WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIAL IDENTITY FORMATION IN ETHNIC COMMUNITIES: METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN

Abstract

This article analyzes the formation of civic and ethnic identity in ethnic communities in southern Kazakhstan, focusing on the role of women as key agents of intergenerational transmission of values and norms. The empirical base includes more than 130 in-depth narrative interviews and participant observations conducted in monoethnic and multiethnic settings in the city of Shymkent and Turkistan Region (Uzbek, Turkish, Tajik, Kurdish, and Korean women; and, for comparison, Kazakh women). The qualitative research design made it possible to reconstruct mechanisms of everyday socialization and to observe how ethnic, national, and civic identities coexist and intersect. The study demonstrates that women’s practices simultaneously ensure the preservation of ethnocultural markers (language, traditions, religious and family patterns) and the transmission of civic orientations (work ethic, responsibility, adherence to norms). Regional differences (mono-/multiethnic environment, urban/rural context) and life trajectories (education, professional employment, family strategies) shape diverse identity configurations among youth. The findings confirm the leading role of mothers in defining the boundaries of family socialization and in shaping both civic and ethnic identity in children.
The article is based on a large body of qualitative data (139 narrative interviews and participant observations) and offers an analytical synthesis of the field project “Women in the Ethnic Communities of Kazakhstan as a Channel for the Reproduction and Formation of Civic and Ethnic Identity (the case of Turkistan Region and the city of Shymkent),” integrating the theoretical-conceptual framework with a detailed description of the qualitative research design and its outcomes.