THE ROLE OF KAZAKHSTANI HEIS, AS KNOWLEDGE-PRODUCING ENTITIES, IN KAZAKHSTAN'S POST-SOVIET NATION-BUILDING

By: Aikerim Kargazhanova

Key Words: Kazakhstan, higher education, knowledge production, critical realism

​

About My Project: 

Kazakhstan presents an interesting case of a post-Soviet transitional country, which not only encounters challenges in the process of transition from the state socialism and communism towards the market economy and democracy, but also faces major dilemmas in the process of nation-building and construction of new Kazakhstani identity. So, my focus is on the role of “university” as a core knowledge producing entity, which is not only closely linked to, but can either preclude or enable its role as a driver of economic growth, organisation of civil society and a cultural institution in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. Thus, I am exploring the Kazakhstani universities’ capacity to shape the public discourse by either facilitating or hindering the possibilities for Kazakhstani faculty members to engage in knowledge production processes.

​

About Me:

​I am currently doing PhD in Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Professor Eva Barbara Hartmann. I am highly interested in exploring the ways education, politics and sociology are interconnected. My main area of interest is the knowledge production at higher education institutions. Before starting my PhD., I studied MPhil in Education, Globalization and International Development at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. I also hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan.

​