Returned Diasporas and Homeland： Identity Differences Between Kazakhstani Kazakhs and Oralmans

作     者：Zhanat Kundakbayeva 

作者机构：The Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Almaty Kazakhstan 

出 版 物：《International Relations and Diplomacy》 (国际关系与外交（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2014年第2卷第1期

页      面：35-54页

学科分类：030208[法学-外交学] 0302[法学-政治学] 03[法学] 030206[法学-国际政治] 

主　　题：ancestral return oralmans homeland identity ethnic affinity to the host populace marginalization 

摘      要：Ancestral return-return by the descendants of migrants to their ancestors＇ origin has been one of the most significant forms of population mobility since 1991 in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The state policy determines the scales of ethnic migration to and within the country. The government adopted a complex program on Kazakh Diaspora repatriation. Under the program, oralmans （ethnic repatriates to the country） are provided with considerable aid program for adaptation to the recipient society. Although the returnees may initially be welcomed back, their homecomings often prove to be ambivalent or negative experiences. Despite their ethnic affinity to the host populace, they are frequently excluded as cultural foreigners and relegated to low-status jobs shunned by the host society＇s populace. Ethnic return migrants and their hosts become frustrated with each other. They find jobs but not expected social welcome. Ethnic return migrant＇s orientations usually are shaped by the terms of the policies that give them the access to the destination country＇s labor markets and citizenship. The report studies the problem of similarity and differences among Ethnic Return Migrants and mother ethnic group. What underlies the misunderstanding between them？ Whether it is a competition for the working places, access to the social benefits or deep cultural differences？ To examine on-the-ground dynamics between natives and ethnic migrants, and in particular their mutual acceptance in a range of contexts, we turn to a qualitative account that draws on observations and interviews, less formal interviews carried out among Mongolian-Kazakh, Chinese-Kazakh and Karakalpak- Kazakh return Migrants in Almaty city and its suburbs during the fieldwork. Characteristics that differentiate returned Diaspora individuals from Kazakhstani Kazakhs are rooted not in ethnic sphere, but in the cultural context of the country they come from. This paper reveals how the socio-cultural characteristics and natio