Depoliticizing National Identity Formation in Kazakhstan: Street Re-/naming in Astana as a Pragmatic Reinterpretation of the Soviet Past

Zhiyenbayev M. Sabitov Z. Aitbayev D.
2025 Springer

International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society
2025

This article examines the extensive process of street renaming in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 1997 to 2019, revealing how the country’s “re-Kazakhization” strategy differs from more overtly politicized renaming campaigns across the post-Soviet sphere. Drawing on a comprehensive dataset of 858 instances of toponymic change and detailed transcripts from onomastic committee meetings, the study demonstrates that while Kazakhstan systematically replaced Soviet or Russian names, it did so primarily through a cultural and linguistic lens rather than a blanket condemnation of the Soviet past. The analysis identifies two principal renaming categories—“legacy” Soviet-era streets and “project” streets in new districts. Contrary to assumptions of an outright purge, the results show that even as Astana’s authorities retired references to external communist icons, they introduced a range of Kazakh SSR heroes, wartime figures, and political leaders whose ties to Soviet institutions are reframed within a national narrative. By prioritizing connections to Kazakhstan’s history and geography, the policy simultaneously embedded Kazakh language and symbolic capital in the built environment. In contrast to other post-Soviet states, where de-communization laws and anti-Russian sentiment fueled high-profile conflicts, Astana’s transformation proceeded largely without domestic or international controversy. The study concludes that this “replace and embrace” approach—favoring local or Kazakhstani references over purely ideological gestures—underscores how post-Soviet renaming can serve as a subtle, pragmatic instrument of nation-building, one that balances linguistic revitalization, continuity with certain Soviet legacies, and the cultivation of a distinctly Kazakhstani capital identity.

Astana , Kazakhstan , Memory politics , Nation-building , Post-Soviet identity , Street renaming

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Research Institute for Jochi Ulus Studies, Astana, Kazakhstan
Department of Political Science, L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (ENU), Astana, Kazakhstan
Advisor to the Chairman of the Board for International Affairs and Initiatives, Maqsut Narikbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Research Institute for Jochi Ulus Studies
Department of Political Science
Advisor to the Chairman of the Board for International Affairs and Initiatives

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