PROBLEMS OF KAZAKH REFUGEESHIP OF THE 1930S IN WESTERN HISTORIOGRAPHY (2000-2024)

Abstract

The article examines the state of research on the problem of Kazakh refugees of the 1930s in Western historiography (2000-2024). The mass exodus caused by forced collectivization, property confiscation, sedentarization, and famine in Kazakhstan remained a ‘closed’ topic for a long time. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, expanded access to archival materials drew the attention of foreign scholars to this issue. In works by Western historians published in the first quarter of the twenty-first century, the flight of the Kazakhs is analyzed through the new methodological approaches and has become a relevant subject of international scholarly discourse.

The aim of the study is to identify the perspectives of Western historians (2000-2024) on the problem of Kazakh refugees, as well as to analyze the research methods they employ and the conclusions they draw. The article considers the replacement of the terms “refugee” and “otkochevnik” in later historical literature with the expression “Kazakh famine refugees”, as well as the debates concerning the number of those who emigrated beyond Kazakhstan and those who eventually returned. The study makes extensive use of methods of comparison, analysis, and systematization. Although certain aspects of the problem of Kazakh refugees in the republics of Central Asia and in Siberia have been reflected, the question of the Kazakhs who migrated to Afghanistan and Iran has not been addressed in Western historiography. Nevertheless, the works of Western historians (2000-2024), written on the basis of new approaches, have made a significant contribution to the study of Kazakh refugees and have highlighted the necessity of an interdisciplinary investigation of this issue.