25MB/sec Activism: Reframing Political Participation in Kazakhstan after January 2022
Polese A. Nassimova G. Zhunussova A. Ileuova G. Buzurtanova M.
March 2026Verlag Ferdinand Schoningh
Central Asian Affairs
2026#13Issue 125 - 63 pp.
Based on 16 focus group discussions, this article examines how civic engagement in Kazakhstan has evolved from visible street activism to digital and localized forms of participation. We note that, whilst until the Qantar events, street protests were an accepted, and somehow normalized, way of expressing discontent, the dramatic outcome of January 2022 has reduced citizens’ willingness to take the street, but not necessarily their interest in political participation. We then document how citizens have been increasingly expressing their views, and seeking dialogue with the institutions, through online petitions, social media campaigns, and digital complaints, using safer and more individualised channels to influence public affairs. These actions reveal a process of strategic withdrawal from overt protest and a reorientation toward less confrontational, yet still meaningful, modes of engagement. We suggest that, rather than signaling apathy, this shift reflects an adaptation in how participation occurs. We then conceptualise this transformation as a recalibration of political agency—one that bridges online and offline spheres and operates between state and society. We eventually inquiry on the advantages and limitations of an approach where the state, which is also the target of discontent, is the first actor to create a space for a dialogue but can, in case, also close these channels.
civic activism , digital activism , e-governance , Kazakhstan , political participation
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School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Institute of International Social Studies, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Department of Political Science and Political Technologies, Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Department of Political Science and Political Technologies, Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
President of “Strategiya” Center for Social and Political Research, Department of Political Science and Political Technologies, Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Department of Political Science and Political Technologies, Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
School of Law and Government
The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest
Institute of International Social Studies
Aleksanteri Institute
Center for Northeast Asian Studies
Department of Political Science and Political Technologies
Department of Political Science and Political Technologies
President of “Strategiya” Center for Social and Political Research
Department of Political Science and Political Technologies
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