CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Kakabayeva, Elmira |
|---|---|
| Title | Navigating, Carving, Bargaining: Women's Political Subjectivities in Neopatrimonial Kazakhstan |
| Summary | The growing scope of research on a high level of women’s political participation in non-democracies does not particularly cover the Central Asian region. However, the results show quite similar patterns of authoritarian regimes voluntarily adopting gender quota to mobilize more voters for regime support (Donno and Kreft 2019) or establish an accepted international image in exchange for international benefits (Bush 2016). These characteristics are also relevant to Kazakhstan, with 27,1 percent of women in Parliament (IPU 2021), yet with a persistent neopatrimonial regime (Tutumlu 2019). Nevertheless, in 2019 when the long-ruling first president Nazarbayev resigned, the demands for a change were voiced predominantly by female political activists. My research focuses on those leaders during 2019-2021 whom I define as ‘women with political agendas’ and the ‘women in official politics’ such as parliament members. In my discursive analysis based on interviews, I examine what strategies they establish within the context of re-traditionalization and neopatrimonialism. My findings show that both groups of women do not politicize their gender identity and engage in political struggle on equal positions with men. I argue that this is due to the state appropriation of the gender equality agenda endorsed by international organization. Also, the agenda tends to be more neoliberal and pro-natalist in the neopatrimonial context. Thus, ‘professionalism’ rather than gender is valued more in political careers, which excludes political activists. However, women’s political subjectivities still manage to navigate through the given context and employ in more complex strategies. |
| Supervisor | Zentai, Violetta; Geva, Dorit |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/kakabayeva_elmira.pdf |
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