Democratically Digging Together: A Study of Archaeology and Civil Society
Collins N. Doumani Dupuy P.N. Zamanbekova A.
August 2025SAGE Publications Inc.
Journal of Eurasian Studies
2025#16Issue 2236 - 248 pp.
Protecting archaeological sites increases the sense of belonging among the population. Political culture in authoritarian countries limits citizens’ opportunities for freedom of action and civic engagement. The authorities may perceive such engagement as a threat to the regime. Nevertheless, civic activism in protecting archaeological sites can provide an opportunity to increase the role of civil society in policymaking. This article interrogates civil society’s role concerning archaeology and its preservation in Kazakhstan. It considers three cases of how local communities participate in archaeological projects and their protection. It concludes that the degree of community involvement and the number of people involved in rural and urban settings differ. Kazakhstan occasionally manifests vigorous civic activity on archaeological issues at the national level. However, a certain level of resistance may demonstrate the potential for democratic development, with archaeology as one of the practical tools of civil liberty at the grassroot level.
Archaeology , Central Asia , civic engagement
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School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
School of Sciences and Humanities
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