Identity of Kazakhs of Mongolia in Everyday Life

Abstract

The article deals with the mechanisms of functioning and reproduction of ethnic identity among Kazakhs living in the territory of Western Mongolia. The research, based on the field studies, presents the ethnography of everyday life of Kazakh diaspora. Preliminary analysis showed that it is the ethnic group united by the diaspora that is capable of consolidating the particularities and preserving its ethnic identity. Different conditions and mechanisms for the formation of ethno-cultural identity in a specific diaspora pre-determine its differences in structure, priority elements, and sustainability. The authors comes to the conclusion that the objects of traditional material culture, which are assigned the role of “ethnic markers”, as well as the articulation in public space of ethnic, tribal and religious identity contribute to the process of maintaining and representing the ethno-cultural identity of Kazakhs of Mongolia.

Keywords

• Identity
• ethnicity
• ethno-cultural identity
• Kazakh diaspora
• Kazakhs of Mongolia
• ethnic markers
• everyday life