Introduction: Kazakhstani Germans and the Study of Nationalities in Central Asia -- Part I: Memories, Histories and Life Stories -- Memories and Histories -- The Enmeshment of Identities and Life Stories -- Part II: Nationality, Power and Change -- Assessing Nationality -- Everyday Nationality in the Kazakh Nation-State -- Part III: Non-Migrants' Social Ties -- Relations in the Locality : Ethnic Mixing and Missing Kazakhs -- Disruption in the Transnational Social Field -- Part IV: The Effect of Two States' Policies of "Germanness" on Kazakhstani Germans -- Changing Transnational Institutions -- The Divergent Ethnic Policies of Kazakhstan and Germany -- Conclusion: Germans at Home in Kazakhstan -- Appendix
Summary
"Despite economic growth in Kazakhstan, more than 80 per cent of Kazakhstan's ethnic Germans have emigrated to Germany to date. Disappointing experiences of the migrants, along with other aspects of life in Germany, have been transmitted through transnational networks to ethnic Germans still living in Kazakhstan. Consequently, Germans in Kazakhstan today feel more alienated than ever from their 'historic homeland.' This book explores the interplay of those memories, social networks and state policies, which play a role in the 'construction' of a Kazakhstani German identity--From publisher's website