, track the changes
in discourse with regard to political context, and identify its images and concepts. Analysis of
state-level discourse is finished with the discussion of “spaces of silence”, certain spots that
are “absent” in discourse on gender. At the same time, this research looks at alternative
discourses on gender on the example of female activists of Kazakhstan, who “fill in” the
silences in official state discourse and find their own place and position on the grounds of
their civic and human rights. Special attention is given to the protests of mothers of multiple
children, rallies of women against the increase of retirement age and peaceful assemblies for
women’s rights. The main contribution of this work is the discussion of how women activists
use the existing gender policies and discourses as strategic recourses to achieve their goals
and raise different questions of interest to different groups.
Description
Keywords
Type of access: Restricted, Gender, national discourses
Citation
Sadykova, K. (2023). Gender rhetoric in policy and national discourses in Kazakhstan. School of Sciences and Humanities