Introduction to Kazakhstan’s Contemporary Gendered Nationalism: The Case of 2019 Protests of Mnogodetnye Materi
Introduction to Kazakhstan’s Contemporary Gendered Nationalism: The Case of 2019 Protests of Mnogodetnye Materi

Summary/Abstract: The text is centered on the continuous protests of mothers of multiple children (mnogodetnye materi) that have started in February 2019 in Kazakhstan. By applying V. Spike Peterson’s theoretical framework on gendered nationalism, the author seeks to explain the lenient treatment of protesting mothers by the authoritarian Kazakhstani government, as well as an extensive backlash that the movement of the mothers have received both from the general public and certain governmental officials. The article argues that by emphasizing their roles as biological reproducers and cultural carriers of the nation mnogodetnye materi were able to distance themselves from pro-democratic grassroots movements that have started to emerge around the same period in Kazakhstan and, therefore, secure a more tolerant reaction from the government that consistently cracked down on protesters throughout 2019. However, an open critique of their current economic condition has undermined the mothers’ adherence to standards of hegemonic femininity, which implies obedience, ‘purity of heart’ and does not presuppose active protesting and calling attention to the precariousness of their positions as mothers of multiple children.

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