printMixed Marriages between Kazakhs and Russians of Northern Kazakhstan
Kaziev S.Sh.
Dr. Sci. (Histor.), Assoc. Prof., Department “History of Kazakhstan and Socio-Humanitarian Disciplines”, Manash Kozybayev North Kazakhstan University, Petropavlovsk, Republic of Kazakhstan sattarkaz@mail.ru
Starchenko R.A.
Cand. Sci. (Histor.), Deputy Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of RAS, Moscow, Russia starchencko.roman@yandex.ru
Mogunova M.V.
Senior Lecturer, Department “History of Kazakhstan and Socio-Humanitarian Disciplines”, Manash Kozybayev North Kazakhstan University, Petropavlovsk, Republic of Kazakhstan M_mogunova@mail.ru
Kaziev S.Sh., Starchenko R.A., Mogunova M.V. Mixed Marriages between Kazakhs and Russians of Northern Kazakhstan. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2022. No 10. P. 128-137
This article shows main trends in the development of marriages between Russians and Kazakhs on the example of urban residents of Petropavlovsk from the mid-1990s to 2020. The aim of the work is to study factors contributing to intensification/blocking of interethnic marriage and to analyze the impact of interethnic marriages on ethno-cultural attitudes and identities. The main sources of the study were the materials of the act books of the state registration of civil status acts in the city department of the Civil Registry Office of the Department of Justice of the North Kazakhstan region. The trends identified in the materials of the Civil Registry Office were verified by conducting ethno-sociological studies. The study showed a steady increase in the number of marriages between Kazakhs and Russians and a change in the attitude of Kazakhs to mixed marriages in a positive direction. The analysis of sociological surveys indicates a positive or neutral attitude of the majority of respondents to the very fact of mixed marriage and to its further consequences. Quantitative data on the city of Petropavlovsk confirm a long-term trend of increasing number of marriages between Russians and Kazakhs. Qualitative changes are involvement of Kazakh women in marriages with Russians, previously such marriages were rare. Interethnic marriages between Kazakhs and Russians significantly affect ethno-cultural traditions, shifting them towards a “European” family with such characteristics as gender equality and individual choice. However, mixed marriages between Russians and Kazakhs do not lead to formation of hybrid and pan-ethnic groups, there is no construction of new ethnic borders. The choice of identity is made primarily by the father. Uncreasing share of urban Kazakhs leads to intensification of interethnic marriage and formation of a two-part local community due to the assimilation of ethnic minorities.
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