The Kazakhstani Youth’s Engagement in Politics

Abstract

Current research on the Kazakhstani youth’s political participation has usually been informed by a rather traditional understanding of the concept of political participation, without considering the impact of social media and other non-traditional forms of political engagement. This article advocates for a more nuanced understanding of political participation in the country, and particularly among the younger generation, who – it will be shown, display a wide interest in the political developments of the country and are possibly encouraged by a wider access to information and social media through the internet. By pushing the boundaries of political participation, we suggest that young Kazakhs are more active in political debates than usually considered by a number of previous studies.